[Solya]

Well I do something less complicated – I inline skate https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif Any other form of cardio bores me to tears and I can’t run because of knee injuries. Last summer I just took out the skates and skated 3-4 miles every day, it’s so much fun! Guess it’s the speed and the change of scenery. You can skate together with friends too for more entertainment https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

Skating slimmed me down radically and gave me a lovely bum and defined calves. If you live in a residential area with lots of smooth concrete it would defo be worth investing into a pair of decent inline skates. You can also use them instead of your car or your bike, I often skate over to my friends or to work https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[Solya]

My guess is that you’ve strained your wrists too much, it happens often when you get over-enthusiastic about a move https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif Just rest it for a few days and the pain will hopefully go away. If it doesn’t, try to avoid moves that twist your wrists or put extra strain on them. Last year I managed to give myself a bad case of tendonitis because I was obsessed about the reverse grab. It hurt like hell and I didn’t improve for months!
Another reason could be that you don’t have the muscle strength for some moves yet so you’re overcompensating by death gripping the pole. Either way, take it easy if it hurts to prevent further injuries.

[Solya]

These are my favourite pole dancers ever! *drools* I also love the SM flip in splits at 3:35, never seen it before.

[Solya]

I teach pole at my uni pole club and this is how we structure classes:
– a short warm-up with stretching and a bit of cardio
– half an hour on the pole
– half an hour floorwork
– short cooldown

In the floorwork bit it’s pretty much bootcamp style https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif We do press ups, planks, crunches, leg raises and all. I try to focus on the muscles that are useful for poling, like arms and abs. I also make a point of stretching people, felxibility makes pole work so much prettier! Sometimes I pair them up to do resistance stretching into side splits, it’s the most effective way of stretching.
In the pole bit we just focus on learning moves. We start with spins, then moves from sitting, then moves from inverting, depends on how people progress. We don’t pole dance as such, so no routines, but I guess it would be nice for you to include a routine in your classes depending on the difficulty level you teach. Maybe at the end you could do a compulsory 2-3 minute freestyle dance just to practise how to use tricks in a routine.

[Solya]

Haha your daughter is a sweetheart https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif
And yes, if you pole regularly your back will improve very soon! I was in physio for 2 years because of my spine and it did absolutely nothing compared to what pole has done so far. My back and neck used to hurt all the time and I’d get migraines, it’s all gone now https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif As for general muscle development, in descending order it would be back, arms, pecs, abs and thighs – you’ll get toned up very nicely!

[Solya]

Thanks for the link, I’ve been looking for online stretching/contortion lessons too! Hope they will help me get those damn centre splits down at last https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[Solya]

If you can do the bent knee butterfly you’ll get the extended version really soon! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif I think everyone does it in different ways, this is how I learned it:
For this you’ll need to invert with your outside hand on top and your inside hand on bottom. Grip the pole with your top hand really strong and go into a basic invert. When your outside leg reaches the pole, don’t hook your knee around it. Straighten your leg and get the back of your ankle on the pole and point your toes so you’re hooking with the back of your ankle. Bring up the other leg to support you. If that feels secure, then take off your bottom hand and change into the split grip. Now you’re basically in the extended butterfly position, you just have to extend your other leg and turn away from the pole as much as you can. Hope this makes sense! I find it a lot easier going straight into the extended butterfly than doing it from the bent leg version.

I like your pic a lot too, that’s how we do the gemini too! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[Solya]

I think pain and skin damage come with pole at all levels https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif I’ve been poling for 1,5 years and I still get massive bruises when I try something new or do a spin many times over. Mind you, I don’t feel them when I get them and they don’t hurt after, so I just don’t care.

If I overdo training a bit then I get sore muscles – but it feels SOOO good when you wake up in the morning, can’t get out of bed because of the pain and you think, wow, I worked out well yesterday https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif It’s got to the point where I do pressups at home just to get sore muscles and feel that I’ve done something https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif Bottom line is, your body gets used to being exercised and you’ll feel much better overall.

You’ll definitely get abs, there is no way you shouldn’t! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif I haven’t lost much weight (maybe 2-3kgs) but I dropped almost 2 dress sizes and got lots of muscles. Pole is not a cardio workout so you’ll build muscle instead of rapidly burning fat, I guess.

I had back problems all my life (curved spine, big boobs, bad posture) and pole has eliminated every single one of them. I carry myself much better, stand up straight and my back never hurts (and it has pretty muscles on it https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif). Whenever I stop poling, my back starts to hurt and it goes away when I pole again, it’s pretty incredible!

