The Science Behind Mixing Up Your Practice Sessions—and Why In-Person Classes Reign Supreme

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

You’re probably better off spending a half hour working on 5 or 6 moves than drilling the same one over and over, and here’s why: hoopthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/02/ironically-i-blogged-once-this-morning.html

(TL:DR: your brain shuts off and you only know how to do that one move in that one situation. Not ideal for freestyles or new choreo).

This particular blog is about basketball (and more specifically, performance in a game) but it’s very relevant to dancers who will hopefully be able to perform moves in more than one combination.

Looks like putting a bunch of move names in a hat, drawing 5, then practicing them in order (followed by reverse order) is a good idea for that next jam session! Just think–attempting a chopper right out of a spin or from a pole sit is different than giving it a go from the ground, right? These variables strengthen your skills and deepen your understand of a move.

Also interesting: practicing on your own without classes in between might not be a great idea. This has probably been apparent to anyone who’s ever attempted to try a move at home and was completely stumped on how to do it again, but, even if you’re able to fight your way through it alone, you might be missing important technique notes without a teacher present.

Most pole studios off “free pole” time (not actually free–they usually charge $10-15 and hour to use the studio), and this unstructured practice time often comes with an instructor present for safety. Take advantage of this and ask for feedback or tips! Bonus points if this isn’t your regular teacher. A different person might mean fresh perspective on what you can work on.

Does anybody practice at home? Or have you forgotten  you can actually use your pole and have started seeing it as a ceiling beam of some sort? (guilty).

PS. What are these called? I’m going with “stag leaps” until further notice. I FEEL LIKE A FRIGGIN GAZELLE YAS

human pogo stick

Making REAL Progress Part 2:

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

I’ve been having a series of breakthroughs out of nowhere lately, and I have some thoughts on finally making progress!

This is especially shocking to me because lately I’ve been feeling like I’m throwing everything I have at pole (getting up a little earlier to do 15-20 minutes of conditioning before I jump in the shower, abs/pullups/shoulder training on my lunch break, pole, flex, floowork or barre classes in the evening and on weekends. But the progress has been sloooooo0w.

Until suddenly it wasn’t. Suddenly the dots started connecting and trying (and failing) at a Jamila for several frustrating weeks meant nailing a violator on my first try in three years (an experience so traumatic in 2013 that I haven’t attempted it until now haha); struggling to get my outside leg hangs with that little leg shimmy (you know the one) suddenly got me aerial inverts, monkey climbs, and straight leg inverts (which barre REALLY came in handy for–that is serious quad work, holy crap).

Moves I thought were impossible for me are now (marginally) accessible and make some sense. And I’m feeling crazy inspired to tell you all immediately: DO NOT GIVE UP, because it might be just around the corner.

And it’s not linear. You don’t do X amount of work and get Y result within a set amount of time. I work out sometimes just to deal with anxiety, or out of habit. I stopped expecting it to pay off immediately quite some time ago. But damn, the results come when you least expect them. It’s just so important not to quit.

So here’s my continued list of progression tips:

1. Whatever you do, hang in there.

Learn to love the work. You never know when a jump forward in your skills is going to happen, but it probably WON’T happen if you aren’t hitting the studio, conditioning, and/or crosstraining. Take a break from one thing for a while if you get burnt out but don’t go inactive. I skipped pole classes for a week but kept doing my Core XTREEEEEEME (extra e’s mine) and barre classes, and then when I went back to pole I felt great and got a new trick.

I saw a girl in my level 2 class a few weeks ago who was brand new to the level. And she was struggling and clearly looking defeated and embarrassed to be struggling. And I just wanted to freaking hug her, because leveling up and 1. no longer being the best in your class in the lower level, and 2. suddenly being the worst in your class and everything’s hard and hurts is no small thing.

Also, at my particular studio (and in many, I’m sure) level 2 is miles away from level 1. The two almost have nothing to do with each other. In level 1 you spin, in level 2 you’re doing upside down. It’s almost cruel how big that jump is.

But anyway, mad props to this girl because in her freestyle–ie. the time to do easy fun stuff that you’re good at–she attempted a chopper and leg hang she JUST LEARNED, and bailed out, and looked so frustrated with herself. I wanted to give her a medal right then and there just for trying, because that’s the whole point.

Side note: I almost NEVER attempt upside down stuff at the end of a 1.5 hour class unless there’s a gun to my head.

(Hasn’t happened yet, but hey, this is New York).

So, retroactively:

2. Keep Trying and Failing at Hard Things.

Because failing at them is practice and conditioning too. And give yourself props for freaking TRYING and being willing to wipe out in front of Level 3 girls who are straight chilling in Level 2 classes because they don’t have your balls. #respect

3. Partner Up With Someone Better Than You

Last night I monkey climbed (ie. chopper, outside leg hang, aerial chopper, outside leg hang, drop exhausted to the floor). I didn’t know I could. I tried it because the girl I was partnered with (who also happened to be really friendly and chill, which is essential) did it first.

[Monkey climb see, monkey climb do! (hehe)]

Now normally I like to hide in the back and partner with somebody who’s doing their first Level 2 class so I can feel helpful and not totally clumsy.

But, this has definitely not been me to push myself (duh). Don’t be like me. Share a pole with someone who’s pushing herself. This is especially effective if you’re a competitive person! Your pole buddy can also give you helpful tips, like mine did, because she’s probably been there and already worked out the kinks with moves she’s mastered.

4. Record Yourself

I know I’ve said this before, but it’s so important for getting better. Pole can be hard when it comes to seeing yourself. We’re often spinning or upside down, so it’s hard to catch a good look at yourself in the mirror. That doesn’t excuse you from looking, though.

I have a good friend who’s much more advanced at pole than me. But she’s a “jump from trick to trick” type who’s addicted to progress. She doesn’t like doing the same move over and over–least of all Level One moves. But at her first major competition recently, she lost points from every judge over bent knees and sickled, flexed feet. (Something I feel guilty for not telling her I noticed, but one sort of looks like an asshole saying “maybe you should straighten your legs more” to someone who’s doing handsprings while you’re doing yet another pinwheel spin).

Don’t wait for someone assigning you points in a competition to read your bad habits. Video early, video often, and troubleshoot. Which reminds me…

5. Master Moves, Don’t Settle for “Good Enough”

If you’ve ever watched a non-poler watch pole dance, you’ve probably noticed that the stuff they’re most impressed by isn’t particularly hard stuff. It’s Level 1 skills performed with confidence, mastery, and expression that elicit the gasps.

So aim for that. Don’t check a move off and move on. Explore it. Try it big, try it small, try it in new combos, with different emotional notes, with different tempos and song choices. A dip turn can go 100 different ways–but each time you work with it, yours gets stronger and more versatile.

Work on new tricks, but aim for total mastery of your Level 1 stuff. And also (sorry, this is the longest post ever but I have SO MANY THOUGHTS): Level 1 mastery=the strength, control, and deep understanding of moves to learn to add on or do similar (but harder) variations of them in higher class levels. If you still don’t know how to get good momentum without jumping, or muscle your way through climbs instead of push-pulling, you’re going to struggling with tricks that build on theses elements (and possible get hurt trying to learn them).

How do you feel about your progress? What made a difference for you for a certain nemesis trick? What advice would you give polers on the cusp of giving up? And have you ever given up yourself? I feel like burnout combined with injuries makes for a lot of “ex” polers… Share below!

 

How to really, truly progress

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Two steps forward, one step back.

Or in my case, two aerial inverts, oh fuck, I lost my aerial invert.

I’m sure I’m not the only one.

One of the most trying, frustrating thing about this sport we all love called pole is that success can seem so fleeting. And it takes so long to see any measure of success in the first place.

But what’s interesting (and often unique) about pole is that sometimes, it’s less about sheer brute force than it seems to be. One moment a move seems impossible. The next, you shift your hips a bit and lower your bottom hand and you’re in a move almost effortlessly.

And then the next time you try it, it’s gone again. C’est la vie de pole!

But I’ll use my vast experience (5 going on 6 years of fighting for pole moves) to share a few sneaky tricks for moving forward with you.

1. Take private lessons with your favorite teacher.

And pro tip: come with a list of goals. You’re never going to find out in a crowded classroom of two to a pole that you’re tipping back on your invert too soon, but you WILL find this out one on one with an instructor you trust. I even found out I’ve been holding my planks wrong. AND I PLANK LIKE EVERY OTHER DAY. That’s so many cumulative, incorrect planks. Privates are pricey, but do like me and drop a hint for birthday, Christmas, Hannukkah, whatever. And try to focus on the value of getting technique tweaks you can use for life over endless group sessions where you further reinforce bad habits, if you’re hung up on the money. I swear, it pays off.

Note on that “goals” list: if you don’t have a list of nemesis moves you want special help with, try to think about larger goals. For me, that was staying on the pole longer and flowing my tricks together. Yours might be more specific, like nailing leg hands on both sides, or cleaning up favorite tricks, or even developing presence for a performance.

My instructor then had me transition in and out of moves by dropping into a strong hold, instead of just hopping down off the pole. Hard as fuck but wow, so useful once I got used to it–I could invert, fan kick, cradle spin, all sorts of cool stuff from there. And staying off the ground is sort of like breaking the habit of adjusting your goggles to sneak a break while swimming laps. It’s just a good habit to get into, and it builds endurance.

Note #2: expect private lessons to be extremely physically demanding. It’s your teacher’s job to push you, and there’s nowhere to hide. Mentally prepare and eat/drink enough beforehand!! I left it ALL on the pole in my sessions, but damn, I progressed.

2. Skip your favorite teacher.

I mean, don’t stop going to them, still go a lot. But commit to taking lessons with other, different teachers at your studio once in a while. You’ll be amazed how even moves you think you know how to do will take on new nuance when a different person explains them.

Sometimes it takes a fresh approach to nail a move, and a different instructor with her own way of seeing things can be just the one to give you new perspective. Weirdly, I have had great success with brand new teachers. ??? I don’t know you guys, the road has been mighty wavy for me in pole, but I’m okay with that. #whateverworks

3. Condition.

I knooooooow, conditioning sucks. It hurts, it’s hard, and it’s usually not anywhere near as gratifying as banging out tricks. But here’s the good news: it’s cheap (like, watch-a-YouTube-tutorial-cheap), you can usually do it at home, and it will save you countless hours of failing (and potentially hurting yourself) through strength moves. Some types of cross-training can even help your existing tricks look better. Barre definitely helped me FINALLY straighten my knees in poses (hint: you think they’re straight but they’re never really straight. NEVAAAAAAR) and has saved countless trick pics.

And a twice weekly abs class + pull ups with a band at my gym FINALLY got me my aerial invert, for keeps. I’m also #blessed enough to go to a studio that offers literal aerial conditioning classes, and they’ve been a godsend for my nagging swimmer’s shoulder. Again, let me emphasize: conditioning fucking sucks. But it will increase your range of ability and certainly your longevity (ie. time without being injured) overall. Worth it.

Here’s an example of a move I like to do in between pull-up sets to help keep my shoulders in shape. Highly recommend! Scapula pushups are a similar exercise, and require no equipment. Google them!

4. Take a break.

This may see counterintuitive, but I can’t tell you how many tricks I suddenly nailed out of nowhere after a week off. If you’re feeling burnt out, there’s no need to bang your head against a wall. Take a week, and stay active doing other things you enjoy more than failing and hating your life at pole classes. Hike, stretch, ride your bike, swim. Then come back to it. You’ll have a clear mind, relaxed muscles, and possibly, a new approach to a trick that suddenly makes it possible for you.

5. Look after your shoulders.

Okay I know this is part of conditioning, but it deserves its own paragraph anyway. Please god, take care of your shoulders. Like stop what you’re doing right now and buy yourself some therabands, and look up shoulder exercises to do with them.

Then do those shoulder exercises before and after you do anything on the pole. You’ll thank me later.

There’s a ton of research you can read out there about how shoulders are just not really built to take on the kind of stress our hip sockets are, for lots of reasons. But if you happen to just take my word for it that that’s true, baby and condition the hell out of your shoulders, or risk not being able to do ANYTHING aerial when you fuck them up. And trust me, as someone with chronic shoulder stuff (again, likely left over from my years as a swimmer with a janky stroke), you do not want to be dealing with that. Take an extra few minutes and warm them up. Strengthen them. Stretch them. You’re welcome.

Do you guys have any weird methods or motivators for getting progress in pole? Do you have any shoulder exercises you like doing or should I make a quick video of my favorites for y’all?

XOXO

What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you before a pole class?

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Please let me know. I think I just made my own hall of fame last night: I knocked over a bottle of scented diffuser oil while changing and successfully soaked my pole clothing in oil.

In OIL.

Recap: Oil-soaked pole clothing 3 minutes before class.

It wasn’t a total disaster because I was able to run up and buy a new ($30, ugh) tank for class, but I’m sure my pole mate didn’t appreciate the stench of some sort of floral bug spray or whatever TF that oil was supposed to smell like.

Runner up: that time I was supposed to TEACH a class and realize that what I that were pole shorts were actually a pair of balled up black tights. I thought I had saved the day by cutting them into little shorts and doing my thing but it wasn’t until after class that I caught a glimpse of my floral underpants showing directly through from behind. Whoops.

What’s the worst thing YOU ever had to deal with right before a class or performance? Did you soldier though? Ain’t nobody got the money to skip class and still pay for it because of cancelations policies, please tell me you soldiered through.

But luckily, this particular pole class was awesome! I learned this thing that I didn’t get a picture of and also don’t know the name of but let me try to describe it?

You do a normal pole sit with straight legs, tilt to the side so that your top leg is making contact with the pole from the front (like, not the side or back of your leg, right on the quad). Then you lower your top hand (same as top leg), sweep your bottom hand out and around, opening your chest, and grip below your butt, and—pushing your top leg into the pole from the quad–bend the top leg, and straighten and open the bottom one. As you start to feel more secure, open your chest and arch your back more, trying to touch your top foot to your head. So pretty!

It looks super spooky and hard, but actually the more you open your legs (while making contact with the inner thigh of your lower leg and quad of your top leg), the better and more secure the pose is. Very pretty, and not that tricky or painful!

I’ll have to upload a photo/video, but please let me know if you think you know what this is called!!

Body and Pole Bingo: Giddyup. (Also: teeny reviews on the new classes I just took!)

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

So here’s an optimal way to slack–I’ve been bad about blogging because I’ve been spending too much dancing!! :D!!!

Body and pole is doing “bingo” (complete with cards) where you knock out spaces on your card by completing class-taking tasks. Examples are taking class with a certain teacher, or an aerial art (pole, hoop, fabric). There’s also conditioning, flex, and time-specific tasks, like taking one before noon on a weekday, or after 8pm.

At first I was like, “whatever, I’mma do me–I don’t need a card to get my butt to class!” but honestly, seeing the progress on a card is completely addictive. I went from being like, “okay, I’ll black out 5 in a row and get 20% of a package” to “OMG I’M SO CLOSE, I can black out this whole card of 25 classes and treat my bellydance girls to a pole party!”

The promotion ended Tuesday and here’s what my card looked like:

Photo credit to Armando at the front desk who had to painstaking verify that I actually DID go to this many classes/have this much time on my hands. Thank you!!
Photo credit to Armando at the front desk who had to painstaking verify that I actually DID go to this many classes/have this much time on my hands. Thank you!!

You guys I was one space away from a free pole party. I WANTED THAT PARTY. But Brenna is a hugely popular  instructor and I couldn’t make it into one of her sold out classes 😦

But anyway, I took SO many classes–let me quickly give you an overview of my favorites while they’re still fresh in my head.

1. Liquid motion

This one was a HUGE discovery for me. I always stare longingly at pole girls who do fish flops and slinky split transitions on the floor, but like, in the same way I longingly watch gymnasts do kips and shit on the uneven bars: beautiful, but where the hell am I going to learn that?

HERE. HERE IS WHERE YOU CAN LEARN THAT. B&P has these classes in the big rooms so you have plenty of room to roll around and make it nasty. Not only did I immediately add tons of cute, stylish moves to my repertoire, I also got a nice lowerbody workout–re: a break for my calloused, calloused hands–and they have kneepads and stuff too, so you can have all the fun of oozing around on the floor but none of the rug burn or bruises. Highly, highly recommend. It upped my pole freestyle game after ONE class. (I took this with Emily Sanderson who can do absolutely no wrong in my book, but Jeni Janover teaches it too and I’ve only heard good things!)

PS. In case you doubt the power of mixing things up a little, here’s a three-day bruise tracking photo series that documents what multiple aerial classes for three days in a row looks like.

2. Pole Level 2 with Kelly

Remember what a hard time I was having with Level 2? How every time I get there it’s a bunch of Level 3 people and it’s more a “review and combine your moves” atmosphere than “literally learn where your hands and feet go for these moves” type thing?

