[RoseMay]

Are you able to do an one armed embrace or elbow grip skater? I think that would be a good way to learn how to squeeze the pole (through the sweat https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif) without having to go upside down.

Also maybe It's easier to learn an elbow grip caterpillar and elbow grip caterpillar climb before Aysha?

[RoseMay]

Are we talking about wrist wraps or this kinesio tape? There is a difference..

I'm using wrist wraps for lifting weights to stabilize the wrist and keep it neutral. When you're working with weights you don't want the wrist to bend under load and you can use more weight if the wrist is stabilized. I got really tiny and fragile wrists that often hurt when I'm doing too much flexion based movements (handstands etc). Don't think my wrists are made to support the weight used in weight lifting https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif (Of course I'm also always working on strengthening them.)

I wouldn't use MY wraps for pole though because they allow very little movement in the wrist. There are lots of moves that I wouldn't be able to do with them, like handstand dismounts. The type of wraps gymnasts use (or the mighty grip ones) must allow more movement though, so they might be worth looking into. I think they would help with split grips and stuff like that. Also they help with keeping the joints warm.

[RoseMay]

Really like what Elektra wrote about using the abdomial muscles 🙂

I found that for moves like the elbowstand press you're using the lower back, hamstring and glute muscles more than the actual abdominal muscles (which you would use for inverting and holding your legs up in front of you and stuff like that)

I like this exercise for building strength for elbowstand presses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZz-XYaRWw8

You're kinda doing the same movement you would do to get up to an elbowstand: extend the legs from a flexion. If you do it with legs straddled it helps more with the straddle press 🙂

[RoseMay]

I think working on holding elbowstands and handstands also helps with preparation for these moves. Just to become more accustomed being upside down and holding the balance and the handstands to build up shoulder stability..

[RoseMay]

Well I'm currently in "pole-offseason" https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif as it's summer and warm and I'm sweating too much to do anything on the pole.

I do a strength routine 3 times a week, using free weights for the lower body and gymnastic style strength exercises for the upper body.

Then I try to get in 2-3 hours of flexibility training per week.

Also I do a lot of prehab exercises for the shoulders and upper back (and other body parts too, but these are the ones I concentrate on for pole dance)
~1 hour per week, I try to do something daily.

One or two times per week I spend one hour pole dancing, but without any tricks (Atm I'm using Aletheas dance DVDs for that).

Depending on how much time I have I set priorities:
1. strength training
2. prehab
3. flexy
4. dance

Hope this helps 🙂

[RoseMay]

That sounds like an awful lot that you're going through health wise, kudos to you for doing such a strenous exercise like pole! Maybe you can try to find your own rhythm in class, so that you stop when things get too strenous for you and do a cool down by yourself? It will probably feel weird to just step away and do your own thing, but hey you're paying for the class, so you should be allowed to listen to your own body 🙂

If you can't eat carbs, you're probably eating enough fat for energy? I'm sure eating healthier will help a bit with your other diseases too though, that could be a motivation 🙂

[RoseMay]

I'd make sure your nutrition is supporting your body's repair processes … make sure you get enough protein, fat and carbs. Usually what people REALLY eat is very different from what they think they're eating, food journals (like fitday.com) help with that. Also vitamins and minerals are very important.  You can also look into fish oil.

I take a multivitamin, vitamin D, fish oil and ZMA on a daily basis and I'm usually only sore after flexibility training. I'm a bit younger, but my body is due to several past injuries/surgeries definately not very forgiving …

[RoseMay]

It is impossible for us to give you tips for recovery without knowing what's wrong with your shoulder. Shoulders are a tricky body part. What helps for one kind of injury can worsen another one. It's best to go see a doctor – or if you want to take the risk of reinjuring it when going back to pole, rest it until the pain goes away. And then rest some more 😉

[RoseMay]

I guess getting from apprentice to a basic invert is kinda the same as doing the split grip invert to butterfly to basic invert. From a butterfly you can go to a basic invert by bringing the back leg to the pole. So to go right from apprentice to a basic invert I figure you can just skip the butterfly in between and put both legs on the pole? At least it works in my head this way …

[RoseMay]

Being able to do the basics on both sides also helps to work around bruises 🙂 I bruise easily when I over-do leg hangs (yes, even though I've been doing them for more than a year now^^). But I never had both legs bruised on the same spots so far. So when I have a bruise for my outside leg hang on the good side – I'll still be able to do outside leg hangs on my bad side while letting the other side heal. Thats especially useful because you need leg hangs for a lot of combos and to enter more advanced moves.

