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Flexibility training before pole class?
Hi all. My studio recently started offering flexibility classes. I’m loving them and they are really helping me. The only problem is the classes are early evening, so if I want to do pole as well, I have to do the hour of flex training first, and then the pole class. I’m not worried about getting injured in flex class, since we warm up well enough. But from what I’ve read as a layperson interested in fitness, static stretching done before a sport rather than after results in less strength and power in the stretched out muscles (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/reasons-not-to-stretch/?_r=0). Aside from weaker performance, does anyone know if there are any dangers from poling directly after an hour of hard core flex training? Am I more likely to get injured if I’ve stretched my muscles to new limits just before working out? Thanks for any input.
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4 Replies
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At my studio they have flex class after a pole class because usually we stay after that class and we’re already warm, so we just warm up a little more and we get to it. I once did a flexibility work shop and then later had a regular pole class and I never experienced any pains or issues. i think that it kind of varies on the person and maybe what your doing when you are poling. I guess maybe you wouldn’t want to do like a “power trick” class after a flexi class, but I think a regular choreo pole class would be fine.
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Yes, I also explain that you should not do any heavy flexibility training before pole work in my teacher training course https://www.studioveena.com/methods/letter I believe it’s on page 8 and more about this later on in the course.
Light stretching as you’re warming is fine and when done through rhythmic movements it’s a great way to prepare for pole. The issue with deep flexibility training before a pole session is that it can increase the risk of injury do to fatigue and relaxed ligaments or tendons. Those most at risk would be anyone with hyper mobile joints, but everyone should be aware.
So in short, if you do strength based pole work after stretching be cautious and mindful of fatigue and body placement before committing to a move.
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Thanks for your responses Veena and Cantetinza. This certainly gives me something to think about, since my pole studio really focuses on strength-based moves. The flex classes are broken down so we do either an hour of back/shoulders, an hour of front splits training, or an hour of squat splits training. I guess the moves to avoid afterward would depend on what we’d been stretching.
I’ll have to try this carefully and see whether it’s something I want to keep doing, or whether I have to suck it up and start coming 5 days a week to avoid doing the classes sequentially. Last night, I went to pole after a squat splits session and toward the end I minorly strained my hip doing a handspring combo, which I wouldn’t have thought would be a problem. The following hip in the handspring just felt too loose and opened farther than it should have. Luckily the pain only lasted a few minutes, but it was worrying.
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Since you are feeling some discomfort I would rest for a week or so. That’s how I hurt my shoulder. I thought that maybe if I babied it while I still trained that it would be ok. Yeah not really. I had to go to physical therapy and I was out of pole for like 2 months. So maybe if you rest your hip now, maybe your hip won’t hurt.
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