Yeah, Kelly’s class was a huge game changer for that. For each move she gives three versions: the straight up version (a leg hang, for instance), a way to make it harder (windshield wipers), and a way to start working towards it (leg hangs from being on your back on the floor).

I mean, I always KNEW I could do leg hangs from my back on the floor to practice placement, but when the teacher doesn’t say that out loud and I’m the only one on the floor… that shit is embarrassing! It made the hugest difference to have legitimate options for everything so I never just had to stand there, hanging my head in shame, or feeling bored with a move I already had down. Fabulous, and exactly what my morale needed. Thank you Kelly!!!

3. Flex Level 2 with Isaac

Oh jesus, here we go. So, you’ll notice looking at the picture on my card that Isaac’s face is on there. He’s in the studio for only a couple of classes–mainly advanced flex and contortion. I was really trying to fill up this card, so, I swallowed my pride and attempted an int/adv. flex class that I had no business being in.

It was…. humbling. As you’d expect any flex class to be when people are doing chin stands and split bridges. But Isaac has a really relaxed, soothing attitude to flexibility (he said multiple times during the 1.5 hour class “don’t kill yourself, we’ve got a lot of minutes left”) and gives plenty of variations to make things harder or easier. Like with Kelly, I always had something to work on, even if I couldn’t quite sit my ass on my head like some people in class 😐

Funny moment: he came over to me while I was doing a foot-grab pigeon thing and said, “Are you an aerialist?” He was adjusting my arm/shoulder placement as he said this so I immediately blushed and said, “…yes” thinking he’s noticed my muscles. “Then we really need to fix this shoulder situation.” (ie. SHOULDER FLEXIBILITY DISSSSSSS). That’ll teach me to have an ego, haha. Again, #humbling.

BUT… the class overall was an incredibly intense, focused session and I think I’ll try to start going regularly. Isaac sets a very supportive tone for everything, and has a really nice way of encouraging everyone (later that same class he moved me to a better position and said, “YES! Now that will get you in the circus!” which is quite possibly the best compliment I’ve ever gotten in a dance class ever, haha).

If nothing else, this class really inspired me to try to hold poses longer and use breathing to get into muscles I’m targeting, because it really makes all the difference when you’re pushing your absolute limits (which I was… eek!).

Okay wow this post got long… I’ll tackle reviewing another three next time!

Here’s a teaser image of a bruise I got attempted hoop level 1 for the first time!

And a video of me taking intro to fabric! (REALLY REALLY FUN, HIGHLY RECOMMEND)

OH, and the Fire Blossoms are back in action because Maki’s back from her world tour of Silk Roads! We have a show this Saturday night–here’s a sneak peek of our routine 😉

Finally… how good is the Hollaback Girl portion of this video? I literally cried. (Disclaimer: the linked video is total nonsense and has nothing to do with dancing).

 

How to make a sexy V-day routine even if you’re a pole beginner: Part 1

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Hey guys!

Valentine’s is just around the corner, and if you have a bae, you’re probably doing what I do every time I hear a sexy song come on the radio: mentally rehearsing the sexy routine you MIGHT do on Vday but probably won’t because choreography is hard.

Here’s the good news though: a super sexy dance does NOT require fancy tricks. Bae will likely be just as impressed if you flip your hair and climb the pole than as if you did a bird of paradise or some double jointed Marion Crampe shit.

But I know how annoying it is to get some vague tips for HOW to do a routine and like… you don’t have any moves for a routine in your skill level. So please: as someone who once taught routines at bachelorette parties, let me get you on this.

You can use all of these moves or just a few of them and even repeat yourself. If you’re flowing and feeling yourself, it will look awesome, so don’t get too hung up on execution or difficulty. I’ll keep adding more throughout the week, and add some gifs of the moves so you can get the full affect.

I’ll also put my money where my mouth is on this and make a short routine out of these moves to prove it can be done–and that you can look damn good while doing it.

1. Walking

You can kill like 15 seconds of your song just by walking. Here’s how to make it worth watching:

-Start off of the pole. Key time-killing tip.bend and snap

-Walk slow (duh), drag the toe of the foot you’re stepping with (HACK: this helps you keep your balance in heels or while exaggerating your ankle cross as you saunter).

