[sundcarrie]

I have a short list  here goes

Pole- of course there are at least 100 reasons why it makes me happy including the fact that now that I am enjoying dancing and I have more confidence so I started taking ballroom dancing which leads to my number 2

Dancing with my hubby who didn't want to dance until he saw me learning to dance with other guys and now he is really enjoying it too.

Coffee- love it regular or decaf I don't really care just give me coffee.

Blogging

Spending time with the gals

Okay that is it I used to enjoy reading as well but there are only so many hours in a day.

 

[sundcarrie]

You can also get a non flavored protein powder and make your own shakes with milk (if you don't drink cows milk you can use soy or almond milk) ice and frozen  fruit.

I use Herbalife meal replacement shake mix with protein powder milk and ice and whatever else I feel like throwing in. I use them because I can't have the artificial sweeteners they put in most of the protein shake mixes unless I want a bad migraine. 

[sundcarrie]

Thanks Lyme Lyte I don't have any photos of me because my pole room is well rather ugly and it doesn't look good in a picture. I do plan to do my own videos and pictures one of these days but I need to do something about that room. Then I need someone to help me since I can't do it and take the pictures. The other thing is I am not very graceful yet I pushed it really hard to learn some strength moves but I sacraficed style and I have to go back and work on that.

[sundcarrie]

Hello I am not self taught either I would suggest starting at a studio if you can but if not sign up for the lessons here. It is not something that you can learn without someone breaking it down for you and teaching you how to do it in a safe way. 

I spend as much time as I can afford at the studio and then practice some of what I learned at home. I don't have an amazing pole so I try to save the difficult stuff  for class until I get a pole. I am at the studio 5 days a week but the lessons here are pretty good and broken down really well.

[sundcarrie]

No big deal I still intend to be really carful with it and keep the serouis pole moves in the studio until I can get a better quality pole.

[sundcarrie]

I go to the studio and hide in the corner on Monday Wednesday and Saturday because it is beginners class and we are allowed to work on more advanced moves as long as we don't try to teach the newbies. These classes run 1 hour and 15 minutes and they have a great warm up with some strength training then pole time. Newbies learn pole moves while everyone else works on more advanced stuff. 

Then Tuesdays an Thursdays I go to intermediate class we warm up and work on new moves but each person is at a different level so it is more like free pole time and our teacher comes around and gives us new moves once we get better at the last one. Then the last half an hour of this hour and a half class we run routines. 

If I am not too sore I do my own version of class at home on the days I don't have class. I also have a pull up bar at home that I use to do a lot of shoulder and core exercises. There is more but I am probably starting to get boring so I will shut up now.

[sundcarrie]

I have the Electra pole thanks for letting me know I will just keep checking to make sure it is tight and put money away for a better pole. 

[sundcarrie]

That was actually funny, but I worry about my cheap pole all the time so I am constanly checking the bolts. My hubby has it screwed right into a stud in the ceiling. I wish I would have paid more for my pole but now I have to wait until I can afford to upgrade. When I first got it I thought it would be fine but then I progressed quickly through class and decided some moves will only be performed in class until I get a quality pole. Now I know that it is a peice of junk but it will work for light practice on days I am not in the studio. 

 

[sundcarrie]

I am always sore somewhere but it is mild unless I try something new but I do pole at 5-7 days a week sometimes more than once a day. I eat a lot of protein and fruits and veggies but after my second month I was less and less sore. Until I added intermediate classes to my beginner classes then after two months of that I was back to mild soreness most days. If there is a day that I am super sore I don't do pole that day. Streching at the end helps a lot and Alieve got me through some really tough days before I was in my fist show at the studio. For me it got a lot better I hope it does for you.

[sundcarrie]

Well I have finally found something I love doing so I am not going to give up. I honeslty have never felt better about myself. I feel sexy but more than that I feel a great sense of accomplishment even more so than I did when I graduated college with honors. I have been small and fit a few times in my life but never confident and I never really enjoyed working out before this. I felt depressed and or angry a lot before I started pole and now a good pole session gets rid of that so I guess I am addicted to feeling good about myself. 

You should keep going like you said slowly and make sure you are not in pain. We will get there and if we can't get all the way there so be it but at least we can say we gave it our best shot!

[sundcarrie]

I don't know about this Mega Brand Stripper pole but I would say spend the money and get one of the poles the ladies here recommend. I bought a cheap on on ebay the Carmen Electra one and it is not a good pole. It works but I wouldn't trust it for some of the more advanced moves. I will eventually get a better pole but I do not recommend buying one that is not a trusted brand. I spend about 7 hours a week at the studio so I do all the harder moves there and stick with cleaning up the simple stuff at home for the most part.

[sundcarrie]

Stevesgirl I just signed up two days ago for the lessons and I did so mostly for the streching videos because it was cheaper than buying a streching for pole video and it has the added benifit of breaking down some of the moves I already know but they could use a little work. This way I can focus on the new stuff in class. I guess my slow and cautious plan is all I can do if there is a pont that I can't go without pain then I know that it is the metal in my leg.

[sundcarrie]

I am not sure the size of our poles in class but there is one everyone calls the skinny pole and I love it. My pole at home feels huge as well my hands do not go all the way around the larger poles. There are a few ladies in my class including myself that would rather have the skinny pole but I try not to use the other poles too. I can grip the larger pole but it is a lot harder and once I start to get tired forget it. 

 

[sundcarrie]

I have a weak side too and I can invert from that side but it is sloppy and ugly I am working on fixing that but it it always seems to mean less time working on new moves. I have a pole at home but I like to be in the studio when I am working on new moves and on my weak side. I don't have a crash mat at home but it might be a good investment so I can learn new moves at the studio and work on my weak side at home. 

I also feel like I have brain damage sometimes trying to change sides I can't seem to turn the move around to my other side without a lot of thought. I stand there and think then I turn it around to my other side and say if this hand goes here on the left then it will go here on the right and so on. 

I have trained my muscles on one side of my body and they work great that way I don't have to think about them but I have neglected the other side to advance quickly. My instructors are constantly preaching about muscle memory and how it will become automatic and they are right so it would have been better for me had I worked both sides to start. 

Even the ladies in my class that work both sides still talk about having a side that is weak not that I can tell but they can.

 

[sundcarrie]

I only had about twenty pounds to loose well I thought it was thirty when I started my classes at a local studio. I was actually working out and lifting weights and I still felt like I was hanging from the pole the first few weeks. 

Our beginner classes focused a lot of building the strength and I still attend them because they show beginner to advanced strength building techniques. One thing I appreciated about being in a class was the ladies were right there giving me encouragement all the way through. Other than the instructor they all started with very little upper body strength and worked up to where they are now. 

It took me 4 weeks to climb the pole but it takes some ladies 8 weeks and we have 11 foot poles at the studio. Don't worry if you keep at it you will get there. As far as I can tell you build muscle a lot faster in pole than you do lifting weights. You will eventually learn to use your core muscles to aid in a lot of the things that require upper body strength it takes some time and practice.