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Core Work
Obviously core strength is essential to pole. What’s also obvious is that core strength (or rather lack of) is what’s keeping me from progressing. Upper body strength seems to come along on it’s own with pole. You start out barley able to hold on and one day you have amazing arms you don’t remember having before. Lower body strength I have as well. I love challenging leg workouts. You know, the kind that make you feel like noodle legs at the end. But core work is the bane of my existence. I’m a wimp when it comes to core work. I can push myself in upper and lower body workouts but when it comes to core I wimp out when it hurts. Before an ab workout I tell myself “Not this time, this time you are going to push through”. But I always end up quitting then feeling like a failure.
So my question is… what do you guys do to strengthen your core? Do you just do sit-ups, crunches, and leg lifts until you want to scream or have you found an activity that gets you results without your typical ab workouts? Am I the only one seriously struggling at this. I see amazing lifts and moves I’d like to work towards and I know they are 100% core strength moves. Why can’t I push myself?
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9 Replies
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Awesome question this is how I feel! I have an easier time with arms and especially legs I can push to fatigue. But as soon as I start feeling discomfort in my abs, it’s hard to push my brain past to where I make progress. I thought I was the only one! TY for the awesome question!
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I’ve struggled with core work. For conditioning I try to do things that get my butt up over my head.
I work on handstands (so far I’m only at kicks against a wall but even for that it took work so it still built strength) forearm/elbow stands also helped a lot as well as forward and backward rolls I also do ayeshas but to build to that I did caterpillars and butterflys. Aerial shouldermounts – to build up I did shouldermounts with no kicking (I’m not really a crunch person – not enough motivation!) I have more fun doing pole moves that double as prep moves. From doing these moves I’m becoming pretty solid with my cartwheel mount and I have done handsprings but it comes and goes still. -
Pilates. Forevs. If you like those “feel like a noodle” type classes, you should be able to find plenty of Pilates classes in your area that will oblige 😉 alternately, if you like leg work outs, maybe find a barre class in your area? It seems to be pretty leg heavy but mostly includes a crazy amount of core
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Also, Mark Verstegens book Core Performance rocks insanely hard.
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for core improvement it is actually not so beneficial to focus on isolated exercises like sit-ups, crunches etc, you just fatigue the muscles without building strength in the sort of movements you want to actually achieve (crunching, twisting : not really the movements you want to train your body for). You will be better off with compound exercises which work several muscles at the same time; squats, deadlifts, planks planks planks. i have read fitness blogs by instructors who say they dont do any specific ab-focussed work, they just incorporate multiple compound movements and this works your abs at the same time as other muscles. Get on an exercise ball, those are great for core work because your core has to stabilise you the whole time, even if you are just sitting on it not doing an exercise, but they are really versatile you can do all sorts of things on them and it gives nice back support. Chin-up bar: from hanging do leg raises – start with tuck and try progress to pike legs. Basically any exercise you do that involves lifting your legs will work your core =)
You want to be really conscious of keeping your core tight when you are doing these things as well, focus focus focus on keeping everything engaged, do movements slowly and controlled , dont just heave yourself around or you will be more likely to hurt your back and not work your core properly =) -
@Tamarinda, I’m glad I’m not the only one!
Thanks for the suggestions. I live in a rural farm town and love it…except for trying to find things like pilates or barre. It rocked our little community when we got a pole studio (it has a 4 poles and costs $$$). I have started doing a couple youtube pilates videos from a pretty popular gal. The compound movements make sense to me. I think polekat is right on with the “focus focus focus”. I guess hauling hay bales can count as a compound movement. Now to just focus on control and keeping my core tight while doing it….
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I like to use isolated moments for all muscle groups to help clients develop a “feel” for that muscle group, before working on more compound movements, so I think that they have a place and can be very beneficial. Sometimes when you fatigue a muscle group you can feel it better! Its also nice for people who are just into body building or weight training to do thinks like twists. Traditional sit ups however, have been proven to not really be worth anyones time for the most part. So many more things you could be doing.
I think it’s important to understand you should be using your core anytime you workout or do any movement. It should be something you’re tuned into just like breathing.
I’ve used a lot of the exercises and movement I have in the Hard Core Routine https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/52ed861b-ec78-434e-a1d0-23a40a9aa0eb Working on balance moves like handstands, yoga and such can also help you connect to your core.
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For learning to do any kind of pole dead lift working the negatives can be a great way to build up the core strength needed. 😊
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I agree with dustbunny and cherished, certain pole moves can be a great way to build up your core strength. I don’t do any ab work off the pole, but my core has gotten so much stronger just from regular pole classes. One of the instructors at my studio has us start every class with a series of knee tucks, v-leg raises, aerial fan kicks, etc. And “working the negatives,” ie. doing slow, controlled dismounts, really is a great way to build strength and get those straight leg deadlifts. At first it may seem hard to lower yourself slowly to the ground every time, but you will quickly get a sense of grace and progressive achievement that will motivate you to keep making every v-out a controlled descent, and then every exit from a shoulder mount, iguana mount, handstand, forearm stand, you get the drift. I have no patience for traditional ab work, but just working on all those controlled descents has given me core strength I wouldn’t have believed. The best part is it barely even felt like work because I was so busy concentrating on trying to make those pole exits look smooth.
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