Pole Fitness: progress and challenge

One of the most satisfying moments on my pole fitness journey was when I finally managed to do a shoulder mount. It felt absolutely  fantastic, like I was the best pole dancer in the world, for a brief moment :) It always looked really cool and hard to do at the same time, and that's why I started working on it. Not sure if there is any particular trick to help you get a good shoulder mount. I used to start by jumping into it. I know it's totally wrong and you should never ever do it, but just admit, everybody did it at some point whether with normal invert, or a shoulder mount. It gave me enough momentum to get my bum up that pole to frantically catch it with my feet. When my first clumsy attempt was a success, I got confidence that a proper shoulder mount is achievable. Working on a proper technique is much harder than it seems, you know you could cheat and jump, instead of using muscles to lift yourself up. And once you try it a proper way, suddenly it's a million...

I'm sure every single pole dancer at some point of their pole journey wished to get a perfect Superman. And by that I don't mean to find a super attractive boyfriend to show off their fantastic pole skills to :) Superman is a pain. Literally. When I tried it for the first time it felt like my skin was burning and freezing at the same time. Every attempt left fresh bruises that just wouldn't go away. Not sure what is wrong with this particular trick. It takes ages to find a spot that doesn't hurt like hell, but then it miraculously stops being painful and you're sweet just hanging there for ages. At least that's how it was for   me . I managed to hold the move fairly quickly after I first started working on it. It didn't look too bad either, but damn, the pain was unbearable! You can always keep a poker face and pretend that nothing is going on, but if it hurts then the move is not well executed. I do realize now, that the problem was in my body positi...

It may seem silly to a lot of pole dancers, including beginners, that I'm covering this topic. Lots of people get their Ful Layback in the first two months, others however are struggling with it for quite some time. When I first started pole dancing, most beginners moves were quite easy for me. Onehanded Layback was not a problem either.And then I tried the Layback, and it didn't work. At all. The problem was in a fear, irrational of course, my grip was holding OK,  but my brain wasn't convinced. Those last centimeters seemed like a gaping abyss I'll fall into, should I let go off my hands. It was extremely frustrating. I enjoyed pole so much and wanted to progress faster, inspired by students from more advanced classes. So annoying to get stuck with something simple, according to other students. Embarrassing as it is, I gave up on the move, telling myself that there a lot of other exciting stuff to learn and Layback can wait just a little bit longer. After t...

I'd like to talk about Ayesha, because for a lot of pole dancers, including myself, it is or was the biggest pole goal to achieve. Whether it is an elbow grip, hand spring or true grip version, nailing Aeysha is a stepping stone and a door to a more advanced pole fitness. This is how I started One of my first steps looked like this To say that I was obsessed, means to say nothing. Since I started taking classes again it became the one and only move I desperately wanted to get. At first my extended butterfly was secured and that gave me hope that my hand grip is strong enough to move on to more advanced stuff. Next step was a caterpillar climb. It took about a month to get comfortable with it.  No need to mention, that caterpillar was a goal itself. If this climb is mastered, you are one step closer to  your Aeysha. September 2015. Finally got it! My first attempts started from taking my bent knees away from the pole, trying to find the balance. Once it was...

I'd like to review my pole journey with Allegra in this post because it's pretty, relatively easy and has so man y different variations to play with. I saw someone in the studio  practising  it and thought that it just looks fantastic. Back then I had no idea that learning it with result in the most massive bruise I've ever had since I start ed pole dancing.  So my first Allegra was a simple one handed hold which was quite secure. It's pretty straight forward once you're 100% confident with your inside leg hold. It did take some time to adjust and get rid of that enormous bruise that appeared straight after I tried the move for the first time. Once the hold itself was secured I took a photo of it. And, well, it wasn't a split. Same issue persists, good side Allegra turned out to be a bad split side. So instead of a nice straight line I ended up with a wide angle. It was particularly hard to straighten my knees, that resulted in narrowing my split even furth...

I fell in love with this move first time I saw it, but it was a long way until I managed to get it right. It was absolutely terrifying to get into, constantly feeling like falling off the pole. Oh, I should mention the pain too, very similar to good old Superman. Once I felt like my hand grip was holding OK it was all about finding that spot that didn't hurt like hell. Don't remember exactly when it all fell into place and was pretty comfortable and secure. It probably took between 2 and 3 months. However, it was just the move, unpolished and quite clumsy looking. I was determined, but a lack of flexibility got in a way as usual.  Fortunately for me and hundreds of fellow polers with the same problem, Dragon Tail doesn't have to be a split. You can bend your back leg, which I did, and it will look just as good as a split version. The move still looked quite pathetic as per video below . November 2015. I've secured my grip, but my legs are clearly living their o...

Why the Jade? It is one of the relatively easy split moves that you can start learning once you’re confident with your Gemini/Scorpio/Pike. But more importantly, it always gets a WOW from the crowd. I remember how happy I was, once I managed to hold it. The split however looked much more like V rather than a straight line. Is your flexibility important to get there? Definitely. However, without a proper hold no matter how great your splits are, you’ll simply end up on the floor. So to succeed you should focus on the hold, without it you’ll never be confident enough with your Jade. Once you've secured your grip on the pole, it's time to start bringing that front leg down. If you are not a flexibility queen the first result may look more like a V, which doesn't mean it's bad, but that you are on a right track and will need just a bit more time to get that Jade straight. Another way to make it look good is to bend your back leg: same hold, but no need for a full spl...