Coming Out ;)

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Hey everybody!

I have a few minutes to kill before my 7:30 intro class tonight (y’all are coming, right?!), so I thought I’d address the Pole Dancing Blogger’s topic of the month: “coming out”–so to speak–about pole.

This is… interesting for me. On the one hand, because I teach pole, and part of my job is spreading the word about my classes and studio, I’m fairly open about dancing… in certain circles. My fitness and friends totally get it. A trainer I work with (I have a part time job at a fitness center!) has taken classes with my studio (holla, N!). And I’ve already written about a bellydance troupe-mate and close friend dropping into my intro class. Both chicas saw it as fun cross training and a great way to shake up a workout routine or dance rut. Risque? Meh. Please. Yoga can be more explicit.

My “real” job, though, is working in an office, writing about careers. In fact, I’m a huge hypocrite, because I give people advice all day about how not to mess up getting or keeping a job by doing exactly what I have done: having “inappropriate” stuff on their social media pages or god forbid, something like a pole dancing blog easily dug up on Google.

Go ahead, Google my name. I’ll help: “Cathy Vandewater” or “Cathryn Vandewater.” This blog comes up. As do rants about sexual harassment, crappy internships, and THEN, FINALLY, my career advice writing.

I’m not sure my employer would be pleased.

And yet, I kinda feel like this is the future of who we are at work and at home, because the lines are getting blurrier and blurrier. How do you keep everything separate? And if it’s all going to come out anyway, why bother hiding? It almost adds to the scandal factor if you actively keep it a secret, in my opinion.

So I don’t hide what I do.

I’m not exactly handing out my business cards at the office, but if someone asks where I’m heading after work, I tell them I teach dance classes. If they ask what sort of dance, I tell them pole.

Lucky for me, this has only happened once, and with a female colleague about my age. Her whole face lit up when I told her. Funny enough, she’d taken a pole class for a bachelorette party and had all kinds of questions about whether I dance with heels, if it’s hard to go upside, etc, etc. We had a very breathless conversation in the elevator on our way out of the building, and then that was that. She hasn’t asked me about it at work, and I haven’t given her my business card. (Although maybe I should… I’m a terrible, terrible businessperson)

My parents, on the other hand, have known–and disapproved– of my hobby and then eventual career path since my first pole class. But as much as I tell them about it, they’ve never seen me dance.

That changed during hurricane Sandy. My cell signal was out, and my mom Skyped me to keep connected. It wasn’t long before I was taking her on a virtual tour of my newly decorated apartment, then my pole, and then–because I never could resist an opportunity to show off–I showed her a couple of spins and holds.

Strangely enough, she wasn’t shocked or disgusted–she was angry! She didn’t like seeing me hang upside down by my legs. I got a very stern reminder that I don’t have health insurance, and if I have to go to the hospital with a broken neck, my financial future will spiral and I’ll die penniless and alone. Thanks, mom! Duly noted.

But even while she was yelling at me, my mom had the hint of a sparkle in her eye. She was proud. I’m sure she’ll never admit it, but I can tell these things. She also smiled when she said, “Well, you did always did like to play on the swings when you were little.”

(Funny enough, as much as I liked playgrounds, I hated firemen poles. Go figure.)

So I guess I don’t really have all the answers when it comes to “coming out.” But a teacher and friend of mine, Susan Shapiro, always likes to say “Live the most honest life you can.”

I think it makes things easier in the long run, no? And if not, at least no one can be made at you for lying. Hoo-ah!

But seriously, the more of us out there doing our thing like ain’t nothing wrong with it can only help reduce the stigma. It’s scary, but I think putting ourselves out there can only make things better for all of us. No lying, no hiding, no being ashamed. Pole or die, openly!

Anyway, I’m off to convert some NOOOOBS 😀 Anybody reading this who blogs, share your story too! I’m always curious how people manage their double lives… and jealous if they don’t have to compartmentalize.

Happy twirls!

Cathy

THE WRATH OF SANDY. Plus, getting on/to the pole/polls: equally important.

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

THE WRATH OF SANDY.

This happened about 30 feet from my apartment in Boro Park, Brooklyn.

Omg, you guys. This past week. Ugh.

Okay, so I’ll spare the boring recap, but I was basically really lucky and didn’t even lose power during Sandy. What I did lose was mobility (no subway!) and the motivation to do anything but lie sideways on my futon and watch slasher movies. Oh, and Uno. I played a lot of Uno.

