[Ana]

I guess there are more pole studios than I thought–cool! TGR looks nice and affordable. I'll have to check them out the next time I'm in the Des Moines area.

[Ana]

I'm from Fairfield (about an hour south of Coralville). It's too bad there doesn't seem to be much of a pole scene in Iowa. I'd love to be able to take lessons or workshops without having to drive 5 hours to Chicago.

[Ana]

Happy Birthday! Thank you for giving the gift of easily accessible and extremely fun exercise to so many people. I hope life provides you with many gifts equally as wonderful!

[Ana]

My parents bought me a pole after I showed them this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obC7vjVc8Rk&

And I show this one whenever I'm explaining what I do to boys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iE8wvaa-Rk

I've found them to be very effective – so far everyone has been really supportive. Good luck!

 

[Ana]

I found, like polergirl said, that engaging my muscles and really pushing into the pole helped a lot. My initial instinct was to try to pull away from the pole–and the pain–as much as possible, but that only put more strain on my skin and made it worse. Pushing into the pole actually made it easier on the skin, even though it's counterintuitive.

[Ana]

Mesmerizing!

Here's a good Cyr Roue (Cyr Wheel) video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBBypvakUdI

[Ana]

Very nice. Great flag, and I liked the music!

[Ana]

@Blaque – How often do you iron steam your pole? I tried it once and it seemed to help but didn't last. Do I need to do it before every pole session?