[Suzanna]

Congratulations! What a lovely story it is. I believe we can get fit at any age. If we eat healthy, mostly natural foods, and help our body to balance the hormones and everything naturally, that is the best way… I am 51 years old, plant-based (mostly raw), eat a lot of foods, so I always have a lot of energy for training and life… don’t eat any processed foods at all. It’s become so normal to me to live this way, that I do not feel deprived at all. I want to snack on fruits instead of unhealthy snacks. I think that is the way—eat like our grandparents used to… simple, back na nature… eat plants, many of them.

[Suzanna]

Happy happy super happy and spin-y and climb-y and invert-y birthday, Veena!!!!!

[Suzanna]

You cannot get more value for your money. I am a new pole girl, and I am a performance coach and injury prevention specialist for athletes. I don’t trust many people online with their advice. However, I am so impressed with Veena’s everything. Not just the pole instruction, but the strength training, and injury prevention advice. It is rock solid. I highly, highly recommend her lessons (and I have not even got through half of them yet)…

[Suzanna]

Intigany, it’s hard to see, but I think I have my right hand below the chin and the left somewhere around my eyes/forehead or so.. Shall I get both hands that low (chin level)?

[Suzanna]

Wibberoo, thanks! I can now do two pull-ups (the easier way, with palms facing me). I was not able to do any a few weeks ago. Feeling like my pole-strength is getting better. Now I need to start working on the pull-ups with palms facing away. 🙂

[Suzanna]

LatinPoler, I don’t have an answer for you, but I am following the discussion, as I feel like you do. I look super strong, and I am strong in a non-pole ways. When I invert, I feel like I don’t have enough strength to squeeze the pole for long enough to release my hands for crucifix or caterpillar on anything. Even when I slowly slide into a handstand, I feel unstable in my shoulder.

I am thinking that by developing the basic “pole strength” (strong hands/grip, strong leg squeeze, and shoulder) I suspect that I will become more confident in my strength and thus feeling safer inverted and having less fears. My plan is to work on handstands (I am working on headstands now, I cannot even do the elbow stand with my head off the ground) for the shoulder/stability strength and the leg squeeze strength. Hoping this will make me more comfortable in my future inverted moves.

[Suzanna]

Veena, yes, I see it. Sometimes I just like to test myself where I am… (I’ve been training abs in the gym regularly, 500 a day for many months. I know it’s different than abs on the pole.) I was just curious so I jumped in the last day to see what I can do. I did it before your reply, so I split it in a few sets. I realize now that it was much easier that way, but I did total 20 left knee tuck, 20 right knee tuck, 300 twists, 100 roll-ups, and 100 leg lift each… in a few days I will try to do them all in one bang, like you say. I suspect the 65 leg lifts will be the hardest because I don’t do those in the gym. If I cannot do it, I jump into the middle of the challenge and start from there 🙂 I know I should be progressing, I just always try to test my limits. Girls, whoever reads this: don’t do like me. Start the progression that Veena outlined. It’s much safer and better. I just don’t know “moderation” in everything I do. 😋

[Suzanna]

Do you do each exercise full number in a row, or you do a fewer shorter circuits until the full number is complete? (For example, when you do 20 knee tucks, do you do them all 20 in a row? Or 65 leg lifts in a row?)

[Suzanna]

Kiley, I feel with you. I have been athlete all my life (skier, soccer, weights, tennis player…) and no dance or gymnastics or “girly” training. I am a pole beginner too and at 6 feet and 160 lbs I really feel clumsy when moving around it. I took a few videos of myself and I think “gee… it ain’t like Veena” 😉 ha ha.

Anyway, I really like what Polegramma suggested. Rather than analyzing my moves, if I’ll try to feel how great it feels to point my toes (well, I do have to think about it because it does not feel natural) or do the body wave, and it probably will make a huge difference. I will try to do that. And I suspect (and hope) that with time, all this will feel natural and sexy.

[Suzanna]

I’ve had the original TRX for years. It’s amazing quality. It can hook both above the door, and with an attachment anywhere you want.

[Suzanna]

This is a rookie’s personal experience 🙂 10 days ago, I gave myself a 100-day goal to achieve a certain move. I make this goal really organized, journaling every day, making plans for every day, etc.

Without knowing anything about how difficult stuff on the pole is, I decided that for the first 10 days, I will do the tuck-ins while hanging on the pole. I chose number 50 a day. (ha ha, yea, I know… what did I know?). The first day, when I tried to do it, I was horrified. I couldn’t do one! I was hanging there for life, like a sack of potatoes, and I couldn’t lift anything on the bottom of my body. But I am so competitive with myself, so somehow, I squeezed out one (ugly one) after another. I did 50 all together and almost died 🙂

To my surprise, my body somehow figured out how to do it, and the next day I could do 5 in a row. Still ugly, but hey, it was a movement. I did it day after day, and it was becoming easier. Still hard for me to hold on (I am heavy). I went to my Sunday class and we were doing the V (split) inverts, and to my surprise, I just lifted my legs there, without kicking them up, like it was nothing. I surprised myself. It was easy!

My long story wants to say that working on those tuck-ins really helped. I can now touch my feet to the pole above me with straight legs when I do them, and it is only day 10.

💪

[Suzanna]

Briwi, thanks… you are so right, the gym cannot do what the pole does. I have been working there on doing dead hang off a bar, just to do extra grip strengthening. Both arms and one arm. Then different grip machine etc… and something non-pole specific, I work on my booty to get it round and perky (as with age, the gravity does horrible things, haha). Now it is working against me because I have to drag that booty around the pole 🙂 but that’s a good problem 🍑 Thanks for sharing your story!

[Suzanna]

Tango, obviously, I am such a beginner and have far less experience than all the girls here. During my short pole journey and frustrations not being able to hold myself, I bought all these different products to improve the grip and tried them all and they all were good for something but not everything. Then after many tries, and successful ones, I like the best the chalk balls. https://www.amazon.com/Z-Athletic-Gymnastics-Climbing-Weight-Lifting/dp/B001KGA1L6/ I rub the ball slightly on my feet, calves, knee caps (yes, mine sweat too) and whatever sweats, and it works great… I reapply here and there and it’s great. I know some studios don’t like them because of the mess, but if you are careful, you can remain quite clean. Have you tried those before?

[Suzanna]

Wow, thanks for posting the Shaina Cruea videos, Tango. It is nice for me to see what a tall, solid body can do. Just an inspiration. Visualization. I know I need to be patient, and create my own style and all that, but it is still nice to see a tall, built body in action, especially because it is so few of us out there.

Phoenix Hunter, thanks for your input. You have overcome some serious obstacles and are truly inspiring. You are right about the limitations we set on ourselves. Who know when it started, maybe my parents told me something when I was young, that I cannot do, and boom, maybe it became a belief. I have overcome many such “limitations” in sports and life, so I know what is possible. Thank you for the reminder not to put them on myself here with the pole 🙂

Maybe the pole fooled me a bit, it looks so easy, graceful and beautiful. But I forgot that behind any mastery hides thousands and thousands of practice hours. The more of a “master”, the easier it looks.

I am obsessively determined, so I know I am not going to give up, and I’ll keep practicing. It is nice to hear all your experiences, and Makasha, yes, patience, patience, patience… I forget that sometimes. But I can be impatiently patient 🙂

[Suzanna]

QueenCaroline76, sounds good 😀 I need to get my shoulders much stronger (and I guess bigger) to match my quite solid bottom: legs and the booty. I’ll keep practicing and just be aware that maybe some moves may be out of reach… thanks for your input!