[Charley]

Yes flexibility can be gained as an adult.

That’s the good news, the bad news is you are going to have stretch each and every day! You need to warm up properly – atleast 12 minutes. Then stretch for about 20 minutes a day – 2-3 times is best and don’t over stretch (this causes you to be less flexible.)

Tips
Breathe, breathe through your stretches and breathe as you take them deeper
You should experience discomfort but not pain
Stretch all the leg muscles – not just hip flexors or hamstrings but glutes, quads, knees, ankles, feet, back etc.
Take your time going into deep stretches and hold them for about a minute.
Take it slow, don’t bounce
Drink lots of water before, during and after stretching sessions
RELAX – if you’re stressed out, your muscles will be really tense so relax
Be warmed up!!!
Spend the time to make sure you are doing your stretches properly and using good posture.
Don’t worry about "Progress"

Even if you have a hard time getting to the splits increasing your flexibility will not only make moves look nicer but it will decrease your chance of injury. So even if you never quite get to splits atleast you’ll be improving your body and it’s ability to stay safe.

I’ve known people to get splits as an adult who never could as a child.

[Charley]

She’s an ex girlfriend of Hugh Hefner. She’s known for being the silly one on the show The Girls Next Door.

I have no problem with her persay however am very disappointed that X-Pole chose to do a signature series pole with someone who doesn’t even pole dance, much less being a respected pole dancer.

If X-pole wanted to do a signature pole with someone I can name loads of people who would have sold more poles – Pantera, Jenyne Butterfly, Tammy Morris, Fawnia Monday, etc. I am very disappointed with Vertical Leisure and their decision to partner with someone who knows jack about pole dancing – I find it insulting to us. I find the numerous times she says "stripper pole" to be degrading to us as pole dancers as women. Not because I have an issue with strippers but because I don’t like the message and image she is putting onto pole dancing. Hell, Carmen Electra would have been a better pick – atleast she has exercise DVD’s.

[Charley]

I believe it is the X-pol XTREME bottom loading pole (drool!)

IS the bottom loading X available in something besides the KW pole? I don’t want a KW signature pole plus its a 45mm and I would want a 50mm.

[Charley]

It’s the my sexy pole.

The girl in the pic should symone from youtube. She said the pole is stable but has flex in it. It’s a cross between a Lil Mynx and a peek a boo pole. I’ve not heard of this pole coming down however it can cut you as the pieces slot together like Veena said instead of screwing together seemlessly. Also this pole will not be able to handle as much as a pole that screws the joints together because when it sway the slotted parts can bend.

[Charley]

Amcut – they might come apart using silicone. It might not be too bad. I am not sure how much silicone is but the petroleum jelly can be gotten from a dollar store so I went with the cheapest route.

Someone else where said silicone works really well! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

If they are really stuck and strap wrenches won’t get them apart (mine were and my strap wrenches were pretty useless) you can try what me and my bf did – he used a strap wrench on one end and I stood on the handle of the wrench on the other end and with some male muscle we got them apart.

[Charley]

Loving all these picks – especially the slow dark ones.

I love dancing to KORN, NIN, Cult, etc. but a lot of those songs have been named so I’ll pick songs that haven’t

Tori Amos – I’m on Fire
Melissa Ethridge – I’m the Only One (so empowering!)
Damien Rice – Volcano
Sarah Mclachlan – Fallen
Ryan Adams – Desire
Tool – Sober
Paula Cole – Feelin’ Love
Soundgarden – 4th of July
Live – I Alone
Boston – More than a Feeling (totally serious! I think I just the love the 12 string intro)

[Charley]

Check Markstarr. You’ll probably still need to get a vaulted ceiling flange which they may have or you can check out the PS adapter – it *might* work.

If not Markstarr try kegworks. If neither of those 2 places work I happen to know for a fact that the PS ceiling plate works with the X-pole – so possibly the PS vaulted adapter would work with the X-pole.

[Charley]

name: https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

age: 28

location: Metro Detroit

stage name:Charley

lessons or self taught: While I’ve not had formal Lessons I have learned a lot from others and owe credit to a dancer Senorita Sable and I also owe a lot to Alena Downs of Pole Junkies as well as many members of Vertical Dance(too long a list to name.)

spin or static: Static but teach in spin

shoes or barefoot: both

favorite pole move: There are many – handspring, aysha, jackknife are my favorite holds but I love the reverse grab, genie, genie drop and my favortie thing is to step around and priouette

day job: Broadcaster (DJ https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_DJ.gif ) Currently a stage presenter/actress at a Science Museum

your best/sexiest feature: My sense of humor, eyebrows ( they are naturally arched and thin)

how you got into pole dancing: I bought a peek a boo from advertising client when I worked at a station in Toledo got it up and fell in love with dancing around the pole – the only thing I could do was the fireman and I didn’t even know what it was. I had sucha hard time at that station with some of the male personalities dancing around that pole was the first time in a really long time I felt feminine and sexy (I generally work around all men.) I remembered I was a girl and I was HOOKED!

how you found out about studioveena.com: I actually knew Veena from some other places on web and decided to drift over and see what her site was about https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif

if you were a pair of underwear would you be a thong, boy shorts, bikini cut or granny panties: Lacey Boy Shorts

[Charley]

Well, that settles it then – I’ll just order a bag of new pins – they are so cheap and I am always loosing mine anyways.

[Charley]

The "true" x ankle is supposed to be done with an ankle/shin grip – however it is much more difficult and can be more dangerous. you should be familiar with the cross leg version (thigh gripped) before attempting.

I did the cross leg release (as I call it just to disinguish it from the more advanced hold) forever and it wasn’t until I got good with the iguana that I learned it and it caused a lot of shin and ankle bruising – not to mention it’s a lot more difficult to pull yourself up on the pole AND it’s hard to impossible to do a bridge out of it and if you are too low on you r pole hard to do any b/a, pencil, lunchbox combos because you’ll drop on your head.

It’s a good grip if you want to do a drop (love drops) but not a move that should be learned before the cross leg version.

KT teaches "true" x ankle on her online lessons but not on the vertical dance DVD.

I am still afraid of the cross leg release – still freaks me right out. I am scared of a lot of moves – straight edge for one – it takes all my guts to do it – even though I can. I think the fear goes away the more you do it but we tend to avoid the moves that instill fear in us.

[Charley]

I had this problem for awhile too and cannot understand why it happened.

I was wondering if dancing in shoes might be the reason, long shot here, but what if a stilletto pulls on it from the side or something and it comes undone???

[Charley]

POST!!!!!! You have to post your practice! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

I know what you mean about carpet – I’m not a huge fan of it either https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif

Ballet slippers are great! They really do help you move around on carpet.

I’m sorry you had to cancel your studio membership. Hopefully things turn around soon.

Something I was thinking of doing was getting a 4ftX4ft sheet of plywood and covering with flooring just to have a smooth surface around the pole to dance on.

[Charley]

My LM was up for over a year and when I took it down the whole flange fell out and sawdust rained down. I asked about it on S Factor, since for awhile it was the pole they sold, and there were some others who had the same problem.

The LM’s need to be retightened – well, all poles do over time. There were times when I would work in spin mode on my PS pole and I realized it had come a bit loose and had to retighten it. The problem with the LM is that there is a single screw fixing the flange, the pole sits in the flange so as the pole moves from big swings the flange moves thus the screw moves – essentially boring out the joist.

If the pole is reset a lot and tightened or isn’t used for really hard swings it’s fine. I did have mine up a long time before it got loose like that. I *think* it’s because the bottom can move out – even on carpet once it starts to loosen a bit – goes slightly crooked and that also stresses on the flange.

For me once I saw the damage done I couldn’t replace the pole where it was and decided to get a Platinum Stages.

I love the LM’s because they are one piece but was really put off by the damage. I probably didn’t retighten it as much as it needed to be tightened though. I am sure it was 50% user error and 50% the design.

[Charley]

X-pole shouldn’t push through the ceiling if you are under a stud.

If you move to a 45mm you’ll find spins and hand gripped moves easier but leg grip will probably be harder. If you have small hands or sweaty hands you might prefer the 45mm but if you’ve been dancing on your 2”/50mm you’ll probably do just fine with the 50mm X.

I know the Flirty Girl style pole – it’s similar to Lil Mynx but can you fastened the base to the floor with the FG pole?

I had a Lil Mynx and it did the same thing and left a large hole in the ceiling as well as compromised the stud. If you fasten the base to the floor it should get rid of this problem. You rent so I am not sure if that is an option for you. I also rent and it just wasn’t an option for me. Sadly.

I have heard if you constantly take those types of poles down and reset them up you’ll have no problems. I am going to use my LM to teach with but it will be taken down every hour of use.

[Charley]

Vaseline never dries out according to my father. If your pole is up – it’s not an issue because it’s threaded together, if you take your pole down I would wrap the ends in plastic wrap to be sure nothing gets stuck to the grease and gets caught in your threads.

Vaseline will not hurt, stain or rust your pole – it’s non abrasive. It’s been working like a charm for me. Just be sure to clean up any seeping jelly that gets onto the pole – I use acetone, does a great job of cleaning everything up.