mikkixx
Forum Replies Created
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"For nice straight legs when dancing, try not to think about squeezing your quads only (some ppl tighten/flex without fully extending) try thinking of extending through the back of the knee to maintain a nice straight leg line."
Thanks Veena, this works really well for me!
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It took me forever to get it too… hand placement is crucial, so is sticking your butt out with a bit of a backbend rather than having a "hollow" body. It's a really weird feeling handstand, it definitely isn't as symmetrical as the other handstands (back to pole, belly on pole). Doing it while facing a mirror also helps a lot, and don't worry too much about getting your legs symmetrical – mine are still kind of askew (in my scorpio my right leg is on the pole – in the handstand, my right leg is pointing more forwards and my left leg is further out to the side) but it's not all that noticeable.
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I have really bad stretch marks on my outer hips from puberty, none on the inner thighs though… I think I'm especially stretch mark prone.
Anyway, I think I've gotten one extra stretch mark – just one, about an inch long – on the front of my right thigh from the Jade (my right leg is in front). It's really bizarre…
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Have you considered grip aids? It sounds like your skin is too dry to stick, rather than there being a strength problem, if you could do it easily in summer…
I use shaving cream on my legs as a grip aid. Spraying your legs with a light mist of water might work if you're not keen on shaving cream. Moisturising on the days when you don't pole, or moisturising with a water-based moisturiser that is largely glycerin (I find mineral oil and shea/cocoa butter are the slippery ones) should help as well!
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In Sydney, most people my age (mid-20s), when they find out I pole dance, say something like, "Oh yeah! That's cool, also does it, it requires a lot of strength right?" There are sometimes jokes about my "new career" and stuff, but I haven't gotten any serious criticism, except for at the beginning from my sister – and she's enrolling for classes next term 😀
It's relatively mainstream here now I think, kind of like zumba or bellydancing or yoga. I'm also lucky to be around open-minded people. My online friends from the UK and US are generally waaayyy more suspicious of it. There are probably girls from Sydney who have had negative reactions but most girls I know are very open about their pole dancing hobby to their coworkers, parents etc.
It helps that Bobbi's is such a huge studio, so everyone knows someone who pole dances already and aren't shocked, and pole dancing gets quite a lot of mainstream public exposure (morning shows, newspapers etc).
I think this is why Australians tend to be less fussed about getting pole dancing into the Olympics/"pole fitness not dance" for widespread acceptance – Aussie pole dancers have possibly the "raunchiest" style, but they also seem to run into the least problems with being stigmatised. It's hard to think of something as "slutty" when you know a bunch of otherwise quite normal people who do it.
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Shimmy does one from a climb here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOZD9hTbwOY, also at 0:40 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNDL4XSHOu0 It's a bit of a phoenix/deadlift hybrid though I think, like Amy said, I can't imagine you could do it without being able to deadlift without using momentum.
She's ridiculously strong!
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I think most normal non-folding chairs are pretty good for dancing.
The real challenge is finding a folding chair (for ease of transport) that:
– doesn't collapse easily (the ones that are only held open by a dent in the underside of a seat are REALLY BAD – I was in a chair class with those and in an hour, three girls' chairs collapsed on them, for our performance we duct taped them)
– doesn't slide around (the silicone idea is great! we duct taped ours for that as well)
– has side hinges back far enough so that when you sit backwards on the chair, your butt doesn't hang off too far
– has a horizontal-ish seat so you can get up easily and not slide into the chair in certain moves and have to scramble out
– has a square, not rounded, back (mainly personal preference, easier to balance on)
– is heavy enough that it doesn't feel flimsy and unsafe, but is still light enough to lift up in a routine if necessary and for ease of transport
– is not shiny-plastic, so you don't get the red blotches when you sit in one position for too long
– comes in a variety of colours
That's my wishlist so far…
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I'm from Bobbi's so of course I'm going to say 38 mm brass https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif I have a 42 mm X-Pole at home and it just feels… big.
It's nice for me because I have small hands, but I agree with those who said thicker gives a more secure (or at least, safer feeling) leg grip – I got things like CAR at home first.
The people selling the 38 mm R-Pole often quote a physiotherapist (Dr Stephen Deadman – apparently he judged Miss Pole Dance UK 2009) who endorsed their pole:
Based on my experience as a registered osteopath and chartered physiotherapist the 38mm pole as adverse to the 50mm is a safer pole because of less physiological and biomechanical stresses and strains which are placed upon the user’s carpal row of bones and ligaments in the wrist where the 38mm pole offers a safer grip.
If you have a safer hand grip it takes less time to build up your core strength without picking up minor injuries, which is essential to this sport and your personal fitness.
It would be nice to know what more physios think! I personally think it mainly depends on individual hand/thigh size…
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When I was trying really hard to get into the splits at the beginning, I found that I was super sore and tight in the muscles the next day, and my flexibility would actually be worse – I'm pretty sure I was injuring my muscles by overstretching and the pain was the resulting inflammation and damage. Now I concentrate on relaxing into stretches instead of pushing myself down into them, and that helps a LOT. I haven't been sore the day after stretching for about a year now. Focusing on breathing yoga-style helps a lot with relaxing.
Also, PNF helped me finally get my front splits, and ballistic has never done much for me. I think I'm too enthusiastic in ballistic and end up injured instead https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif
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Forgot to mention – the other thing you want to think about is diameter. Again I would personally go for the standard in your area, but there are other considerations e.g. fat poles are good for developing hand strength, but if your hands are small a skinnier pole might help prevent injury. Leg grip moves are generally easier on fat poles.
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It's pretty much just grip – stainless steel is the slipperiest, followed by chrome, ttitanium then brass. (A lot of people say titanium and brass are similarly grippy, but to me, there's a world of difference 🙁 )
As for which one to get, I would look at what the predominant pole type in your area is – in Australia, competitions and the major pole studios mainly use skinny brass and titanium poles, so I would go for that. Not sure what the situation is in New Mexico…
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Have you thought about reversing it? Pole sit -> plank (slows the spin) -> drama queen (speeds back up) -> CKR -> handstand to the ground.
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I'm loving pike hip hold into superman – I find it very easy and it's so dramatic 😀
I also love one of Felix's combos at the moment – outside leg hang to inside leg hang, wraparound to cradle, back into inside leg hang and handstand down. She does it from around 4:00 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rO_9wLHdj0 but she sticks in an extra wraparound -> cradle -> inside leg, crazy!
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Are you on a static pole? I've found that a lot of moves hurt more when I first learn them compared to on spinny due to concentrating too hard on getting into the move by any means necessary and forgetting to control the rotation, whereas spin is a lot more forgiving on the skin. Maybe you could try learning the superman on spin mode, then when you're more used to it and you've built up some thicker skin on your thighs you could try it on static?
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Charley – Do you ever have issues with your hands feeling 'gritty' after Tite Grip?
Joyful – Haha, yep! Pretty much everyone who poles in Sydney goes there, hey… 🙂 I'm in Prep and Adv, just moved up this term. I'll hit up your wall 🙂
