[azriel]

Hi! If you happen to add Athens Greece to your intinerary, send me a message! I own a pole studio here, and English is also my native language, so you'd have no problem in class 🙂

I'm sure you'll have a blast throughout your trip & learn so much from all the countries you visit! xx

[azriel]

Thanks girls! I'll def tell her to check out PoleDivas!  🙂

[azriel]

Yes i was talking abou the cartwheel mount handspring, which i do with a split grip.  I asked which wrist you feel gets strained, to make sure it wasn't the bottom (which would mean that the placement was probably off). If your top wrist is hurting even without trying to go all the way over, then maybe you could try strengthening it before moving on.  And yes as legend said, you have to remove the top hand at the moment right before you land, right after you have already taken a lean towards the landing.  Make sure to start off with that top hand extra low (i do it right below shoulder level)- it will make it MUCH easier to go over without straining. Also, as legend said, make sure your handspring is very solid & strong. Good luck & let us know how you do! xx

[azriel]

I do this from the Cartwheel mount handspring.. it's pretty scary & disorienting. I haven't perfected it yet, but i find it's easier (especially on the wrist) to start with your top arm extra low, so that your body can pass over it more easily, and have a softer landing. Do you feel that it's straining your top or your lower wrist? I also find it easier to land from a jacknife.

[azriel]

She said she inverts with the POLE to her left, which means that she is to the right of her pole (not to the left).. so her hand placement is correct. These terms can get confusing! Seems like everyone has great advice, but i'll give my 2 cents 🙂

2 other things things that may be the issue:

1) Like tarah said, make sure hips are facing the pole. This means, make sure you have turned your whole body to be facing the pole, so that you are completely straight & vertical.  Face should be right in front of the pole!  A tip that i have found to work with my students is that sometime you need to lower the upper hand just a bit (slide it down an inch) while you are trying to straighten your body. This helps to get you squared.  Then release the leg into butterfly, then extend.

2) Make sure the hooked leg is engaged while extending. It's easy to think that the ankle just rests against the pole in a relaxed way. Really engage through the quads down through the calves, while of course pulling with upper arm and pushing through the lower arm.

If everyone's advice doesn't seem to help, maybe you can post a video! Good luck & let us know how you do! xx

[azriel]

I too have the mindbodyonline.com system. Last year however, I didn't have it, but I still used the same policy.  We had a standby list, and students would get charged if they didn't cancel at least 5 hours before class (in order to give us time to inform the students on standby).  It worked pretty well, but the online system is easier, since you can blame the charged "no shows/late cancels" on the system, and avoid hard feelings.  Students don't often understand how detrimental it can be to the studio when they reserve a spot they don't show up for.Plus it saves you time from all the phone calls for booking classes, since students can book themselves online!

[azriel]

Miss you Gina.. you're always in our hears xx

[azriel]

YAY Azzwoo! Congrats! I hope we get to see the video!

[azriel]

I have a couple male students, and they have no problem doing a sit, ckr, plank, wrist sit, etc. As Ember said, they just place the pole a bit further away from the crotch area.  Because most men can usually do more strength moves sooner than women, it's easy for them or their instructors to want to skip over the "easy stuff" like sits and planks.  However, i believe that these moves are not easier, they just require getting used to in a different way, and need to build up  the grip.

These moves are essential for learning more advanced moves. Whether  or not he choses to ever do a pole sit in a routine, a guy still needs to learn it as a prep for other moves, and most importantly, for safety reasons.  If you're not extremely comfortable with gripping the pole with your thighs in a pole sit, it's unlikely that you'll be able to save yourself if you start to slip from some other moves.  Also, sits come in handy for transitioning between moves, even if only for a few seconds (ie. coming up from a brass monkey).

I agree with ember.. just show him how to do the move, & i'm sure he'll figure out how to adjust it so as not to hurt himself.

The only move i've come across so far that seems to be a bit of a problem is going from a scorpio to thigh hold, where the package needs to cross to the other side of the pole but sometimes gets stuck on the one side, lol! But even with this, my guys seem to be figuring it out. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[azriel]

I've heard several stories about the tailbone hurting for the crossed knee release, but not for the crossed ankle release. Make sure you're bringing your legs up before you release yourself back, so that the pole is running across the whole length of your thighs. In other words, don't keep your legs parallel to the floor.. bring them up. Also, arching your back may also help to keep pressure off your tailbone.  As for your competition, i'd suggest not doing any moves that you're not 100% comfortable with!! A performance always looks better & more impressive with just a few well executed moves, rather than with more difficult tricks that look so-so!   Good luck with the competition!! 🙂

[azriel]

I think it would be better if you could do the stretching/flex and strengthening as 2 different classes if you can. 10 or 20 minutes of stretching is definitely better than nothing, but it's really not enough to get big flexibility gains.  If you must do them both in one class, then DEFINITELY SAVE THE STRETCHING FOR THE END! Do it for the last 15-20 minutes of the class.. muscles stretch better at the end of a workout when the body is really warm, plus it'll save you from having to do a separate cool down (because you'd have to stretch again at the end anyway!).

