[PoleGrrrrl]

I do mine both feet pointed, and I actually roll my knees outward. I imagine squeezing my ankles together and pointing my feet outward/to the side, and I find it gives me a good grip, although its really important that my ankles are properly crossed otherwise it doesn’t feel as secure

[PoleGrrrrl]

I was speaking to Alethea at the Worlds in Zurich, she said that yes, although she did shoot stuff for a DVD ages ago, she wasn’t happy with it and the tricks are already out of date. She’s hoping to do another soon, I’m thinking it may be the sexy flexy one, but she’s kinda busy so we’ll see… I did her Sexy Flexy in Bristol a few months ago and it was brilliant, so much fun https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[PoleGrrrrl]

What helped me with this move was not thinking about my hips or butt at all, but actually just trying to do big circles with my torso (you know, like the cat arch to flex in the box position on the floor)- this will naturally wiggle your butt in the movement. Super sexy move!

[PoleGrrrrl]

I’ve actually been thinking about the workshops I’ve taken, you learn something different from all, I would NEVER turn down the opportunity for a masterclass/workshop if the finances are ok. A run down of some that I’ve done:

Allegra
I did some privates with her, first time training on 100% spinny, also brilliant for sex-ifying moves, and the warm up that they do at Bobbis is *SO* much fun https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif The 1-2-1 with her really help with perfecting issues I had, and I was able to learn lots of the ‘bobbi’s special moves’ (plus she’s sooo nice!)

Deb Riley
Some of you US based people might not know who she is, she’s a leading instructor and judge in the UK and around the world. She was a judge at last year’s World championships and I think at this years as well. She again made us do almost the entire class on spinny, and taught a load of useful spinny moves. The brilliant thing about her was she emphasised doing *each* move perfectly, whether its a simple invert or pose, and to not just scramble into moves. She is one of the nicest instructors I’ve ever met, and star performers like Felix, Jenyne & Pantera all recommend her personally & professionally.

Suzie Q
TBH I didn’t learn as much from this one, I think because the level of attendees was a bit lower than my own. We did do a short doubles routine on spinny which was hilarious and loads of fun https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

Pantera
What is great about pantera is her strength and core excercises, she is an absolute machine, and she also breaks down the body mechanics and almost geometry of the placement of your arms, torso and legs, technique and incorporating breathing. It was very valuable to note for power and strength moves like aysha holds and aerial SMs etc, as how you start the move (placement of the various parts of the body), is directly related to whether you are able to do it. Pantera is so passionate about pole, strength and health, I would have done a private with her in a heartbeat if it’d been available!

Alethea Austin
This girl ROCKS. We did the sexy flexy class she’s so famous for, then floorwork, both of which i luurved. If anyone ever wants to improve their floorwork & understand the choreography they should definitely go to her. We didn’t have time for much in the way of tricks, but I had learnt sooo much already I was happy (and exhausted!)

I’m off as a spectator to the World’s in a few weeks, I was hoping to do loads of masterclasses while there, but so far the ones available are £100 (about $150 US) for only 1.5 hours. Now while I’m willing to fork out that much for 3 hours, I just can’t justify that cost for such a short class, so I guess I’ll just have to be satisfied with watching their awe-inspiring performances.

…wow that was an epic post https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif…

[PoleGrrrrl]

I’m so excited, me and about 3 or 4 other pole friends are going as well, squeeeee!!!!!!!

They are still working out details of the workshops, all we know at this stage is that they’re going to be saturday day, and all day sunday. I think they’re waiting on flight details of the performers so they can start scheduling in.

[PoleGrrrrl]

Holy mother of divine… you are amazing, regardless of your age. The fact that you are a few years senior than 21 makes it even better- on a selfish note, this gives me absolute confidence that I can still be poling 20 years from now!

Well done – voted https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[PoleGrrrrl]

Firstly, I’m glad that there’s a call out made on tall girls having more difficulty with this. I’ve always wondered whether having disproportionately long legs and being 5’8 has stopped me from getting moves that tinier and weaker girls I know have gotten no problems https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_scratch.gif Also every SINGLE masterclass I’ve done (pantera, allegra, deb riley, suzie q, alethea et al) are either teeny tiny or on the short side. The only tall girl I know of that is an amazing dancer is Fleur/Amber

I think the mule kick/swing into this move is dangerous, it really pulls the arm out of the shoulder joint and just does not feel healthy. In fact for this move, right from the first leg lift, so many muscles and limbs need to be fully engaged, I dont

In saying that, once your strength builds up, I have found that when starting the move, pushing a lot with the bottom hand/pulling a bit with the top hand, then as you rise, pull a lot with the top hand/push a little with the bottom, really helps.

And also try not to fully lock your elbows out on the bottom arm, as this will lessen the engagement of the upper arms/shoulders.

[PoleGrrrrl]

Dont forget to turn your body to the side, your torso needs to be facing outwards, rather than upwards, in order to get the lines you need. Notice if you finish your allegra in a scorpio, your lines in your scorpio are often better than normal? its because of the turn of your hips to be facing AWAY from the pole, rather than up. Its just that this will hurt like a biatch on your hip and side of your torso in contact with the pole.

You’re not going to be able to grab the pole and hold it if your body is facing up, (that’s like a weird one handed chopper), its the contact points along your torso and inner thigh on the top leg that help distribute the weight.