Here’s the ironic part: as soon as I was able to leave the house, I somehow contracted a cold (FROM WHO?? I DIDN’T LEAVE THE HOUSE? Oh wait, probably that guy that coughed in my face the first time I left the house). So now, just at the apex of wanting to do productive things again, I feel shitty and thus give myself permission to park it in front of Hulu with chips and guacamole again. (Hahaha, just kidding, I’m too lazy to actually make guacamole… it’s just a hunk of avocado in a bowl with some salsa dumped on top. Then I mush it around with chips as I put it in my face. This is my life).

Anyway, run on sentences. Sorry. I plead cold medication.

PS. I’M IN HUFFPO! so, um, read my article about internships even though it’s not at all related to pole dancing because I’m amazed I accomplished anything on EITHER career front this week. Look, it’s my full name in the URL and everything!!!!11!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathryn-vandewater/internships_b_2080327.html

PPSS. You’d think with all the time alone at home with my pole and all the energy I had from being cooped up that I would dance. No. Not really. Dance I did not. Stare at my pole while eating Halloween candy because Halloween was essentially cancelled, I did. I truly, truly did. Thus, I have little to report on the pole front. Sorry 😦

PPPSSS. Go vote guys. And by vote, I mean please vote for Obama. Assuming it’s all ladies reading this (and the occasional lost male with an appreciation for ladies), that’s kind of a no brainer. (Sorry for being political, it will all be over soon).

Happy twirls and civic duties!!

Cathy

How you know you’re addicted to pole… Plus: NEW 4 WEEK COURSE!

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

So how do you know if you’re truly committed to our steadfast, chrome-colored friend?

You start working out to make your tricks better 😛

I mean, I f***ing hate running. I HATE IT. and yet, I actually went to a specialty sneaker store to get my feet measured and dump $135 bucks on new Mizunos. Why? Because I want more pole-endurance, son! And also, I think my feet and legs are a little wonky from spending so much time on my toes (true story), so, good shoes are important. Especially if you already hate running, and need it to suck less as an incentive.

I’m also working on planks, push-ups, and reverse crunches, ew. Do I enjoy these things?

NO.

Do I care about having a six pack (actually, let’s call it a SEX pack, amirite?!) and Michelle Obama arms?

Okay, a little bit. But not enough to actually do anything about it.

Here’s what I want: I want my tricks to suck less! And be less painful!

I had a news flash the other day about why I finally hit a chopper months ago… and why I can’t seem to get it consistently since then.

…

This is super obvious, but… STRENGTH.

I lost mine.

See, back in the day (oh, 3 months ago?) I was assistant teaching a class called Pole Perfections.

It’s really not so much a class as it is an open practice hour–with a 20 minute stretch and strength conditioning kick off.

Now, mind you, I did not appreciate doing this class, because that 20 minutes is hellish. I’m not exaggerating when I say I dreaded it. It’s difficult enough to make it through 3 sets of 19 different ab exercises (without dropping your legs in between) even without having to TALK THROUGH IT… but yeah, gasping for air during a class (on top of hating every painful minute of it) is pretty horrible.

I was only teaching the class in pieces (as an assistant to another teacher), so it wasn’t so bad. And I loooooooved the part where I get to walk around the room and tweak everybody’s spins and make alignment adjustments, etc. But I knew the day was coming that I would have to do all those push ups and sit ups on my own, without a break, and without wheezing through the counts like Grampa Simpson.

The mere thought of it scared me so much that I started working out on my own. I was knocking out crunches and push ups before bed for weeks. Swear to God.

Fear is a hell of a motivator.

I didn’t make the connection at the time, but right about a few weeks into my extra curricular work outs, I got that final little hip tilt and fell into my first chopper. FINALLY, I thought. The world of inversions is now magically open to me forever! Mine! All mine!

And then a funny thing happened: Pole Perfections got dropped off the schedule for a month to make room for another class, and I lost my fear. I got lazy with crunches. And my chopper faded into trick oblivion.

I figured out this connection recently, and have since redoubled my dedication to cross training again. But I’ve been missing that “potential-for-embarrassment” motivator. And frankly, having to teach moves several times a week is really the only way that I,  in my laziness, actually will push myself through them regularly, right along with my dutiful students.

But here’s the ultra good news, on all fronts: not only is Pole Perfections back on the schedule, but I’ve been assigned a new 4-WEEK CLASS, and it has a WORKOUT SECTION!

[Thursdays at 6pm (starting on the 18th)–mark your calendars, bitches!]

And best part of all: class time is not sacrificed for the conditioning portion, because it’s a 90-minute class!

This is a pet peeve of mine, since I used to pay through the nose for belly dance classes… and  then rage when the whole first half was yoga stretches. FTS, man.

I’m really, really, really excited about this, you guys. I’ve been teaching mostly drop ins for a while, so it will be really fun to actually see the same group every week, gettin’  better, stronger, and more bad ass… which is my favorite thing ever, next to ice cream and maybe I Can Haz Cheezburger. I really like breakthroughs.

Anyway, if you’re interested in taking the class you can get a better description here (Pole Dynamics Level 1 is me!), and don’t let the $150 price tag scare you… the rate is still exactly $25/hr, but the progression, conditioning, and intensity levels will be kicked up, big time. Oh, and everybody gets their own pole.

Here’s a copy of the flier…. because again, I’m really excited about this.

Happy twirls!

Cathy

PS. Intro to Pole is at 7:30pm tonight! We’re doing a 10% off promotion for NOOBS, too, so now’s a good time to take an Intro if you’ve been curious 😀

 
BUILD STRENGTH, SKILL & SENSUALITY
LEVELS 1-6 FOR FIRST TIMERS, BEGINNERS, INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCE STUDENTS
Pole Dynamics is a 90 minute 4wk pole dancing course for everyday people who are interested in learning the art of pole dancing in a safe, step by step progression program. This course meets once a week for ninety minutes over four weeks.
This intensive course gives students:
–A consistent regiment of the dynamics of the pole
-Exclusivity to your own pole in an environment with other students to bond with and grow with from level to level.
-Students will learn dynamic pole stretches to enhance flexibility
-Multiple strengthening exercises to build muscular strength and endurance
-Learn the dynamics of the pole from proper body positioning, poise, posture, pole spins, dance moves, floor work, transitions
-Choreography and improvisational dance skills.
-Learn new material and accomplish new goals each week
-Be ready willing and able to sign up to the next level to face a new sexy mind blowing pole dancing challenge.
 Pole Dynamics Course-$150
(4- 90Min Classes)
 
Pole Dynamics Bundle-$240, Regular Price-$265,  Save-$25
(Includes The Following-(4)90Min Classes & 5Class Card)
 
Sign Up Now Limited Spaces Left 
PD Level 1 Tuesdays Starting 10/16/12  7:00pm-8:30pm Click Here To Sign Up
PD Level 1  Wednesdays Starting 10/17/12 8:00pm-8:30pm Click Here To Sign Up
PD Level 1 Thursdays Starting 10/18/12 6:00pm-7:30pm  Click Here To Sign Up
PD Level 4 Thursdays Starting 10/18/12 8:00pm-9:30pm  Click Here To Sign Up
Standard Class Attire: Top(TShirt or Tank Top),Bottoms(Shorts or Yoga Pants), Footwear(BareFeet), HandTowel(Wipe Your Pole Down) & Yoga Mat(Optional)
212-679-2540

Pole + Bellydance…

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

I had an awesome guest at one of my classes last week: my friend K. from Bellyqueen classes!

She invited me along to watch a former dance partner of ours do a set at Poisson Rouge, so we finally got caught up. That’s when I mentioned my pole classes, and she being the doll that she is, said that she wanted to take one.

Aww. I love my friend K. She is so awesome and supportive. But honestly, I didn’t expect her to come to a class. This is because I’m the worst salesperson ever. You could flat out ask me if you could take a class with me and I’d probably say something like “Omg, you should totally take pole, it’s so fun! But it doesn’t have to be with me! Just, like, in general. If you want to. No pressure!”

So imagine my shock when I got a call from her on Monday asking which class she should join that night, and how to sign up.

Ahh. I was freaking out.

Here’s why I was nervous you guys: MY FRIEND IS A GREAT DANCER.

Better than me, because she’s been doing tribal belly dance for about 10 years longer. I swear, this girl can move each of her ribs separately. Cray cray.

Our troupe after a show last year 🙂

So next thing I know she’s in my class and I’m turning red trying to explain a hip circle/mini grind, all the while thinking that it sounds like an omi’s lazier, sluttier cousin.

But a funny thing happened: my friend came up to me after class beaming. “I LOVED IT,” she said. She wanted to take the intro class all over again.

“But won’t you be bored?” I asked. “It’s the same lesson–just the three dance moves again, with transitions and the same spin. I was so worried you’d think this was baby stuff after belly dance.”

“The spins are so hard on your arms! I was just glad when we did something I recognized,” she said, popping a killer hip circle.

I should have known. It’s not boring to do moves you’re familiar with in pole–it’s a relief!

Since reading Chwenny’s awesome post about ballet, I can help thinking that knowing a form of classical dance could really help with posture and alignment on the pole, not to mention flexibility.

But for me, belly dance really helped me with the moves that usually embarrass people. No, not the hard stuff–the sexy stuff!

The undulations, body waves, rolls, hip circles, grinds–was what made me breathe a sigh of relief between spins and holds. FINALLY, a way of moving my body I’m familiar with! And it doesn’t even bruise you!

I’m not sure I’d go as far as spending the time or money to take pole AND belly dance classes, but I know my background really helped me. Having access to your muscles and being able to isolate them in the way that belly dance teaches you is extremely useful on the pole.

Really quickly, because I like lists, here’s now a belly dance background has helped me:

1. Doings lots of things at once

We call it “layering” in belly dance: combining moves at different tempos. For example: undulating your belly while “shimmering” (teeny, tiny shimmy all over your body) and slowly raising your arms.

It’s a lot like set drumming: you’ve got one beat for your bass drum foot, one for your snare drum, one for your hi-hat. And they’re all going at separate speeds.

Being able to multitask with body parts is suuuuper helpful in pole when you’re trying to remember to point your toes while changing your grip and hooking a leg… on spin mode.

2. Flexibility in “lady” places

I don’t mean flexibility to, say, do a split, but in having the ability to pop your chest way to the side, or push out a hip in a big way, while keeping other parts of your body still. The flexibility to really exaggerate your womanly curves (ew, that sounds gross, but hips/chest, you know what I mean) is what gets your movements to POP. Especially when you contrast it with the straightness of a pole. OH SNAP, T&A everywhere. Yes please.

3. Posture, Posture, Posture

One of the hardest things to learn–and most impossible to unlearn!–in belly dance is being totally mindful of your body alignment.

Since belly dancers are often juggling many movements at a time, we know our base posture needs to be in check. If you’ve got your arms AND your hips moving, your midsection better be stable and still, or you’re going to just look like a mess with no discernible, purposeful dance moves.

Here’s the science (not really): If you’re not keeping something straight and still, there’s nothing to contrast the movement against. That’s why a beautiful snake arm with lazy posture doesn’t really look like anything!

In a roundabout way, having this kind of full body awareness is really helpful when you start doing strength moves in pole, or even just more controlled spins.

Mentally separating yourself from (ouch) the pain of friction on your arms and legs and being aware of the big picture is what elevates it all to art–that arch in the back, the controlled, straight extension of the leg with pulled in abs. CONTROL. Janet Jackson. You get me?

And yes, pole is about digging in and getting sexy, but sexy turns into sloppy without discipline. That’s why belly dance is so sexy! It’s CONTROLLED.

Thus, you need to know how to lean in and get slinky with 60% of your body while keeping the rest of the movements straight and clean. Or that 60% is nothing. Nothing, I say!

4. Directing attention

Sometimes, it’s all about the small movements in belly dance. A single hip figure eight. A hand gesture. A tiny belly release. You might miss them if the belly dancer doesn’t know how to make you look–which is thankfully a skill of ours 🙂

Getting you to NOT look at things is another side of the same coin. This is super handy with pole, because, as we all know, getting into a move can be ugly as hell!

That’s why it’s great to know how distract people: big sweeping upper body movements as you climb (with nasty monkey feet :D)! Hair flips and back arches as we clumsily brace ourselves to stand back up in heels!

It’s all misdirection, and I learned everything I know about it from belly dance.

—

I could go on, but I’ll stop myself. I’m starting to miss belly dance 😦

Any of you guys take another form of dance? I’ve found Salsa really helpful–especially for getting comfortable with dancing on offbeats and digging into hip movements, arching a lot, etc. Let me know what you’d recommend!

Intro to Pole is 3-4pm tomorrow, so I hope to see more familiar faces 🙂

Happy twirls,

Cathy

Longest. Day. Ever.

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

So, I don’t exactly pole for a living. I have two other jobs… a day job, and a no-free-time-after-my-day-job-job.

In case you’re curious, here’s a picture of my day so far: I worked my gym job from 6-10am (which means a 4:30am wake-up call), and now I’m at my day(re: writing/editing) job, where I just got the call that both my Intro (nooooob) and Pleaser (choreo/heels class) are filled up and on… and taking place back to back.

I’m super excited because classes have been slow lately… but wow, this definitely calls for a 9th or 10th cup of coffee today. Oy vey.

Oh well. I’ve got my heels. I’ve got the “fuck it all” attitude that only sleep deprivation can create. I’ve also got some really, really tight shorts today, so you know class is going to be good. BRING IT.

In other news: PROGRESS!!!! By my 3rd day of practice I’m hitting a static AND a spinning “Jenyne” climb really consistently, and I learned a new straight-leg sit (look ma, no hands! or feet!) that looks sooooo pretty and ballerina-y.

I need to take a picture and send it to my parents so that that’s the image they have of me dancing forever.

Anyway, I’m pretty sore and rather hideously banged up in the inner thigh and foot area, but, that just makes me feel scrappy… so let’s do this.

Anybody try the Ms. Butterfly climb? Hope everybody’s making mini breakthroughs this week.

Happy Twirls!
Cathy

Cracking the Jenyne Butterfly climb

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Hey y’all,

Wow, so I got lazy and took like two weeks off of practicing and I’m really feeling it.

You know you haven’t danced in a while when you’re bruising again. Whoops.

I’ve been feeling kinda blue and burned out so I’ve been trying to trick myself into falling in love with pole again. Kinda like taking your spouse on a date, or making your boyfriend speak with an English accent and messing up his hair so you can pretend he’s Rob Pattinson.

I digress.

First I tried my pole on spin mode.  I think I first attempted this for about 5 seconds when I first got my X-Pole and filed the experience under NEVER AGAIN.

Staying on a spinning pole when you’re a rookie must be what riding a mechanical bull feels like. That sucker DOES NOT want you on. Also, Centrifugal Force is a bitch!

This time, I got all smug like, whatevs, I can handle this now,  so I tried again. And yeah, I did better, but, I’m a wimp and I  dizzy quickly.

(I think I’m going to try it for 10-15 mins at a time, just to get used to it and work on staying in control. Because you can get reaally out of control on a spinning pole. It’s kind of amazing, but yeah, a little too difficult and sickening for long periods of time).

Anyway, I decided to pick a couple of tricks/style points to master. I’m still working on my headstand mount, but I’m a little scared of cracking my head open at home without a spotter, so instead, I’m working on style stuff.

My first mission: the Jenyne Butterfly climb. (Sorry it look me like eight paragraphs to get to the point, guys).

If you haven’t seen it… this is Miss Jenyne Butterfly, making climbing look insanely easy (dig it at 0:19).

Funny  how, with her technique (which is in fact more difficult than your average climb), getting air looks effortless. I hate it/lerve it.

Anywho, I’m working on it, and here’s a couple of finer points I’m trying to crack that might help you as well:

1. Push/pull

So basically, with Jenyne’s climb, you’re lifting both legs from a dead hang. Hence, you gotta keep your body from collapsing into the pole as you do this. If you look closely, you can see she has her bottom wrist locked and is pressing her whole forearm flush against the pole. (It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that this is what she was doing). This is the push arm! (Duh). The other is the pull arm (ultra-Duh!).

2. Pointed toes

Yeah, it’s really hard to to grip a pole without flexing your inside foot to grab it around your ankle, but the effect is totally worth it. You’re really going to have to rely on the grip your “push” arm is getting, and you may need a little grip aid on the tops of your feet. Test is a few times  with your traditional climb to find the “sweet spot” where your ankle dips in enough for this not to hurt (though I guarantee you’ll bruise, sorry!)

3. Even knees

If you’re used to a one leg-then-the-other climb, it’s going to feel really weird bringing both knees up and gripping at the same time.  I recommend getting into position and just practicing the first lift over and over (switching push-pull  arms!) before you try making your way up the pole.

I hope everybody tries this and lets me know how it goes!

I may have a new bruise collage by the end of this, but I’m not quitting!!!

PS. Classes this Thursday, and another open house is coming up! Check the schedule for more info.

Happy twirls!

Cathy ❤

I’m in the New York Post today… on a pole!

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Look! Here’s me, making my parents proud!

Haha, kidding, they’re okay with it… mostly.

(FYI: This is just a picture of the full length photo, which is only the print version, so pick it up!)

Anyway, here’s the back story: I had a nasty breakup and ended up on OK Cupid (per the realization that everybody else I know is on it and no one’s been murdered). (YET).

Funny enough, the only non-creepy message I got was from the dating editor at the NY Post, asking if I’d like to be set up for Meet Market (TM). I guess pole=marketability?

Long story short, there’s a photographer at my house (!!!!) so yes, that pic is my room and my beautiful, beautiful X-Pole making its stunning debut. Glad I remembered to polish the Dry Hands off first!

I still haven’t been on my date yet, but (SPOILER ALERT) I picked the trainer. Because I don’t already work and live with enough trainers. I needed an extra person in my life to give me dirty looks for eating a bagel. 😀

Jokes! I love my trainer friends and I’m going to bribe them very soon to give me a specialized pole workout and stretches I can share with you guys.

Anyway, click the link, stalk my write up, and feel free to vote? Because make the guys feel good?

❤ and don’t forget, classes on Monday!!!

Happy Twirls!
Cathy

PS. A little pimpage for the Dating Editor at the Post, Jozen Cummings… he has an awesome blog “Until I Get Married” and he’s generally a doll, so, check his shit out!

Getting MAD FIT in 8 super weird places

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

ImageAh, more reasons to love pole. So. Freaking. Much.

I know a lot of people dance to mix up their work out routines (great idea, by the way!), but fitness has always been just a nice plus of pole for me.

I mean… I’m the type that gets really frustrated when my muscles start giving out because dang, I wanted to practice that one thing one more time!

But the weird thing is, it’s always super random muscles that get tired from pole. Last night I had to give laybacks a rest not because my legs were giving out, but because my big toe was cramping.

Seriously?

Seriously big toe? You’re going to play me like that?

As our instructors like to say though, you can’t ignore even the little muscle issues because a toe cramp can definitely screw with your leg muscles, which can in turn screw with your grip.

Which can then screw with your head. Because you landed on it. OH SNAP.

But seriously, cramps aside, here are weird muscle groups I’ve noticed I’m accidentally keeping in top condition:

1. Inner thighs

Okay this is actually pretty awesome. I remember being in middle school and finding out what “thunder thighs” meant for the first time, staring at my legs for a bit, then frantically doing leg lifts out of my mom’s Jane Fonda book.

Eventually though, I realized “spot reducing” is kinda BS, and resigned myself to a little inner thigh chub. NBD, right?

NOT UNTIL YOU HAVE AMAZING INNER THIGHS. Holy crap, trying not to die while hanging upside down from your thighs is like, the best training ever, apparently, because my inner thighs are looking boss. I mean, I guess I’ll take it?

2. Deltoids

This kinda pisses me off, because I assumed that pole dance would trick out my arms. Nope, just the shoulders.

In fact, the contrast between my super tight delts and loose, ever-so-floppy triceps just makes the whole arm situation look worse. Damn you, fiercely toned delts. Damn you to hell.

3. Calves

Can’t pretend to be angry about this. “Imaginary high heels” at all times (ie. standing on your toes) makes for some awesome, accidentally toned calves that look baller in real heels.

Downside: the shame of running in shoes with lifts in the back. The guy at the shoe store was horrified by by my apparent muscle imbalances, so that’s what I ended up with.*Shame*.

4. Forearms, wrists, and hands

This is kind of a do or die situation, really. After I weaned myself off Dry Hands (grip aid’s a hell of a drug!), my wrists and hands had to get stronger… because I couldn’t really spare any more skin rubbing off, and they must have known that.

I mean, I guess my forearms never really looked fat or anything, but I can the difference. I find myself giving very intimidating handshakes. Though that could also be the cray cray callouses I have, that are scary people. Whoops.

5. Obliques

ROCK ON, I love my new side abs! Kinda wish the rest of the abs would catch up, but I’ll take what I can get. I think it’s all the leg swinging, twisting, and wrapping, but I can actually see individual, Bat-man ablets happening along my rib cage. That’s DEFINITELY a pole perk.

6. Upper back

Holy god is all I can say about this. In addition to posture improvement, my upper back is mighty fine in the muscle department. I think it’s safe to say that this is where the majority of effort is coming from in pole, not arms (at least with spins).

7. Feet and ankles

Weird, right? But all the push offs, the climbing, the ankle hook make their mark. I’m hoping this helps with running, since the top of my feet tend to get tired. Is there a word for that muscle? Moving on.

8. Biceps

Okay this is not a weird muscle. But yes, climbing and inverting will tone the shit out of it.

Any weird places you’ve noticed firming up with pole?

How about muscles you WISH would get stronger, to help with dance?

I work with a lot of personal trainers at my day job so I’m thinking of asking them for help with a strength building routine. If they give me a baller work-out, I’ll be sure to share!

Happy twirls!

Cathy