[CarissaRose21]

ETA: I totally didn't read the part where you said you were looking for ideas for home. Hmmm, that changes things. I'd say if you can get your hands on a pull up bar, that would be a great idea. The thing with strength training is that there is only so much weight you can work with before it gets too easy after a while. If you don't change things up a bit, you will plateau and your body will get used to lifting the same amount of weight, thus not getting stronger. So if you can't get to a gym I'd say your best bet is working with your own body weight doing push ups, pull ups and things others mentioned, as well as using the pole to condition.

[CarissaRose21]

If anyone is serious about gaining strength aside from doing pole, I highly, highly recommend checking out Stronglifts 5×5. It is a beginners lifting program for men and women that incorporates all of the main compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press etc. You lift as heavy as you can (starting out with just the barbell), doing 5 sets of 5 reps 3x a week. You just need a gym membership or the available equipment. I was doing this for a few months and holy god did I get SO much stronger with pole a lot faster than just pole by itself. I was losing fat and getting leaner too. I had to stop though because I pulled a glute muscle at pole convention in Oona's workshop. I miss it so much can't wait to get back to lifting when my muscle heals.

[CarissaRose21]

This is such a great question. I started eating differently in the beginning of this year, because I was feeling sluggish and wanted to lose a few pounds, pole dancing aside. I completely cut out all processed carbohydrates, dairy, as well as junk food of course. Fast forward 4 months and I lost 20 pounds, okay done. Then I started getting real serious about strength training, in efforts to improve my pole progress, naturally. I had lost the weight, but wanted to focus now more on changing my physique as well as getting stronger. Part of this required me to eat for fuel, not so much pleasure anymore. I realized I was not getting enough calories and this made my energy levels pretty low. So I went from 1,450 cals to 2,050 overnight. The change, while scary- has made such improvements to my pole progress it's not even funny. I keep my protein very high, about 150g a day, as well as enough fat and moderate carbs. I do not eat any grains (any excess fat on my stomach comes right back when I do), so this can make getting in carbs difficult. Lots of sweet potatoes usually fixes it though. I am not afraid to eat bacon, or avocados, and never buy low-fat anything. The only form of sugar I eat is through fruits. Lots and lots of vegetables, as well as lean meats. I try my best to also buy organic produce and grass-fed meat, for health reasons.

[CarissaRose21]

I've been able to do a CAR for almost 2 years now, it's a move that I feel very comfortable with. Yet for some reason now when I go to do it I get a quick moment of panic, and I get scared! Once I get over that fear and lay back, I'm fine though. I think for me it's because I've been practicing the move higher than I usually do, because I've been working on the iguana/pencil grip from CAR and that requires you to be higher up on the pole. So I guess mentally, because I'm higher from the floor than I normally do it my body just starts to freeze and I get nervous.

[CarissaRose21]

Remi sit Remi sit Remi sit Remi sit Remi sit Remi sit Remi sit Remi sit Remi sit Remi sit

[CarissaRose21]

For me, someone who embodies their music is someone who not only just dances to a song, but pays attention to the tiniest details- like following along to the beat, dances through from the tips of their fingers to the points of their toes, someone who is dynamic and tells a story through their performance. I think that you can be awesome at doing tricks, but can also suck at putting on a show and really reaching out to your audience and putting together a beautiful routine. As far getting over nerves while performing in front of peers, it's something that you just get used to over time. My pole studio has an anniversary party every year, and there are both instructor and student performances. I performed last year, and will be doing it again this year, and for me I was very very nervous. But my instructor is a very positive person and said some things to me that helped me relax. Don't worry about who you're performing in front of, they are there to watch you kick ass, not to critique you. Just be confident, use that nervous energy and transform it into positive adrenaline that will add power to your performance. I know that the beginning of my routine suffered a bit because I was so nervous that my body kind of froze up, but the energy from the crowd and everybody cheering me on really helped me get in tune with the music and helped me loosen up a bit.

[CarissaRose21]

I have to disagree with everyone here that I love how the side climb looks, if you do it RIGHT. If you keep both legs/feet together, toes pointed not FLEXED, then it looks very pretty, like how Jenyne does it. I don't like when people side climb like they are "grabbing a rope", one leg goes up at a time. Not cute.

 

For me, I think the remi sit is one of the ugliest moves I have ever seen. I don't care if a greek goddess on the pole is doing it, I think it looks painful and awkward and not graceful at all. That and the marley- where you are in a 'jasmine' but you grab the free leg, and pull it towards your face? Just ugly. I've never seen anyone do it where the leg is straight, but instead in this awkward bent position that looks incredibly silly.

 

I have to agree with everyone here that the Teddy is also unappealing to look at. It just screams "hey!! look at my vagina! here it is!!" lol. 

 

Also the one knee hold move where both knees are wrapped around the pole?? I can't think of the name but I don't like it haha.

[CarissaRose21]

I agree with all of the above posts that I think TG handspring should not be a requirement  to move up a level. My pole studio that I train at does not have any 'levels', they have always been mixed level classes and the instructor caters to who is in the class. Sometimes it can be difficult to focus on new moves when there are tons of beginners who are just learning spins, but it doesn't bother me. I like to work at my own pace and my instructor is always there if I need a spotter.

As far as my OP, thanks for everyones advice thus far. I think my body is just not used to holding it's entire weight with just my arms, I'm going on day 2 after my last practice and it's starting to feel a little better. As far as my form goes, I'd say it's pretty spot-on to what it's supposed to look like. I will try to upload a picture that I took during my last practice, but my shoulders are centered, my body is facing up, and my lower arm is slightly bent and not locked into position.

What's strange to me is how comfortable it felt when I was there (even though I am paying the price now), and I am someone who suffers from small hands that get incredibly sweaty and my studio only has 50's so I'm always complaining about my grip.

I also apologize if this was already spoken about in previous threads ^_^

[CarissaRose21]

I have always side climbed with BOTH legs up at once….I don't know why, I just think it looks prettier and more graceful (that is if you do it right!). I took a workshop with Jenyne Butterfly a few months ago and she made a point about hand grip that made a lot of sense to me. She said that the way she does it is she uses the same hand positioning as the chair spin. That is, the arm that is farther away from the pole is going to be the arm that PUSHES away from the pole while the inside arm helps to PULL both your legs up the pole high enough to regrip and keep going. The most challenging thing about doing it this way is the need to keep your toes pointed since the grip behind the knee will be less since your bringing both legs up together at once, your bottom foot will want to flex against the pole to sustain that grip.

[CarissaRose21]

It took me 6 months to invert, but I hadn't tried it before then so who knows if I could do it sooner or not. Either way, 6 months in and I could do it, but I wasn't doing it properly. I was kicking into it which is how I was taught for beginners (a no-no), and it took me another 6 months before I was doing a slow and controlled straddle, without kicking. On my pole at home (funny story) I ended up breaking a lamp and slamming my foot into my mother's antique desk leaving a nice big hole in the wood- from not being able to hold my body up because I was kicking up! I ended up pulling some muscles in my back on my left side (which is my "strong side" where I invert) because I was overworking myself. I absolutely regret kicking into my inverts all those months, hell all that YEAR- because I was not strengthening my muscles and preparing my upper body and core for more advanced tricks later on. I had felt like such a badass for so long just because I could go upside down- once I started to plain old deadlift it and straddle could I feel the difference and how hard it is and how I was doing it wrong all that time. Once I started doing it correctly did I advance faster in my pole journey- now I'm able to invert and straddle with straight legs but still practicing, as my hip flexors are weak.