Hope that helps! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[PoleGrrrrl]

Oh just had a thought, make sure when you’re doing your extended butterfly that your torso is parallel to the pole, not wonky with your head to the side (as most beginners often do). You’ll find that if your body is not aligned properly and your head off kilter, you won’t be able to get the balance to bring in the leg for the jacknife (chances are you’ll find your feet will just drop to the floor)

[PoleGrrrrl]

Just following on from what the ladies have said (and assuming you’re talking about a jacknife with a sg), try doing it from an extended butterfly. Bring your leg thats hanging behind you (i.e the one thats off the pole) back towards the pole on the same side of it as the leg that is hooked on the pole, and then slide them down slowly into the jacknife position (you’ll need to bring your hips up and in closer to the pole to do this). Do it SLOWLY and preferably with a crash mat! I know a girl in class that can do this even though she cant do much of anything in sg normally, it can be a bit messy looking initially but may be what you’re after.

[PoleGrrrrl]

In the meantime I’d recommend to buy a wrist support (usually from your local pharmacy/drugstore), and also ice your wrist/hand after EVERY class- even if it doesn’t feel that sore, icing it will minimise any inflammation and swelling that can often take ages to go away. Also things like therapy elastic bands or hand grips (where you squeeze two handles together) used while going about your daily life can improve your wrist strength.

[PoleGrrrrl]

Thanks for your advice guys this is really helpful, didn’t even think about protein shakes (which will be so handy cos food is all about convenience for me!)

I do try and rest at least 2-3 days a week, my problem being that currently those rest days don’t seem to be doing my body any good (ie I don’t actually feel ‘rested’).

I’ve just started a new job however which has completely free food – breakfast, snacks (fruit, muesli bars etc), drinks, lunch (salad/hot food/sandwiches/sushi etc) and even dinner completely free, so I think my diet will improve a lot considering now I dont have to worry not only about affording to buy healthy, but that healthy will be freely available and easy to choose for me https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

Now, back to training… https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_blackeye.gif

[PoleGrrrrl]

These girls are awesome, kym is one of the best acrobatic polers in Australia. The two that did the trick where one’s hanging upside down and the other is hangin off her in the scorpio-to the head (dunno what its called), won best trick for that move at last years Miss Pole Dance Australia and 2nd overall in the competition. Wait hangon their performance is actually on youtube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNlMwik_3CQ these girls are insanely strong https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

Actually if you’re in the mood for watching vids, check out the Ministry of Pole Doubles act that won the doubles section of MPDA – awesome.

[PoleGrrrrl]

Here’s the thing right. I did ballet for about a year when I was 8 or so. I sucked – big time. I always got put at the back during performances, I had no grace and even less co-ordination.

When I was 13, I started rhythmic gymnastics in a highschool team. I kept doing this while at school, because I loved it so much. I was alright, not great, not bad, people certainly did not look at me in awe, I was somewhat flexible, but nowhere near that of rhyth gym girls that did it at proper clubs.

10 years after I stopped, I started pole. For the first, oh, maybe year and a half, again I was average. I didn’t stand out in classes, I wasn’t particularly strong, or particularly weak, I wasn’t overly graceful, the only thing I had going for me was an obsessively pointed toe from my rhyth gym days.

6 months ago, I decided to start entering competitions. I have since worked as hard as I can under the circumstances (lack of studios, instructors, time etc). Now, people look at me going, ‘OMG – you’re sooooo graceful, surely you did ballet/gymnastics/dance when you were younger’, and ‘I love watching you dance its soo pretty, were you a ballet dancer?’ Which is nice, but its frustrating because they’re attributing my improvement to some generalised dance background from 10+ years ago, that wasn’t even that great to begin with.

The reason my dancing/grace/fluidity has improved is because Ive PRACTICED!!!! I SUCKED big time when I started, and now I can’t even take credit for all my hard work because people assume that my moderate dance background as a kid is the reason. ITS NOT! I practice practice, practice the dancy stuff, not just the tricks, and as painful as it is, I record and watch myself to see how I can improve further.

Now, when I’m on the pole, I know its simply my BELIEF I look sh*t hot is the REASON I look sh*t hot! When you’re plagued with self doubts about your skills, it really, really shows. Just Believe in Yourself!!!

So, subsequent to this rant – you can TOTALLY be as good as anyone with a dance background – just believe you can be, and then practicepracticepracticepracticepracticepracticepracticepractice…… https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_thumright.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_thumleft.gif

[PoleGrrrrl]

I’ve recently started to do gym training specifically designed to complement my poling strength. I’d love to say I go 3-5 times a week but tbh I can only usually manage 2 times/week, 3 if Im lucky.

Tbh the guy that gave me the program had no experience with pole dancers (in fact his eyes popped out of his head in a very amusing way when I told him), however as long as I could describe the moves I needed the strength for, he could assess what muscle groups needed to be worked on in order to improve. I think if instructor has a good knowledge of muscle groups and engagement, they don’t really need to know the ins and outs of pole.

I have three types of workouts I mix and match – upper body, core, and lower body (you’d be surprised how much a strong lower body can help). I work these in around my poling schedule so I don’t double up on the same muscle groups.

If there was anything to suggest, I would ask them to create a workout which uses upper body AND core strength at the same time, as this is what you’re going to do when poling. Also work in wrist and forearm exercises as well, there’s no point developing awesome core and bulging biceps if your poor little feeble hands can’t hold you up there! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

Oh also, try asking POLE INSTRUCTORS about moves to do in the gym – 9 times out of 10 (decent) pole instructors are also qualified personal trainers, or do their own workouts in the gym so they may know some helpful tips.