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Stronglifts and core question
Hallo!
So I haven’t been on the pole in a while and won’t for a while because of things going on in my living room/poling room. =P I was really starting to make progress and get back into it again after 2 years off pretty much and am sad to lose the progress. In the meantime I decided to try something new. Stronglifts!It’s obviously not very pole specific, but it can’t really hurt, and I need some structure in my life. 🙂 From what I’ve read, you don’t really need to add more ab work from the strength gaining perspective because of all of the stabilization and core usage in the heavy lifts.
My question is if the core group is like every other muscle. Low reps for strength and building, high reps for endurance. In which case, for pole, wouldn’t I need my core workout to be for endurance? So I should definitely add more core work? Or maybe it really is enough. I guess a few minutes (total) of planks could never hurt.
I don’t know if anyone here has tried it…was just hoping to find info here instead of posting in a Stronglifts forum and getting crickets when I mention pole dancing.
At the very least these overhead press lifts should help my shoulders when I get back onto the pole, right? 🙂 They are nasty.
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4 Replies
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High reps can still build strength, it just won’t bulk up actual muscle. If anything, for pole I would look into a gymnastic training program. I think they start off with some bodybuilding type workouts (like 5×5) and then after a period of time segway into more endurance based training. In my personal experience, you can train core everyday and still build strength, and when I was doing a bodybuilding program we were told to do core work everydays. Examples outside of my experience are yoga and Pilates practitioners as well as ballet dancers. Other than that it gets into different theories of exercise science. Strength is built not just through the breaking down and building up of muscle, but through strengthening of connections in the nervous system. So doing high reps and low weight just focuses on increasing nervous system connection whereas low reps and high weight with plenty of rest in between focuses more on the tearing and building up of muscle. This is why you get bigger muscles with that method/is what bodybuilding is based on. Based on that, training core everyday is beneficial, and in my own experience has worked very well. That being said, you want to do core work that won’t effect the muscles you are trying to bulk, and a lot of Pilates moves do that. The Pilates Body is an excellent intro book if you don’t have a lot of experience in it. I’ve had that book for over 10 years and it’s still the best breakdown of the Pilates sequence I’ve found. It was an excellent complement to the bodybuilding program I did, which was years ago so my current physique does not reflect that program! Hopefully this helps. Might be more info than you were looking for, but I’m an exercise science major so I kinda love this
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Not too much info at all! Has always been an interest of mine as well. 🙂
But okay, I guess the way this answers my question is that my goals are compatible with doing extra core work. I have a medicine ball circuit that kicks my ass that I like so I’ll try to fit that in. I’m not really looking to get big or lift heavy but we’ll see where the program takes me. Really wish I could pole again! This hot weather is good for one thing. Grippiness. 🙂
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Soon enough you’ll be scoping out street poles! At least they’re probably sticky 😉 Just listen to your body on all you’re exercises, more pain doesn’t necessarily mean more gain! And please post pics of your progress towards being a superwoman! I bet you’ll kill it on the pole whenever you get one.
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My wife and I have both weight-trained with a female Olympic-level weightlifter (also chiropractor and figure model). She emphasizes squats a lot too, and talks about “core” way more than male trainers do, and to good effect: it’s key to loving with good form. (I know this because my wife has strengthened her core and become an awesome weight-trainer, while I still can’t usually use my core, and hence still have poor form).
I’m guessing free weights are a pretty good substitute for pole because they both give your body external, heavy loads in similar ways. Hope it works for you…enjoy!
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