Pole Fitness: progress and challenge

So, I've been thinking about this for awhile. Is fancy polewear really an asset or just a way to suck out your money? During my pole journey I went through two phases, but can't say that either point of view is right or wrong. At the very beginning of my pole journey I didn't care much about my outfit. Not that I could not appreciate how pretty proper pole gear looked on other girls, but thought that I needed to get better before showing off in a shiny new top. I had a feeling I hadn't yet deserved cool polewear, since my best move at a time was a wobbly Butterfly. Another reason against it was a price tag, we all know how expensive good quality pole gear can be. It's just so easy to find cheap, relatively comfy pole stuff that wouldn't cost you a fortune, a simple choice between 4 - 5 sets of cheap tops/shorts, or just one  set from a fancy brand. Poling in cheap as stuff was totally fine and never really hindered my progress, though I must admit, I badly ...

Hard to believe, but I started writing this post over a year ago and just kept updating it over time. It finally feels like I've reached the desired result and can show the real progress and struggle I went through to achieve it. I remember the first time I saw it done in real life, by a girl too, and my beginner pole dancer's brain just exploded.  Honestly, I thought it will never happen, back than I couldn't even do an invert without jumping into it. 4 years from then, and my Iron X is still not perfect. Very first attempts. The shape is miles away from a proper Iron X The fact that I got it at least in a slacky imperfect form is due to my being obsessive about the move. Happens sometimes. Once it felt like I've got a chance to perform it one day, I couldn't stop thinking about Iron X and focused on spending at least several minutes every class purely on Iron X training.. Unortunately, Iron X is one of those moves that you can't solely focus on,...

Something extraordinary happened just about a week ago, after more than a year of struggle,  I suddenly got my Deadlift. It is really hard to believe :) Just as usual I halfheartedly tried it without any hope for success, just as a part of my training where I did 2 - 3 attempts during every practice session. And "Holy  Shit! What just happened?!" I did it! I would like to say something inspiring about me consistently practicing, conditioning, doing complimentary training and stuff, but that's not quite true. It just happened. There was no getting closer day by day, or even clumsily making it happen for the first time. Deadlift turned from non-existent to quite a decent looking in just that one session. I never tried an aerial version before, as obviously thought it would be harder than doing it from the ground, but decided to give it a go anyway, cause why not? And it worked marvelously! To be honest I thought I was just deceiving myself, doing something wr...

Butterfly deserves a separate post. It is pretty, easy and fun. Butterfly is such a pretty shape. It doesn't require any extreme flexibility or strength, but looks absolutely stunning It was my very first 'advanced' move, or so I thought at the beginning of my pole journey. It's funny how my perception of a 'cool move' changed with time and experience,  but I still consider Butterfly  beautiful and worth putting in a routine. Just for a change I had no particular struggle with the Butterfly,  apart from a minor body positioning issue. And that was back when I had to cheekily jump into my Invert (yes, we all did that). Facing the pole, while holding a perfect shape seemed to confuse me a little. My body tended to turn either to one side or another. I could still easily hold the move, but the shape was a bit crooked and imperfect. Not sure exactly how I overcame the issue,  just lots of practice,  I guess. And I did practice it a lot, alongside wi...

Regardless of a pole dance level we all have that special move on the horizon we're desperately trying to achieve. Knee hold has been my Nemesis move for ages. Finally got it last year Pole Goals make me try harder every time a come to studio to practice. Achieving them helps tracking my progress and generally makes me feel good for a time. Here is a list of moves I tried to get at different stages of my pole journey. Beginners (poling for less than a year): 1) Butterfly  2) Gemini - Scorpio transition  3) Superman  (what a surprise) Intermediate (2 years into pole): 1) Shoulder Mount  2) Aeysha  3) Jade Advanced (not even sure I'm 100% on this level after almost 3 years of doing pole): 1) Iron X (total nemesis move) 2) Russian Split 3) Iguana Air Walk (or whatever it's called) Expert (hoping to be here one day): 1) Fongi 2) Deadlift (if I do it, I'll die happy) 3) Spatchcock 4) Bird of Paradise 5) Starfish...

Russian Split is one of the prettiest pole splits, at least in my opinion. One can say I mastered it all right, but the truth is that a lot of issues still remain. The move was a constant struggle from start to finish. 1) Fear Kind of similar to what I felt while learning a full Layback. The gaping abyss of nothingness below, feeling of falling into it breaking my neck along the way. Literally that bad. I knew my body was strong enough to keep myself in a required position, but my brain said "nope, you'll fall and die a slow and painful death". The solution was as usual to push through the fear, first through spotting, then using a crash mat to build up my confidence. Took me about two months to get past that stage, but I did it. First attempts. Good side split, but bad side Cupid, so had to start over from a different side later on 2) Bad Side This issue haunts me non-stop. My left split is no good even on the floor, and it pains me even more in my...

Not really a pole fitness progress post, but rather something that's constantly bothering me. Pointy toes, or more likely their absence. You watch somebody doing a fantastic, difficult combo or a pretty spin, thinking how awesome it looks... and then you see them, slack flexed feet (sad face). I usually completely lose interest after I notice those naughty feet more than once, or hate myself for not looking after mine. The thing is, no matter how great the move is, if you don't keep an eye on your toes, the whole look is ruined. It's also good to remember that most of the judges at the comps have some sort of gymnastics or ballet background, and they do notice those things. But even if you're not competing, paying attention to what your feet are doing is important. It is easy to get carried away during your practice session and completely forget about your toes, while focusing on a new difficult trick. However, pointy toes is a great part of a successful move. ...

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...