Also currently I'm working around an injury which makes inverting on my good side impossible. Well I'm glad that I have another side of my body so that I can still pole https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

So short answer: yes, work on that invert on your weak side, in the long run it will make your pole life a lot easier 🙂

[RoseMay]

So fun to read which interesting jobs the girls here have 🙂

I'm studying information systems at a university full time and working as a software developer part time https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_geek.gif I'm currently working on my bachelor thesis in applied cryptography https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_ugeek.gif

[RoseMay]

If you have a wall/pole where there's a cupboard or another wall opposite to it you can use that to get comfortable in the end position of your elbow/forearm/handstand first. The wall/pole is behind your back so that you won't fall over and the cupboard/other wall/chair or whatever it is should be something over 1m away from the wall/pole – so that you can walk your feet halfway up. (I used for example a cupboard next to my pole to walk my feet up while my back was against the pole)

It's best if you have a bit of room next to it so you have a free landing area for your feet. Just be careful to control the landing so that you don't hit anything.

In the beginning the feet can stay there where they walked up, but if you get more comfortable with supporting the weight on your arms you can "kick" one up over your body… if that feels comfortable take the other up over your body too. It doesn't really require a kick, just a small shift of weight.

Then when you know how it feels at the top and build some strength it will be easier to get into it without the help.

[RoseMay]

In my experience it all depends on the wide angle of the camera you're using and the distance the camera is away from the pole of course. But at home you often don't have the space to put the camera a few more metres away from the pole to record.

I have a kinda cheap camera (Sony Cybershot DSC-WX7 with 25mm wide angle) and I can get the whole height of my pole on video if I record it upright. But then the space next to the pole that gets recorded is limited. If the camera is horizontal I can record my floorwork, but only like 1/4 of the pole height.

If I use a more expensive camera (not sure about the technical details, but the wide angle is a lot larger – and it was around 5 times more expensive than mine^^) it's easier to record more space around the pole from the same position of the camera in the room.

If you plan on buying a camera I'd definately pay attention to these technicalities. Before buying mine I tested with the expensive camera how large the wide angle has to be to get the whole pole on video.

[RoseMay]

While there are LOTS of moves I can't do … here's a list of things from Veenas lessons that I *should* be able to do, based on the difficulty of the other things I can do, but just can't seem to get for month or stopped working on completely:

– cradle spin on static (I just don't spin at all^^)

– forward attitude spin on static

– corkscrew spin

– reverse grab spin (Got it one time, but then never again ..)

– rockstar spin (I reach the ground before I can even place my legs^^)

– any kind of spin combination on static mode (the spin is usually over before the second spin starts)

– (twisted) ballerina (Hurts too much^^)

– x ankle climb with the lower hand against the pole (can do it with my forearm against the pole)

– advanced plank on a 45mm pole (50mm is okay)

– elbowstand situp (The point where I have to take the weight with my legs and raise the upper body up freaks me out)

– star/cupid (I just slide right down …)

Well, some of the moves on this list I don't NEED to get, but it would be nice if one day I learned how to do a few of these things 🙂

[RoseMay]

Just today I read something interesting about the frequency of injuries and what is considered normal. The article was written by a PhD who works in medicine research.

According to that article 4 injuries per 1000 hours of participation in a sport are considered a low injury rate. So if you do a sport 6 hours per week you could get those 1000 hours within maybe 3 years. So if you only get injured 4 times in those 3 years that's very good .. or the sport you do has a low risk of injury.

What do you and your friends eat, LillyBilly? https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

Cinara, I did the survey and hope you can figure your problems out 🙂