missym357
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I have had to have a discussion along these lines with my 15 year old son. He has trouble with a number of social justice groups that he believes takes things to the extreme. I had to point out to him that as a young privledged male, he needs to always take a moment to realize that he is looking at things from a limited point of view and to acknowledge that he may see things very differently from a different point of view and experience. I think that when we discount what an entire group of people has to say and feel about certain things because ‘everyone gets offended about something’ we miss so many opportunities to understand,be compassionate towards others and ultimately make this world a better place.
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It all sounds good but try to be adaptable as time goes on and really listen to your body. My first year, everything went fine until I got to a point where I was not recovering properly for what I was doing in the weight room and with pole and I pulled several muscles…rhomboids, intercostals…not all at the same time, but at different points because those muscle groups were being way too taxed by heavy squats, deadlifts and pole without proper recovery time. I definitely learned the hard way. In the beginning everything felt find and dandy but the more advanced I got in pole, the more important it became to recover properly. At this point I pole 2-3 days a week and lift 2 days a week (and cardio 2-3 days per week).
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Happy Belated Birthday, Veena!! I hope it was great!! Keep celebrating!!!:-D
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Great article! I couldn’t agree with it more! I have inevitable come to the same conclusions, some by learning the hard way! Thank you for sharing it.
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Take care of yourself! I had to learn the hard way…not being able to pole due to injury taught me how to get my training priorities straight really quick!;)
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You sound a lot like me! I have learned over the past couple of years, what my sweet spot is and I am always tweaking it as I listen to my body. I weight train (heavy) 2 days a week with the focus on lower body compound lifts…back squats, deadlifts, lunges, glute brides, cable extentions, and variations of these exercises (goblet squats, split squats, single leg deadlifts, etc). I use to train in the low rep/high weight range, but I have moved more towards a more moderate rep/moderate weight range. With training pole a couple of hours a day 3-4 times per week, that is all my body can handle. My cardio is zumba 2-3 times per week, hiking, or spin class. 3 times a week of that can sometimes be a bit much because it WILL cut into my recovery if I am not careful. In my opinion, there is little reason for me to focus on upper body lifts if I am training pole so much and there are simply not enough hours in the day or days of the week for me to recover properly and be strong for pole. If I feel I need to work on specific upper body strength, I do it as a conditioning block right after pole practice. I am 39 years old and know my recovery limits are not that of a 20 year old. The idea is to push my limits to the point that I am progressing forward and not push the limits to the point of breaking myself and spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. It is a fine line!
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I lift and pole and it has taken me some time to make it all work. As you begin pole, you may not have many issues, but the more you get into each, issues of recovery may crop up. I didn’t have any problems until I started inverting and at that point I quickly strained a back muscle. at the time I was really pushing weight on my back squats and then was turning around and going to pole class. My back was the weakest link and needed more recovery time. I also pulled an intercostal muscle, so again, my core was not getting adequate recovery considering the lifts I was focused on (squats, deads, ohp, and bent rows) needed a strong core and pole is very upper body/core intensive. My solution has been to strength train upper body after pole practice at home focusing on pole specific conditioning and then lower body focused compound lifts at the gym two times a week. This gives me adequate recovery time so I do not end up injured again.
My best advice is to go for it, but be smart about how you train and recover. Prioritize your activities. If power lifting is your top priority, then train that way. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy other things, you most definitely can, but always be mindful about proper rest/recovery. 🙂
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I’m very excited to take part in the challenge! I love challenges, they give me some added focus and to return to basics and polish them up is a great thing! I have been away from home for over a week and between the travel and the craziness of the holidays, I have gotten behind around here and on ig, so I’m feeling very out of touch, but I will do my best to keep up! I may have some combined posts.
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My hands are small and I’m on a 50. I can’t wait to get a 45!!! The only consolation that I tell myself is that if I can do it on a 50 then it will be that much easier on a 45. I have pretty good grip strength and I have my 50 to thank in part for that!
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I’m so very sorry. Please try to take care of yourself as best as you can and enjoy every minute you can with your mom. My heart breaks for you.
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I’m missy_m357_
I really enjoy ig, taking part in pole challenges has taught me so much! My account is 99% pole. As much as I would love to share other parts of my life, I try not to on IG. I go back and forth with myself about keeping it private vs. not, but I currently do not. Feel free to add me, I’ll follow back.:)
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I want to second what everyone else is saying. Eating on point makes for better poling, for sure! I deal with a high level of stress and when it gets really bad, I lose my appetite and my diet and water intake suffers. This directly affects my strength. I have learned this the hard way.
Another factor for me is my period. The days leading up to my period I experience limited ability to tolerate spinny. I have been sick with nausea for several days after spinny pole practice (until my period starts) and have gotten to the point where I just cannot do anything on the pole once I hit that wall of nausea. I also experience more muscle pain after exercise during this time. I just do what I can and ride it out during that time. It is very frustrating, but figuring this pattern out has helped me to be more patient with myself.
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What a great discussion!! I have a few thoughts…first, I think recording my practice is SO vital to my progress. I grew up taking part in competitive dancing (Irish dance). I had a teacher that was fully invested in my dance. He gave me steps that highlighted my strengths and watched me and helped me correct, improve and perfect EVERYTHING. In pole, very few of us have such a person, so we have to be our own coach. Watching what you are doing, no matter how hard at first, helps to see what you are doing wrong when you are learning something new but not really getting it and helps to see the little things like pointed toes, lousy hand placement, the difference between fully engaged legs vs not. I find it also gives me evidence, when I finally get something right, that I can see with my own two eyes, which I find very encouraging.
One of the things I love about pole dancing is that it highlights the incredible strength of the body and celebrates it. The details of the body that we have issues with (you know, the things we pick apart about ourselves) just sort of dissappear and the big picture- the amazingness of the human body takes center stage. There are incredible pole dancers of all body types and pole dancing shines a light on how awesome and beautiful each body is.
I definitely have my own hangups- I’ve always been boyish skinny and shapeless, but I have been lifting weights for a few years and really did not realize how much my body had changed from it. I takes time for the mind to catch up to changes in the body. I used to have many times that I just felt ‘yuck’ about myself, but pole (and watching my recordings) has shown me the beauty of my body as well. I now have a much greater appreciation for my own body and the things that I used to really pick apart just don’t bother me all that much anymore. It’s more about what I can DO. I also think the reason they don’t bother me so much is because that I have come to realize that that negative part of the mind that picks things apart is never satisfied. It will always find something. I have learned to deliberately turn my back on it and I am successful most of the time.
Lastly, I have learned from watching my videos that I have two butt cheek creases on the left cheek when my leg is fully extended behind me (something I would have never known and actually find comical)! I have also learned that I may look graceful doing certain moves on the pole, but when I get down and walk to the camera to turn it off or change the music, I walk like a guy- not gracefull at all…feet turned out and clumping along!!
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Runemist, I have a hard time putting together entire polished pieces! But, I try to work polishing a move into my practice when I combo it. So I work on it, pretty or not, over and over until it is nice, then I try to combo it. I will dance the combo to music until I think it looks good. Recording this really helps me to see what I could do differently to make it look better. Just from reviewing my videos I can see the difference between simply doing a move and dancing it.
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When I first started pole, I was very concerned about my skinny thighs and not being able to to leg holds very easily. It isn’t even that my legs are SO skinny, it is that I have quite a large gap between them (it is due to bone structure and build). While it does present physical challenges, I think the worst challenge was overcoming the voice in my head that would say I couldn’t do something because of my lack of inner thigh (like advanced plank, CAR , superman, etc). It turns out I can do them all just fine- I do cross my legs and have to have everything very engaged in a superflex!
The only thing I truly cannot do is a pole sit without my legs crossed in some way. We had this move in class where you do a straight on pole sit and then swing your feet forward and backward (like a kid swinging their dangling feet from a chair) and I just could not do that unless I was holding myself up entirely with my hands!
I find that in pole something can seem impossible one day, or at least VERY painful, but once the mind and body come together and know what to do, suddenly the movement quits hurting and becomes so much easier.
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Oh and I meant to add that I pole 3 times a week for anywhere from 1-3 hours at a time. There is definitely a diminishing return on time in there- once my muscles are done, I become pretty useless.
