[kasanya]

Canadian building code varies with regards to condo construction. I don’t know the exact details, so I can’t really comment on that, but I do know that I live in a wood frame construction low-rise condo building. I absolutely had to find a joist to put up my ceiling. I know because I was slightly off and I noticed my ceiling cracking! Once I moved the pole a little further over, the crack was no longer visible. (It’s still there, but you can’t tell unless you’re standing on a ladder looking for it.) Joists are important!

What kind of condo are you in, witeroze? High rise apartment? Low rise apartment? Row house? I don’t think they use plaster in newer builds up here, but if you’re in a high rise style condo your ceilings are probably concrete. Your best bet is probably to call your condo management company.

[kasanya]

I picked up my stud finder at Home Depot for about $20 Canadian. There were more expensive models available, but the basic (aka cheapest) one I found did the job just fine. Just make sure you remember to check if it comes with a battery or not. It’s really annoying to have to turn around and make a second trip just for a battery! LOL.

[kasanya]

Doesn’t Yannori teach in the LA area as well? I’ve heard good things about her.

[kasanya]

Kamilla, are you talking about the basic pole sit (which looks similar to sitting on a chair with one leg crossed) or the wrist sit (where you put one hand under your bum, lean backwards, and raise your legs up in a V shape)?

I have only once experienced intense pain in my arms after attempting a new dance move–it was the move called the Boomerang Hold on wikipole.org. The next day I woke up with pain radiating from my hands all the way up to my shoulders and it took days to subside. Turns out I actually injured my right rotator cuff doing it, and that has been healing for months now. Injuries suck!

Pain… real honest to goodness muscle / joint pain… is the body’s way of telling you it’s not ready to do something yet. You might be able to get away with trying a move that causes pain a couple times, but you will end up injuring yourself quickly if you try to push through it. And, let me reiterate, injuries suck!Muscle soreness on the otherhand, even intense can barely move type muscle soreness, means you’ve pushed your body and given it a good workout. Give it a day or two of rest and you’ll be stronger for it the next time you workout.

It’s really important to learn how to distinguish between pain and soreness. If something is causing you pain, then you’re probably not strong enough yet to be attempting that move and you should consider leaving it until you’ve built up more strength. (Incidentally, I hear practicing the basic spins on spinny mode is a fabulous way to build up wrist / forearm strength). There may also be a problem with your technique if a move is causing you pain. Taking lessons in person is a good way to get confirmation on technique, but if that’s not an option, posting vids here and asking for feedback is a good secondary option.

Most importantly, REMEMBER TO TAKE REST DAYS! I know how hard it is to resist the siren call of your shiny new pole, but it’s the days _off_ that are most important when you’re starting out. That’s when your muscles get a chance to rebuild themselves after your workouts. Rebuilding is when the muscles grow stronger!

Wow, that turned into a big post. I hope it helps!

[kasanya]

The audio’s been disabled… booooo YouTube… but she does the chair -> reverse chair combo at 2:20 in this vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUmSA3CdLjQ

[kasanya]

I have this sneaking suspicion Berty and Charley might end up teaching the teacher rather than the other way around. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif Oh well, if nothing else, it will probably be fun to get to play around on the stage of a club. I know I would love to do that! I hope you girls have a great time!!!

[kasanya]

Hi Charley!

I don’t mind you updating everybody at all. (Sorry it’s taken me a few days to respond, I’ve been running like crazy trying to get caught up with everything since I got back home.)

So, the story here is that I actually went down to Detroit for the Pole Fit workshop Charley advertised here a while back. But it got cancelled! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif So I ended up just hanging out with Charley and getting a private lesson instead! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif It went really well. She was able to help me out a lot with various grips, she showed me some new spins and combos, and we worked on some basic static poses (ie. wrist sit) and inverts from the ground. We really covered a lot of ground in one lesson!

As for bringing a spotter with me, well, I’m nothing if not practical… I figured there wasn’t much point leaving the roommate at the hotel when he could be learning how to be more useful around the house! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif Hopefully he doesn’t think to renegotiate who has to do what household chores now that he’s got an additional duty. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif

It was great meeting you too, Charley, and I’m totally bummed I wasn’t able to stay longer. Maybe next time! On the upside though, the Toronto Burlesque Festival was pretty darn cool too. I’m glad I was able to make it to part of that. I managed to take a couple workshops with Kitten deVille, Sophie Luxton, and Jo Weldon–all of which were awesome–and saw Gravity Plays Favorites (and a bunch of other performers) live at one of the shows. I highly recommend the festival to anyone planning to be in the Toronto area next July!

https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_sunny.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_flower.gif

[kasanya]

I actually go out of my way to watch beginner to intermediate dancers’ videos… not because they’re an ego boost, but because I find them instructional! They’re a great source of ideas for combos and dance moves that are actually currently achievable for me. I even take notes of things I see that I want to try out. (Am I a geek or what?) https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_geek.gif

On that note, I was actually just thinking earlier today that it would be really handy if we could set an approximate skill level on our Members profiles (ie. Beginner – Spins and Transitions, Intermediate – Basic Inverts, etc etc) and then also add that as a search filter in the Video section.

