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Advice needed: Tuck Invert Pain
Hi Ladies, thought I'd ask for some advice:
https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/4cbc4b23-b534-4d1a-9978-3b990ac37250
I'm a self taught poler, been going a few months now just practicing in my living room with Veena's lessons. I have pretty much gone through the lessons in sequence (still working on a couple of things from previous and may possibly have skipped a few spins I couldn't get to grips with) but essentially I've been good!
I've recently been trying to perform the tuck invert and am really struggling with a couple of things. The first is that while I can get up, I am REALLY struggling to tip myself back and complete the move. I just can't seem to work out how to move my body back. Most annoying!
That's not bothering me as much as the pain I'm getting when coming down from the tuck position. As I can't get all the way back, I'm effectively pulling up to tuck my knees to my chest and then coming down. I am doing this with control rather than just letting everything go, but about the time that my second leg starts to come down I feel a sharp twinge in my upper back. I don't know how to be more specific, but it's really worrying me as I don't know what I am doing wrong. I'm beginning to suspect it may be a strength issue which is also stopping me from performing a full tuck… I am making sure I engage my shoulders but something really doesn't feel right in the descent. Any suggestions on what it could be or what I need to work on?
I've also been working on my Gemini and Scorpio and I'm doing just fine there. My inverts might not be the most graceful but this is the first time since I first went upside down that I'm having issues I can't seem to solve with practice.
Any advice appreciated!
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10 Replies
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I am not sure what to tell you about the back pain (hopefully someone else will have advice for you about that) except that maybe it will go away when you are able to do the move correctly? I just recently got the tuck invert (same thing as chopper/inverted V/etc. right? there are so many names for this one) and what really helped me was tipping my head back – are you doing this? grip the pole, pull your knees up to your chest, and tip backwards as you extend your legs in a V. When you tilt back, be sure to look at a point on the wall behind you to ensure that your head isn't working against you in this move. Also, your arms will straighten more as you go backwards. As you already know, pull up and engage your shoulders before you come down to touch the floor. Hope this helps!
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I had the same problem, could tuck my knees up but could not tip myself back!
The only thing that helped me do the complete move was to look at where my hands were positioned, bring them lower down the pole and really focus on pushing with your biceps when you;ve brought your knees up. Also, tip your head back and lean as far back as you are comfortable, the extra weight of your head will make it easier to go back
Hope this helps https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif
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I can't think of anything else to add on the tuck invert technique, but with the pain thing, I've had that too, and I think it is a strength thing, but not one you can improve by just keeping on doing the same thing and hoping the pain will go away.
Any time you invert, try to come down either by going into a handstand first, or else just sliding down the pole. (Being able to just slide down the pole in any position is actually a great safety skill to have in general, in case you manage to somehow get all tangled up on a spinny pole going way too fast like I have done a few times :p) Never just drop your feet back down, because sharp twingy pain is a warning sign.
As you gain strength you may be able to drop your feet back down, but even then you need to keep your feet pointing at the ceiling as long as possible and make it really slow and controlled. I've been poling for a year, and only just got the strength to do this.
If you're falling before you even get up to the pole, maybe just stick with the invert you can do for awhile until it gets more soild and then come back to the tuck.
Good luck!
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Be careful of that pain – I’m well strong enough to do the tuck and have been for ages but I also used to feel a bit of strain coming down and thought nothing of it. Then about a month ago, I did an advanced private lesson and aerial hoop class with a visiting teacher and must have strained it without noticing because the next class I did, I couldn’t do my usual invert strengthening without pain and I haven’t been able to do an invert without it hurting since. I’m at the point where I need to see a physio or sports doc or I’m likely to cause myself permanent damage:( not necessarily saying you’re in the same boat but be careful!
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Thank you all for your advice – I think rather than push the pain (I think it could easily be a precursor for something being injured) I will just slide down from the tuck and just keep working on tipping my body back.
Thank you 🙂
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I totally agree NOT to push past the pain. It sounds like it could be your rhomboids saying something to you. While your abdominals may be strong, it’s possible you’re not totally connected through your back down to your lats. Often it will twinge if you’re “hanging” out there.
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Sounds like the upper back/shoulders may not be strong enough yet. If that is the case I would hold off on inverts until they can be done with total control. Go back and work on these lessons to build up your strength.
Pole hold https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/b63924b6-b882-11df-856f-001b214581be
Pole Row https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/b6392650-b882-11df-856f-001b214581be
Fan legs https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/c468b2b8-b87d-11df-856f-001b214581be
Pole Climbs https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/233115a0-b889-11df-856f-001b214581be
X Ankle Climb https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/f7c4b0ac-b91e-11df-856f-001b214581be
Side Climbs https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/4cadc481-2a2c-4804-861e-148a0ac37250
Work on All of these scapula conditioning exercises 3 times per week starting with the Forward and Back https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/0225276c-b90a-11df-856f-001b214581be
If your struggling with any of these do not go on to inverts yet https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_flower.gif
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Thanks, Veena. I am confident with all of the above but more strengthening/practice won't hurt (and the tuck does) so I'll go back and work on these. Thank you 🙂
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That's good to hear Amaranth! You may find that just doing a week or 2 of the scapula exercises will help. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_heart1.gif
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You weren't wrong, Veena. Attempted the tuck again today and not only did I manage to do the full invert several times but I dismounted without any pain.
Thank you!!
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