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My pole workouts tend to start with 10-15 minutes of warming up- dancing, stretching, light spins, warm up strength work. Then I have at least 2-3 moves I try to work on. I do each over and over again until I’m satisfied and will record, review, record again, review again…etc. I will try to combo the move before I’m done with it. Somedays I freestyle, somedays I don’t. I try to finish things with strength circuits…pullups, pushups, handstands against the wall, etc.
I also lift weights twice a week with a focus on weighted relatively heavy lower body compound exercises- back squats, deadlifts, split squats, goblet squats, glute bridges, single leg deadlifts, cable leg extensions, to name a few. I used to do this three times a week but it got to be too much and I was not recovering properly.
I also go to zumba or spin class 2-3 times a week as well. I love zumba- it is pure fun for me. Both of these classes keep my aerobic capacity up and my mental health in a good place (I truly need to get my heartrate way up a few times a week). I take 1-2 rest days per week.
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I love practicing pole at home- in fact, I would drop everything and work on pole all day if I could (I can’t)!! It took me some time to find my groove. My warm up consists of 2-3 songs worth of dancing with some stretches built in. I get in some warmup pushups, pole pullups, pole rows, and by the second or third song I throw in some spins. I don’t start inverting until I am fully warmed up. At that point I try to have 2 to 3 specific moves that I want to work on. I play music that inspires me and I record myself and playback and study my movement throughout the whole session, trying to continually improve what I’m working on. I share clips on instagram- sharing really helps me! Taking part in pole challenges also helps me.
I try to have a strength/trick-focused day, a dance-focused day, and a review, anything goes sort of day. I have the time carved out and just commit to it.
I hope that helps!:)
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I struggled with dizziness too. Things that have helped me are time, pausing during practice until my head gets straight, and chewable ginger tablets. It has gotten so much better for me. Part of it has been my head adjusting, part of it has been learning the hard way not to push through it (ugh, I just get sicker and sicker) and I really do believe the chewable ginger tablets (with Vit. B6) have helped. I hope you find some relief!
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Wow!!! That was so stunningly beautiful, it put a knot in my throat! I get such a visceral reaction when I see something like that, it gets me choked up!
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I put some pictures from my shoot in my profile (I don’t know how to put them in this thread).:)
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Welcome!:) I’m relatively new here too!
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I think you should do it! I did a photoshoot early on in my poling. I had very little I could do on the pole besides a sit and a couple of other little things. My favorite pictures were not even on the pole! Here’s the thing- it doesn’t matter where you are in pole. A picture is a moment in time, it will be something that you will have to look back on at the point that you are at. I wish so badly that I had pictures from when I was younger. I don’t even really remember what I looked like or what my body was truly like in my 20’s (that was before the age of smart phones and selfies and before I had kids). They will be beautiful!
I will try to upload some of them later today!
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I pole alone and at a studio and they both have their good and bad sides. It took me a little while to find my groove when poling alone but now I find that I am usually quite productive at home. Things that help me are to really have a good space that is clean and tidy- my pole is in the kitchen and I make sure that all chores are done- no dishes in the sink, floor and counters clean, everything put away. I try to have things that make the room feel beautiful- fresh flowers, a nice candle, etc. I even use cleaners that I truly love the smell of…these things help me to be in a good frame of mind where I like the space I’m in. I try to pull myself together- hair, pole clothes, a little makeup…I wish I could roll out of bed and feel beautiful no matter what I look like, but the truth is, I don’t, so these things help me (nothing crazy, but little things to just feel pretty). I’m always on the lookout for music that moves me. Having inspiring music is such a huge thing! Finally, recording myself and sharing it is a big part of my practice. I might be in my own little world, but to try something, review it, and make it better really gives me some focus. If something is not working out, I can usually watch and figure out what the problem is. I also do love to perform, so sharing clips with others and getting some feedback is a very positive thing for me and can help drive me to keep working on something until I get it smooth (I do most of my sharing on instagram).
I get very overwhelmed with freestyling, so I don’t always even commit to freestyling an entire song. I will just try to work a trick I am working on into a dance with no plan of when to end it. I find it takes a lot of pressure off and I feel a lot more freedom to just dance- and I end up going longer than I would when I put all of this pressure on myself to do a perfect freestyle. That’s my own hangup though and my own little way of working around it!
I hope some of that helps!!
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I did get it worked out and positioning of the top arm and shoulders was a big part of it. Dr. Ken’s information is very helpful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgR0t69qASU
