[RoseMay]

Usually dynamic stretches and some prehab work for whichever body part needs it. Then I warm the pole up with some freestyling in which I slowly add fan kicks and pole holds, then spins and then climbs. Often I'll also add elbowstand work with leg variations. Takes me around 15-30 minutes.

Then I'm ready to go 🙂

[RoseMay]

I always thought people do this when they get their feet mixed up https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif Happens to me a lot when after a combo I don't know which "side" feetwise I'm on in a inverted crucifix ….

[RoseMay]

itac is a grip aid that helps you stick to the pole and dry hands is an antitranspirant that stops sweating and adds a little grip as well.

If you're having trouble with sweat a grip aid alone is probably not gonna help as you're gonna sweat right through it. Though if you just have trouble sticking to the pole (coldness, dry skin, …) then grip aids are helpful.

I still like the vinegar, it allows me to work on moves that I'm already comfortable with for a long time until I have to clean the pole. It doesn't really help for moves that I'm not really comfortable with yet though. For those moves I'm still cleaning the pole after every trick.

[RoseMay]

I have a S factor book "strip workouts for every woman" – it's awesome for sensual floorwork and how to connect with the music and how to feel sexy in general. There are lots of moves described in a way that you can easily replicate them and how to link them together to a whole floor sequence. There's also something about wall dance and how to strip.

The pole part in it is … meh. Some tricks in it but not very well described. For pole stuff there is better instruction out there IMHO. I'd only get it if you're interested in sexy floorwork and sexy dancing 🙂

[RoseMay]

It depends on your goals. Do you want a flexibility routine for splits or for the whole body? For side splits Aletheas Pure Splits is IMHO the better one. For the whole body Felix's flexibility DVD is the better one. Back flexibility exercises are on the Felix DVD and Aletheas Stretching for Pole, but I can't evaluate the quality of the stretches. The BeSpun one is from my experience not very good for any kind of flexiblity ….

[RoseMay]

Ha, I can't even reach the pole with my arms in a CAR or CKR! Do I win the "most unflexible back" award? https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

Though I think it's normal that once you start with inverted tricks and are putting several together in combos there will be a point where you feel that your lack of flexiblity is hindering your progress and makes everything look "bad". At least for me it was this way.

I think it's worth it to focus the training more on flexibility if being more flexible is what you want. It doesn't have to be 100% flexibility and losing your strength – what about 50-50? 🙂

[RoseMay]

If you bend over from the waist and have a very rounded back to touch your toes it's mostly a back stretch (forward bend) and not a hamstring stretch. I don't know about your goals, but for me hamstring flexiblity it a lot more important (actually I barely work on back flexibility). So for me it's a lot more important how far I can get down with my back straight than being able to touch the toes with a rounded back (By now I can actually touch my toes with my back straight without being warmed up but I had to work a lot for that!)

So keep the difference in mind when working on touching those toes 🙂

[RoseMay]

What's your flooring like? I've got carpet and I can only do pirouettes in thick socks or heels with tape on the bottom. I can't do pirouettes on bare feet, thin socks or heels without tape. So for dancing it's usually heels for me. It took me a while to figure that out! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[RoseMay]

Saphyre, thanks for the explanation! I think I got the genie –> butterfly transition right then, at least in my head (probably worded it a bit wrong :-)). As for the flatline scorpio –> wrist sit I think I'm gonna need to see a video https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif The way you described it I'd say that you'd end up in a thigh rest https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif

I know it's probably hard to describe, but if you ever happen to find/make a video I'd be interested 🙂

[RoseMay]

prettyfitstore, looks like you found some pretty combos for your show case, good luck working on them! 🙂 In the pole dance dictionary are some doubles, maybe that will give you some ideas:

http://poledancedictionary.com/moves/?category=doubles

Saphyre, with that combo I was wondering when you do side climb –> genie –> butterfly, do you swing that bottom leg through two times? I mean at first it's behind the pole from the climb, then for the genie you have to bring it to the front. And the only way I found to get into butterfly from there was to swing the bottom leg back behind the pole again before the hands get into split grip position.  (Btw while trying that I found a new (for me) combo: side climb –> shooting star –> butterfly 🙂 )

And the last part flatline scorpio –> wrist sit completely eludes me. I don't even have an idea how to go about that https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif

[RoseMay]

Saphyre, do you have that last combo in a video somewhere? I just tried it and got stuck https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[RoseMay]

I think it's called the "U-bend" or "U-turn". There are several variations to this move that probably all have different names … maybe someone else knows more 🙂

[RoseMay]

Do you get stuck while trying to bring your top leg through under the upper arm? If yes, it helped me to grip higher with the upper arm and/or to slightly release the top hand for a moment and slide the body down to get the leg through.

Or do you get stuck after the top leg is through?

[RoseMay]

I think to grab the foot like that overhead you need back flexiblity in addition to split flexibility. Can you reach your foot overhead in other poses? And a good way to work towards it would be to use a towel or strap around your foot to shorten the distance you have to reach.

I can't give any pointers on technique though since I can't do that pose 🙂

[RoseMay]

Well, as always, the more often you practice it the less it will hurt https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif