portableninja
Forum Replies Created
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I hear you on Titanium Silver. 🙂 That was the hardest thing about getting a TG, I like silver colored poles much better and they look better in my house. I don’t really like the look of brass in household furnishings. But once I got the pole I stopped caring pretty quickly! It’s actually really shiny like a gold colored chrome pole, not dull like a brass doorknob. AerialGypsy has some side by side photos on the blog.
One thing I did notice is the TG beats me up a little more… I have bruises, calluses, and little friction scrapes that I didn’t get on my old pole. But I’m also on a smaller diameter and doing harder stuff, so that could explain it too. It also makes me want to have longer pole sessions in general which leads to more bruises! TG gives me wings 🙂
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I have a TG pole too. I find a mixture of Windex and rubbing alcohol works best. I don't mean actually mixing them together… just switching off. If one doesn't work, the other usually does. Sometimes I need both.
You might also try using cheap glass cleaner instead of name brand Windex, like from the dollar store. The expensive stuff has additional ingredients to make your glass shiny. They may be also slippery. 🙂
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It sounds like we are similar in size. I am 5'5" and fairly thin. My thighs do not touch however. I have a 45 TG and I love it. I bought it to replace my 50mm chrome, which I always had issues with. My hands did not meet on the 50 and I was experiencing forearm pain as a result, and I had trouble with grip. Dropping down to 45 was great for that. Not only did it help with the pain, but I found I had better hand grip since I could wrap my fingers. I debated getting a 40mm for a long time but after playing around with some round household objects that were 40mm wide, it just seemed too thin for my legs. There is a gap between my thighs and the 40mm diameter would fit in that gap without touching my legs! For you it may be a workable option. But I think going down to 45 would be fine too. It was enough of a change for me.
I find the TG finish to be really helpful in my practice. I think it is my favorite finish. I am sweaty and I found that the TG added a bit more grip than steel or chrome, but not so much as brass which I found to be painfully grippy. I have been able to do tricks on my 45 TG that I felt were months away on my 50 chrome. Others have said they feel no real difference between TG and chrome, so I think it really depends on your skin type. I found it to be different, but even if you don't, then it will still feel a lot like a chrome pole. I think chrome feels a little nicer for static spins, and TG seems better for "sticky" tricks like holds. So what you intend to do on the pole matters too.
Hope this helps!
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Hooray! Can't wait to try these out! Thanks Veena!
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I just got cupid yesterday after trying for months! Charley's advice is spot on. It helps for me to really settle into my gemini first so the knee pit is secure. The big breakthrough for me was accepting that I was going to spin once I was fully extended in the move. Every time I went for that full extension, I would start to spin and then panic, thinking my knee pit was coming loose (and then it would because I would be startled). But watching Veena's lesson, you see her (calmly) spinning into the move. The same thing happens in superman, there's a brief little moment of panic and then all is well.
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Congrats! It seems like a perfect pole for that particular situation: anyone who needs to be able to put it up and take it down often, in the same location with a fixed ceiling height.
My Xpole stays up, so the installation and removal time doesn't matter so much to me. And I knew I wanted lots of ceiling height variability in case we move again (which I know we will). So the Xpole is perfect for me. I think there is really a pole for every situation! And if not, someone will invent another one. 🙂
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Of course, I'm sure the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. I haven't had children yet, but after I do, I would definitely consider an IUD and I would be sure to ask for pain medication during the insertion. I just find it kind of amusing that in order to avoid the pain of childbirth, you need to endure the pain of almost childbirth. Right now my current method of BC (swallowing a pill every morning) has a pain level of zero. That's pretty hard to beat 😉
I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance, although pole has certainly tested it. I've gotten laser hair removal and waxing and I think plenty of pole moves hurt more. Meanwhile my mom is horrified by the pain of waxing and probably would refuse to do a pole sit, but she delivered two kids naturally with no pain meds. Go figure!
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All this thread has done is make me seriously doubt whether I can handle getting an IUD!
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I started at a studio (which I loved) and then moved away. I miss it a lot and try to drop in whenever I'm visiting my old town (which is sadly not often). I tried a couple of studios close to our new house and didn't really like them. It's hard to explain but it just wasn't what I was looking for. I think our community is a great untapped market for a high quality studio… if only one would open.
There is a well known studio about 90 minutes from here, which I have attended for workshops. I like it there, but I just can't commit to 3 hours of rush hour driving for regular classes during the week. So I work out at home with Veena's lessons and it works great for me. I also cross train with yoga. I have to say my form has gotten much better since using Veena's lessons. She is an amazing teacher. I also saw great improvements once I started to take videos of myself. My old studio was a ton of fun but didn't focus very hard on refinement of technique. Being able to see myself and say "hey, that doesn't look like it should" was a big bonus of home poling.
I also travel occasionally for business and I like to take pole classes wherever I go. San Francisco is one of my frequent destinations, and there is great pole there.
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It’s probably the song. If you change or remove the music it will probably work on mobile.
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Be sure to condition your upper body too. You start out in a pole hold position which is very tight and strong, with shoulders engaged and elbows tucked in close to the pole. But eventually you have to unhinge those arms a a little bit to allow your hips room to move up the pole. Unbending and lifting from a pole hold position requires bicep, tricep, shoulder, and back strength all working at once. Getting those motions coordinated was the hardest part for me. I can do it well on my right (dominant) side but I still struggle to do my basic invert smoothly on my left side – it's something I work on during each practice.
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Do any of you ladies do yoga? I find the muscles I use to invert are the exact same ones I use in shoulder stands and plow. A good way to build the muscles is to start on your back, slowly roll back into plow, and then slowly lower yourself back to the floor on your back. Same for shoulder stand, but you need to be really careful to put the weight across your shoulders, not your neck.
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I have always favored the tuck invert, as chem describes it. I actually have a harder time with the basic invert than the tuck invert. I do a tuck shoulder mount as well (shoulder mount into a little ball and then extend my legs). I think it's because I have pretty weak hip flexors relative to my other muscles, so inverting with extended legs is really hard for me. I'm working to build up that strength.
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Someone stronger than me will have to come along to give you ideas for your next steps. But your video is a great resource for someone like me! Thanks! I already do a lot of basic core exercises, but I'm not seeing the gains I would like. You showed off a lot of interesting advanced variations that I will have to try during my next workouts.
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I'm not the same size as you, but I'm hippy (10 inch difference between my waist and hips.) I have a pair of Under Armor compression shorts that actually make pretty good pole shorts. I got them for running but also use them for pole and yoga. They're plain black and not very sexy, but they do the job and they cover my butt enough to wear outdoors.