Overall pole makes you a much healthier and happier person. You’ll build muscle and feel better in your skin. Frankly, the pain doesn’t really matter. Your skin will get used to it after a while and it’s worth it anyways https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif Just make sure you don’t push yourself too hard and get more serious injuries like tendonitis or torn muscles.

[Solya]

It can be because of the humidity and temperature. X-poles are really slippery when they’re cold! But if you think it’s the alcohol, maybe you could try acetone nail polish remover? We wipe out X-stages with it and it reduces slippiness a lot.

[Solya]

Eh, this is just getting more and more sad. I’m in the UK and I’m quite shocked how much abuse pole dancing has received in the past few weeks, especially since Cambridge have opened their pole club. Mind you, I think they should have scrapped the empowerment stuff from their communication, focusing on the sports aspect would have exposed them to a lot less abuse.

"However, supporters reiterate that the classes will be strictly female-only. The acknowledgement that pole dancing must be hidden away from the peeping eyes of boys contradicts the Union’s denial that it exploits sweaty amateurs clambering upon poles, sticky with desperation."

This is just gross. Sticky with desperation? Also, maybe the classes are female-only because the club doesn’t have male instructors yet, seems this hasn’t crossed anyone’s mind yet.

Again, the author of this article failed to google pole dancing before writing an article on it, I’m really not sure how this could pass through the editors. The whole article just assumes that all Cambridge students (who must be *really* stupid and impressionable, of course…) will pole dance because they want to become strippers and deliberately destroy their intellectual integrity. Fairly insulting, isn’t it – especially written by a woman!

[Solya]

I think I’ve got the most comfy solution to your problem https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif Basically, just lie on your back and bring one leg up so it’s about perpendicular to your other leg, and flex your foot. Then grab a towel, a pair of trackie bottoms or anything, hook it around your foot (the closer to your toes the better) and pull both ends down. Make sure you push your knee back and keep your leg straight. Pull your leg towards yourself until you feel the pain all along the back of your leg, and keep it there for a minute or so. Repeat. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

I did this instead of full splits stretching for two weeks and when I tried to get into the splits again there was so much improvement! And you can do it just lying on the bed with minimal energy investment https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif It will stretch your hamstrings really effectively.

There’s a pic of the position in point 5. here:
http://www.candy-chrome.co.uk/pole-bible/splits-training-exercisesfor-pole-dance-felix-cane/

[Solya]

These girls are definitely inspirational. You should see them in real life! :O

I’m seriously considering moving to Australia just for the pole dancing. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

I hope there will be a full footage of their performance somewhere!

[Solya]

*huge rant ahead*

I CANNOT belive the stupid ignorance that radiates from this article, I don’t understand how this could make it to a national newspaper. I totally support freedom of expression IF the author has sufficient knowledge about what he’s writing about. Clear not the case here.

David Mitchell a, knows nothing about pole dancing b, knows nothing about what’s done at Cambridge Uni c, knows nothing about female empowerment. I won’t even go into analysing his ignorance because this form of stupidity is exactly that I’m tired of wasting time and energy on.

I find this article personally insulting in several ways. I go to a top 10 university in the UK and just like Cambridge we have a pole club. We’re part of the uni’s Athletic Union and are considered a sports club just as football or rugby is.

"And I suppose if some stupid or impressionable women want to join in, that’s fine as well."
Seriously, sod off. Everyone who comes to pole is a student at a top university and not some skank who wants to learn how to bounce her booty for her bf. Incredibly disgusting remark.

And then he delivers the final blow:
"They’re standing for Parliament – they want to be empowered. I doubt they started with pole dancing."
Well David Mitchell, I pole dance, I’ll be graduating with a joint degree in Politics and International Relations and I’m currently interning in the Hungarian Parliament. What would you say to that?

I’ll never watch Peep Show again.

*headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*

[Solya]

Yeah I know, I stopped defending pole to everyone, I just don’t have the time to deal with ignorance and stupidity. I’ve become a much happier person since I started poling so everyone can sod off. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif

[Solya]

I think the only reason you need to tell her is because of the possible damage the pole can do to the house. If she doesn’t know about it and the pole ends up cracking the ceiling or damaging the floor/carpet, you won’t seem very trustworthy to her. Definitely tell about it and ask what the ceiling and floor are made of, where the joists are etc.

I agree with what the others said, explain to her that pole is a sport, show her some vids etc https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif