Runemist34
Forum Replies Created
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I’m with Calipolepixie- I’d love to have Eva Bembo’s fluidity!
But, sadly, I’ll probably never make it to a class like this, being that I live in a tiny town in Canada 😉 I’ll just have to make it up on my own!
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I agree with Veena, and I’ve been using her step-and-sweep method for pretty much every single invert I’ve ever done. Some people just progress slower with certain moves, and the basic invert is one of those I don’t take to easily. This is pretty much the ONLY way I can get my rear up there!
Jumping, also, can cause a heck of a lot of impact on muscles that aren’t ready for it. If you jump, you’re essentially transferring all of that momentum up, and into your shoulders. It stops there, with quite the jolt. This can strain, and even tear muscles… and is, for me, not an effective method of getting up anyways! I’ve never been able to jump my feet up over my head.
It’s really unfortunate that your studio is so ambiguous with their wording. Perhaps you should speak to them about it? -
As with the others, I have very long legs, and nearly no flexibility. I think Veena’s right, in that longer legs can create an illusion of flexibility when it may not be there, or greater flexibility compared to someone with shorter legs.
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Spicyjc3655, I could totally see where you’d get a bruise like that! I know I’ve had a pinch or two in that area… and this is one my favourite moves!
Best think I could suggest is to make sure that your straightened leg is pointing upward before you go for the laying back part of the move. Get your legs in position first, leg your bum come down toward the pole, so that you’ve got most of your weight in that inner knee area. Then you can lay back, and you’ll have everything set up so you’re not pinching when your weight changes. -
Pole dancing really works all areas of the body, with almost all of the muscles, so any exercises would be good! I think a lot of people focus much on upper body strength (shoulders and arms), but the core is extremely useful, and our thigh muscles, and calf muscles, are also used often, though we may not think about it!
If ever I go to the gym, though, I try to focus on areas I know are weaker on my body. That would be triceps, lats, shoulders (like, deltoids). So, you can determine some of the areas you’d like to work on, and focus on those sorts of exercises 🙂
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For those interested, my Skype name is also Runemist34, and I’ll always turn it on when I’m poling 😉
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Denixxom, when I was in a studio I had a similar situation- I learned the Fireman spin, and then two of it’s variations, and then the back hook spin (moving forward), all within four weeks. It was very difficult, and I think that if it was slowed down, or taken at a more beginner-safe pace, I would have been easier with it.
My advice would be, if you can, to go to your studio if they have some “free pole” time, and see if you can practice. It really does help to practice your spins!
Otherwise, you can also ask the instructor about what you might do at home for more strength, and impart to her that you’re having issues and, perhaps, reservations about doing these moves so soon after beginning pole.As I said, I started learning spins very early. My first week was the fireman spin- not much else, either! It took me ages, and quite a while after the studio closed, before I learned to climb. They aren’t necessarily related, but I can see where it would be a concern.
For actual spinning, a lot of these moves require strong shoulder engagement (think about pulling your arm and shoulder down toward your hip, engaging the lat on your side, so that you can keep your shoulder from over-extending). Gaining momentum can be really difficult for a lot of spins, but I find a long, extended leg-swing can really help get me going (unless you’re on spinning pole!). It’ll take time, but you’ll definitely get there 🙂
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I’d love to get together on Skype and have pole jams, as well! I’m pretty much fully-self/home taught, and I’m not terribly advanced, so no worries about me saying something like “Yeah, I’ve been working on this combo with the true grip handspring and the dragon tail…” Nowhere near that yet! Haha
Let me know what your timezone is, and we can find some pole time! -
My twitter: Runemist34
https://twitter.com/Runemist34 -
Actually, I just tried it- warming up the pole a bit higher, and adjusting my grip to places where I KNOW I’ve got a good grip (because it’s warm) and had way better success! I can’t hold it for very long, but… I AM holding it for a brief pose, so that’s good 🙂
Any suggestions on how to improve my strength for this grip, too, are welcome. Working a lot more on my one handed spins 😉 -
Dustbunny, I have considered that maybe that area of the pole may be a little less warm than where my lower hand is. I don’t have/use any kind of grip aid, as if I did, I think I’d just end up taking some skin off instead (generally, my pole and I are super grippy, and I’ve had some really bad skin burn from it if I do too much :P).
I was thinking perhaps it was an issue with my own positioning, perhaps I was just putting too much pressure going down on that hand, or something else I may not be aware of.
As for one handed spins, I can do them fairly fine if my legs are still on the pole. So, things like front hook spins and fireman spins I do well with one hand (and have fun!), but I’m not quite advanced enough for something like a chair spin one handed (I’m working on it, though!) and I’ve only recently felt strong enough to work on my reverse grab again 😉 I’ve missed that one lots! -
I’m not working on any particular moves, actually. Just trying to build strength, and understand the hold, until I’ve got it good enough that I feel comfortable doing moves that require split grip.
During my studio days (a very long time ago) I was taught a split grip V-kick, just from the floor, which you could also use as a hold. In general that is what I think of each time… but things like a Carousel spin, or even using that position as a pose, are fairly attractive to me. I just can’t seem to keep myself up to do them 😉 -
It can be a slow process if you don’t trust your grip at first (which is entirely normal!), so the way I did it was to get into the position, and really anchor into my legs, and then relax my hands. Not take them off, but just feel where and how the weight goes when my hands aren’t actually supporting you. If you feel the weight shift at all, you can lock your hands back on in a moment and be safe. Eventually, I worked on taking one hand off, and then the other, though I’m not very good at bringing them back behind me- I still prefer keeping them in front, as the balance is still the same.
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Oh man, there are a BILLION different tips one could give for both performance and competition! Best thing I could possibly say is this: Do something YOU are proud of!
My best example of this is thus: I have never won anything, quite literally. I’ve always been one of those “consolation/thanks for trying” sort of prize winners. I never believed in being proud of myself, because I was crazily afraid of being prideful. I’m weird, I know. BUT, recently for a class we had a “Pitch your story” competition, in which we could win a very nice portfolio. I looked at that and said “I’m not going to win that, so… instead, I’m going to make something I am proud of!”
I won the thing. I was shocked.
Also, another good example: Felix Cane is seen saying, before her performance that she won the first Australian competition she competed in, “I’m not really here to win, I’m just happy to be in it.”I agree with JSheridan on all the other points. 🙂
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I tend to suffer a kind of fatigue when I’m not doing a lot of stuff during my days. I think I’ve pinned it down to a couple of things:
First, how much food are you eating? This can play a huge role, and I’ve struggled with it for most of my life. If I’m not doing anything, I tend not to eat- don’t feel hungry, so why bother? But, I get into an unfortunate cycle of using sleep to restore my energy, rather than food, and that in turn causes me to feel more tired more of the time, and have nothing to give to life when I’d like to be more active.
The second thing… well, what do you do in your day? When you’re in school, and when you’re working, you have things to get up for, and reasons why you feel you NEED to get out of bed. If those things don’t exist… why get up at all? Because of this, I find myself oversleeping, and wake up exhausted and headachy… I also tend to nap a lot, trying to just pass the time.
Strangely, I feel more energetic the more I do, because I’m taking care of myself, and I’m demanding things of my body. I know it sucks 😉