[kasanya]

I know it sucks, but it’s really important to take enough time off when you’re hurt! It’s better to miss a couple days of practicing than to miss a couple months because you’ve aggravated a minor injury into a major problem.

The typical formula for treating an injury is RICE –> Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Those will all help to reduce inflammation and allow an injury to heal faster. Rest doesn’t necessarily mean you have to completely stop being active though, as yogabeachbabe pointed out. Depending on the type of injury, there may be things you can work on that won’t strain your injured area. For example, since you mentioned this, if your injury is primarily focused in one forearm, this might be a good time to practice doing spins using your other arm. This is actually what I ended up doing! I injured my right shoulder (and I’m right handed), so I ended up working on all my spins left handed for a couple weeks. I’m really good on my non-dominant hand now! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif

Best of luck with the injury, and try try try to resist the temptation to get back on your pole before your body is ready!

[kasanya]

It is hard! But it seems to me if you’re working on inverts like that after only 2 months of poling, then you’re doing pretty darn good!!! I’m jealous, anyways. I’ve been at it for nearly 3 months now and all I’ve really managed to accomplish are the usual beginner spins and a rotator cuff injury. I would love to be as advanced as you!

https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_geek.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_geek.gif

Your anecdotes are too funny, tashatasha! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif

[kasanya]

Cool, lots of good suggestions for me to work with here! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_thumleft.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_thumleft.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_thumleft.gif

Roxy-Pink, can you describe the "sm prance" for me? I’m guessing "sm" is shoulder mount?? Thanks. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif

[kasanya]

I suspect part of the reason I’m feeling a bit like I’m stagnating is because of how ridiculously goal-oriented I am. "Making combo X better" is a far less tangible goal than "getting into the superman". (No, I’m not working on the superman… lol… I know I’m not ready yet!)

Darn overactive Type A tendencies. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/bom.gif

[kasanya]

No worries, we will work on some things Friday!!!! The wrist sit doesn’t really require much flexibility (If I can do it anyone can – I am the most unflexible person in the world!)

Well, if nothing else, at least you’ve got a heads up now on where I’m at skill-wise! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif

Trena, I’ve never heard of the forward and backward falling spins. Can you describe them or point me towards vids that have them?

Also, for the reverse chair, is there a way of getting in to that spin on its own? I’ve only ever seen it done as a combo… usually forward chair to backwards chair. Haven’t quite gotten that combo down yet.

Cradle with V legs… grrr… Anything involving V legs I just can’t seem to manage. I even have trouble just sitting on the floor with my legs in a V. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_evil.gif https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif

All the other spin variations mentioned so far I’ve got down already. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_thumleft.gif

Veena, I know it’s not a race to get to the inverted poses. If it was, I’d be jumping in there doing them already!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_blackeye.gif I know a lot of the stuff I’ve learned already still needs some polishing, but I like to have one or two new things to work towards as part of my practice sessions so I don’t feel like I’m standing still progress-wise. Are there maybe any non-inverted static poses I could start working on?

Thanks for all the feedback so far!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif

[kasanya]

How about something like this, SissyBuns?

Day 1 – Full Body Str Trng
Day 2 – Pole Dancing
Day 3 – Rest
Day 4 – Pole Dancing
Day 5 – Full Body Str Trng
Day 6 – Rest
Day 7 – Rest

Or alternatively you could do a four day rotation, so you’d get 3-4 solid workouts each week:

Day 1 – Full Body Str Trng
Day 2 – Rest
Day 3 – Pole Dancing
Day 4 – Rest

I guess it all depends where your priority lies.

Personally, I’m trying to figure out how to juggle strength training, running, pole dancing, and Pilates… lol… I need more time in a week. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif I figured out a plan to fit it all in! But so far I have been too tired and/or sore to achieve everything in the plan each week. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif It will help when I finally manage to pass my fitness test and can drop the running for another year.

[kasanya]

I think that sounds like a lot of fun! Already got my song picked out, in case Veena runs with the idea. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif