Anzia
Forum Replies Created
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A friend and I are considering going next year. If you do go, let me know how you find it!
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Could it be a strength thing with your arms? I ask because I used to find the same thing. For the first climb you have the floor to push on as well as your arms to pull with. And then your legs (which for many people are stronger than their arms) can grip on the pole to take your body weight. But a second climb, and all the ones after that, rely much more on arm strength to pull up. And if you don’t get the lower arm quite right, your body dangles against the pole instead of slightly out from it, making it really hard to get a quick and strong knee grip to push up with. You’re left trying to grip and push with your thighs which can leave your body weight still dangling mostly on your arms again. If that might be what it is, what I did was:
– Pole holds and pole tucks (in Veena’s lessons) to build arm strength.
– Checked my arm position for best lower arm placement to keep my body slightly out from the pole as I pull up (i.e. lower arm’s forearm pressed into the pole).
– Kept practising even if for every climb after the first one I wasn’t going anywhere or even sliding down the pole! I just kept doing the movement anyway on the grounds that even if I wasn’t successfully climbing, I was still building strength and movement memory.
– Sometimes it’s sheer repetition. I could not side climb, not even one step. It was my nemesis move because I was taking my studio’s novice medal in 4 days and had to do 3 side climb steps to pass. I tried 15 times on end in one practice session, telling myself I was going to do it, stopping was not an option, and managed my 3 steps on both sides. That was definitely a mental ‘just do it’ breakthrough!
If you post a video, people on here might be able to see what could help? Good luck 🙂
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I’ve had a week off now with a bug… haven’t been poling either. Weak and headachey/queasy 🙁 But I’m thinking about where to go with this anyway because I mentioned it to my physio and she said she recommended increasing load rather than endurance based on my description of what pole dancing involves for me. She said I should, for example, bridge with a weight on my core, and increase the weight each time I do it rather than the length of time. Apparently that will improve my pole performance more than doing the move for longer. (This obviously may only apply to me based on what I do in classes and with what she knows about my body’s strengths and weaknesses – I’m not saying everyone should!) Anyway, the bug is finally going and I will make pole class tonight and decide what to do. I think in general I’ve been doing lots of exercise (sometimes finishing at 11.30 pm) and the physio has challenged me to exercise smarter rather than longer and to really focus on what will have maximum benefit for my specific strength/flexibility issues. It’s true I haven’t previously had specific goals for pole. When I sat down on Sunday and worked out my goals, some of the challenges didn’t contribute to them at all and neither did some of my other fitness stuff. Lots for me to think about!
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Hi and welcome! 🙂
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The Switch is in the Conditioning videos section if that helps 🙂 I think (?) they’re grouped by body part being tortured (strengthened) so similar ones would be near it in the list. I could be wrong on that, though!
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I love having the lessons. I’m really impressed with their structure and quality. Several times, I’ve been able to get a move only after looking at Veena’s tutorial, despite taking classes too! I really recommend them 🙂
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I love how positive and resilient you are! It’s really inspirational. You are totally going to nail those handstands because of the effort you’ll put in, and it will be so well deserved. Go you!
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Good luck! Like someone above said, I sometimes have my arms flat on the forearm with palms resting on the floor, and sometimes use the side of my forearms with the outer edges of my hands resting on the floor. Either way seems pretty neutral for my wrists so hopefully you’ll find it a comfortable exercise. Well, comfortable other than your upper arms, abs and legs all screaming at you lol.
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I’ll check that. Thanks ferrous! Day off on most of them today. I just had to do tricep dips and push ups. Back to the killer 161 sec plank tomorrow, eeeek.
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Android 🙂
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No way! I was so excited to read that. My phone is always on silent too. I put the sound back on, volume on loud and tried all my challenges (6 of them now!!! My poling had better improve after this!) but it didn’t talk to me 🙁 I feel unloved and rejected by an app lol.
In other news, I’ve reset the push ups challenge. I hadn’t really done push ups before and I’ve realised I was doing them wrongly (too shallow) to be effective. So today I started again (I was on 23) and managed… 4. Going right down to the floor and slowly back up is sooooo hard! My poor arms! -
So, in case anyone has an app crash in future:
Start test = X secs
Day 1 = X
Day 2 = X + 20 secs
Day 3 = X + 40 secs
Day 4 = X + 40 secs
Day 5 = Day off
Day 6 = X + 40 secs
Day 7 = X + 60 secs
Day 8 = X + 60 secs
Day 9 = X + 60 secs
Day 10 = X + 80 secs
Day 11 = X + 100 secs
Day 12 = Day off
Day 13 = X + 100 secs
Day 14 = X + 120 secs
Day 15 = X + 140 secs
Day 16 = X + 140 secs
Day 17 = X + 160 secs
Day 18 = X + 160 secs
Day 19 = Day off
Day 20 = X + 180 secs
Day 21 = X + 200 secs
Day 22 = X + 200 secs
Day 23 = X + 220 secs
Day 24 = X + 220 secs
Day 25 = X + 240 secs
Day 26 = Day off
Day 27 = X + 260 secs
Day 28 = X + 280 secs
Day 29 = X + 280 secs
Day 30 = X + 300 secsI’m feeling quite nervous now I’ve looked ahead!!
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Hi Amy, I have both perspectives because I attend two different studios (soon to become three, I hope!). I also have Veena’s lessons on here which IMO are essential for anyone wanting structured progression with an emphasis on good form, correct technique and safety – but I’m preaching to the converted there 🙂 I watch the relevant Veena lesson anytime we learn a move in class, but would absolutely be comfortable using them without classes too. Another good resource is Aerial Amy’s blog which has tips and videos for various moves at different levels.
I think if you like the social aspects of a class, it’s worth trying another studio as they are all so different and it can be such good fun with a group around you, but with Veena’s lessons, a crash mat and – ideally – a spotter for new moves, you’d be fine at home.
Finally, never be afraid to refuse to try something, or ask for a modification, in class. For example, one studio got us to do one handed spins way too soon for me. Like you, I’m quite safety minded, so I just said I didn’t feel I had the strength yet and I kept doing my spins two handed for about a month after that. I can now do one handed on my dominant side but still have to go two handed on my non-dominant side. I’ll get there, but my point is that if something causes you concern, listen to yourself and insist that the studio takes your concern seriously. If they’re any good, they will do 🙂 -
If anyone wants me to type up the challenge timings on medium (what mine’s set to) for plank, I can do. That way we can keep going even if the app doesn’t cooperate!
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Day 9 done! 😀