I teach a pole strengthening class & here's what i do: 

10 min warmup:  5 min of jogging around the room, (occassionally making them do the jog where you bring your knees really high) , & zig-zagging around the poles. Sometimes we also do some jumping jacks or jog in place while doing shoulder/arm rolls.  Then 5 min of any aerobic  "toy", such as hoola hoop, jump rope, etc. I got these wierd things from a toy store.. there's a wheel with a stick that has a loop that you put your foot through, & swing your leg to get it rolling while having to jump over the wheel everytime it comes around your other foot. Hard to explain, but i bet you could find some cool stuff at a big toy store!

Lower body strengthening:  15 min.  Leg swings while holding on the pole, both front & side.Lunges going across the room, & then doing 8 squats each time we reach the walls. We do both front as well as diagonal lunges.

Upper body strenghening:  20 min.  Tuck lifts,  middle lifts (hands in prayer pose hold, lift legs behind you like in carousel spin).  Alternating crucifix lifts (lift into crucifix alternating legs & which hand is on top- 20 times so that each side gets 10 reps). They don't have to let go of their hands for this, since the point of the exercise is strengthening, and we want to do it fast & continuously.  Rotator cuff/shoulder exercises with wide elastic bands tied on pole. Forearm exercises with bands. Shoulder mount prances for advanced students, or a similar exercise while laying on the floor (on back) for less advanced students.

Then 15 min of stretching.

I hope this gave you some ideas.. good luck!! :))

 

 

 

 

[azriel]

Ooooh how fun! i've taken workshops with Karol, & she really is awesome! Great instructor as well as a wonderful & sweet person!  If i was there i'd definitely take all her workshops again!

[azriel]

The one tip that i find helps in understanding the forearm is to turn your top arm as you pull up into your caterpillar, so that the pole rests a bit in your inner elbow. It's not just your forearm that touches the pole. Some people only turn their wrist.. but you have to twist your whole arm so that you get a good stable grip, while not straining the wrist. Also make sure that your index fingers on both hands are pointing down towards the floor! Hope this makes sense 🙂

[azriel]

     First, i want to say that i agree with everything everyone else has said.. especially about getting your own pole & talking to the studio.  Second, i want to mention how easy it is to forget why we started pole dancing in the 1st place.. to get a good workout while having fun, and to feel better about ourselves with our OWN accomplishments! 

I explain this to my students on their very first day in class.. and they all agree then, & argue that they'd never compare themselves or feel envious of others.. they insist that they only care about their own accomplishments.  However, a couple months later, that is hardley the case. Many, many polers feel exactly like you do, even the ones who progress faster than the others, & i want to give you an example.

I have 2 students who started at about the same time.  Student A was a professional athlete, student B had never exercised before in her life.  Student A would only come to class 1-2 times a week, whereas student B would come to class at  least 4 times a week, plus attended all the strengthening classes and open play hours.  Even so, student A (the athlete who didn't come so often) progressed much much quicker.  She was lifting into inverts & doing all the basic inverted poses, while student B was still struggling to climb despite so much more effort.

Fast forward a few months later:  Of course student A can still do more tricks than student B, but there are now a couple moves that student B can do, but student A can't, so now she's the one feeling envious. She finds it difficult to accept the fact that someone who had no athletic experience and is still much weaker than her, can do these moves that she still can't get the hang of.  Also, student A got a pole for her home, whereas student B didn't.  Her fast progression has led her to a couple minor injuries.. she has a strained bicep and feels pain in her elbows, which now are preventing her from any further progression for a while (of course i have taken measures to deal with this.. urging her to rest & see her doctor before continuing). 

And last but not least, student A complains that she can't get through a whole song of freestyling.. all her moves are hit or miss, and she is constantly slipping throughout her dance, even with spins.  Student B on the otherhand, who progressed at a much slower, but steady rate, can now dance to a full song – even if she can do less tricks- but she'll nail the moves she puts in her dance, because she has learned them well.

Point of this story- learning fast does not always in our best interest! and even those who do learn fast, can at some point be envious of those who progress at a slower rate! And pole dance isn't just about the tricks.. being able to incorporate a couple of basic tricks in a full dance can be much more fulfilling than knowing a bunch of tricks that you can't even use in a dance because you don't have them 100%. 

I too sometimes feel envious of some of my students who are picking up on things way faster than i did. But then i remember my own accomplishments, and what MY individual strengths are. I've come to notice that each pole student is special in her own unique way.. some are fast at learning tricks, others are more passionate in their dance.. i just want to have fun while i get my workout & express myself through dance. SO WHAT if my students become better than me or learn faster.. i'm proud to know that i can do so much more today than i could before, & that i have found a way to release stress & feel better about me.

Please don't stop poling just because of this.. just focus on YOU and your personal goals.

Sorry i didn't mean for this to be so long..  just want you to know that almost all of us feel what you're feeling at some point or another. I hope you feel better soon.. please keep us updated!

[azriel]

Yay! you look fantastic!!