-Pause to bend over your front leg, drag your hands up it, and flip your hair. (Slo-mo ben and snap, shoutout to Legally Blonde!)

 

-Do some more bending when you make it to the pole: when you’re about arm’s distance away, drag your hands down the pole as you bend over with straight legs and an arched back. Dip your head and roll it half-moon to the other side and SNAP that hair as you come back up. (Pro tip: definitely roll your head to the SIDE of the pole, lest you smack your face on the pole).

-Work a pole walk. Again, the focus here is WASTING TIME. Walk incredibly slow. Keep it interesting with hair and body touching. Again, bae will be enthralled if you are legitimately feeling yourself, don’t worry about popping tricks.

2. Half pirouette

These are great because they look fancy without the risks attached to a full pirouette (ie. getting stuck, losing your balance, hitting your leg on the pole–these are all things that would definitely happen to me with my luck during a sexy performance).

And here’s the other great thing: when you end up with your back on the pole, you can kill MORE TIME doing stuff you’ve already done because it looks different from a new angle. SCORE.

3. Spins

I highly recommend spacing these out. They’re  exciting in moderation, but clumped together they lose that affect. You also want to be very careful not to anticipate a spin while doing a sexy-ish dance: fully let yourself fall into it, and don’t give it away by sneaking an extra step, etc. The appeal here is having fully control of the spin and riding it all the way out to the floor. (Then woohoo!!!! Enjoy more time wasting opportunities on the ground! Roll around, tick tock yo booty, stripper push yourself up–so many possibilities).

4. Spins Pt. 2: 

Get some contrast between spin 1 and spin 2, if you can. If you’re doing a front spin, try a back spin for #2–falling lady is nice and simple, and looks really different from a fireman or attitude spin.

5. Climb

Again, the appeal here is the control you have while. Don’t even worry if you can’t do much once you get up there: focus on climbing slowly, with a bit of body wave and some head rolls, if you can. Then sit for a bit, stretch out your legs if you can, and try some waves or see saws to get back down. Again, if you’re selling it with hips and hair, you do NOT need tricks.

Once on the ground, rinse and repeat the first three steps! You have half of a routine!

More coming soon 😉

If straddles hurt your outer thighs, READ THIS

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Hey guys,

Enjoying summer?

I’ve been taking some time out to do summer stuff and generally chill in my time off, instead of spending it hunched over my computer as during the work day. So pardon my hiatus!

I did want to drop a quick line though because I haven’t stopped training (though I’m mainly doing flex, ballet barre, and poleography–no hardcore pole right now because my favorite teacher hasn’t been in in a while and I’m STILL having bad experiences with other peeps. *SIGH* Just want to get through a Level 2 without wanted to cry y’all).  Anyway, I love my other classes, and as usual when I take class with my utterly fabulous, professional, knowledgeable, infinitely patient, etc etc teachers I I LEARN SO MUCH.

Our flex teacher (WHO I LOVE, OMG YOU GUYS, SHE’S THE LITERAL BEST) asks for requests sometimes, and I recently issued a weird one: butt stretching.

Here’s the background: I have a horrific time with frog/straddle stretches. I’m used to some intense stretching, but while other people say they feel these stretching in their inner thighs, they make me feel like my outer thighs as well as hips are being broken. Like, wishbone-being-pulled-apart style.

This cannot be normal, I thought, so I googled “are straddle splits impossible for some people.” Because it feels that bad to me, and I have seen NO progress, despite making visible gains in all my other flexibility–including shoulders, aka fixing my dinosaur arms. (whaaaaat? I know! Miracles happen.)

This is a T-band stretch.
This is a T-band stretch.

What I discovered from a gazillion message boards is, sometimes the issue with painful straddles is not necessarily the muscles that straddles stretch (inner thighs) but the opposing ones: hips, outer thighs, and glutes. By targeting these muscles with stretches like figure four or T-band stretches (I don’t know the name for them but they usually involved turning your leg out and pulling it across your body), you have a better shot at getting to the muscles you actually want to stretch: yo inner thighs!

Class was mostly the typical order of operations, with straddles at the end. I don’t notice anything different, except that our figure fours and T band stretches (I admitted to the teacher when I asked for “butt stretches” that I actually didn’t know any besides these, the ones we were already doing) came right before we went into straddles.

This is also a T-band stretch.
This is also a T-band stretch.

Then a miracle happened. My straddles/froggies hurt like a bitch (lol what else is new), but for the first time ever I felt the pain in my inner thighs!!! Then we did some rolling of the hips and weight shifts and sure enough, I was able to go a little deeper. ie. I MADE PROGRESS.

I asked the teacher after class what did we had done differently (because that was MAGIC), and she said nothing–we had just changed the order. We weren’t doing any additional or different stretches, we were just doing those outer hips and glutes ones right before center splits. The teacher said she felt a difference too, and that she going to do her class like that from now on, which made me feel like less of a wackadoo for asking for “stretches for your butt” while others were requesting classy things like “heart openers.” #elegance

Figure Fo'
King of the Butt Stretches: Figure Fo’

So what’s going on with y’all? I definitely didn’t bother with the flow challenge like I thought I would because my air conditioner has just not been keeping up with this heat. When I get home I just sit on my couch and pant like Jabba the Hut, it’s pretty attractive.

I have been learning some cute combos in class though–I’ll post some poleography clips in another blog. But for now, look at this HAWT routine I saw at “Shtick a Pole in It.”

Shtick a Pole in It is a combo pole/comedy show. No, the dancers don’t tell jokes and the comedians don’t pole haha–they alternate! The comedians were surprisingly hilarious and the dancers were top freaking notch. Like, SICK.

I had two favorites performances but in one of them the dancer (terrifyingly) fell so I don’t think they’ll post it. She was fine and actually resumed the routine after a quick break to wipe the pole down, but it was really too bad because she was obviously a pro and her performance was out of this world until her fall. To her credit she was doing an insane trick combo at the time, so I guess it just goes to show that a slippery pole can strike anyone at any time.

Anyway, here’s my other favorite. My friend said she’s a NY Poler and her name is Anna. You can’t see it in the video, but she had a really lovely ease to her dancing and cute facial expressions which took an already sick routine to the next level. I’m fangirling here but I don’t even care because it was perfection.

Check her out!

And if you’re New York in September, catch the next show! I think they said it would be the last Sunday of the month, but that have yet to post. Check the Facebook group, I’m sure it will be up soon!

Why leg raises can kiss my pelvicly tilted ass.

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater
Fuck. This. Shit.

I just left Angela an extremely long comment (sorry Angela!) and realized I have a LOT to say about leg raises.

As you all know from my bitching and moaning on here, I’m still recovering from a mystery back issue. It got so bad that I ACTUALLY TRIED YOGA.  I still don’t know exactly what went wrong because my insurance at the time was really shitty, and when I called them to find a doctor who would accept my extremely obscure plan. They told me I had to go to the emergency room.

So I self diagnosed. (And called in sick a lot when I couldn’t stand).

I know it’s bad, but, I did my own research, and my symptoms were most in line with a herniated disk. The pain here is unique in that it’s much, much worse to be sitting that to be doing just about anything else (except maybe like, weighted dead lifts).

Gentle movement, walking, and standing all felt okay, but trying to sit at my desk for a normal work day was complete torture. On my 1.5 hour commute home I’d have to stand or risk not being able to get up from my seat when my stop came on the subway because my legs had gone numb.

This has something to do with the position your lower discs are in when you sit–they’re much more compressed than when standing. And let me tell you… I could feel it. It was like on Seinfeld when George was sitting on his huge wallet–it just felt precarious and unbalanced and generally fucked up everywhere, no matter how I shifted around in my chair. And I think, as a protective response, the muscles all around my spine tightened and spasmed and did all other kinds of general fuckery to make my life even more particularly miserable.

The red part is medical code for “this area hurts like a bitch.”

Now, I have taken a good, hard look at my life. I was in constant pain for about 6 months. My back was always seized up, I had (mistakenly!) thought I lost all my hard won flexibility because I couldn’t so much as touch my toes anymore. Inverts in pole were completely out of the question (just trying to crunch my legs up was an immediately spasm in my back), and even gentle workout classes became embarrassing and impossible as soon as something as runk twists, toe touches, or planks were involved.

I thought it would last forever, and I thought dancing was done for me.

And I wanted to know why.

Funny enough, it wasn’t until I made an almost complete recovery (gentle stretching and cardio + listening to your body FTW!) before I made the connection between a certain movement and my pain.

Leg raises.

I have an idea. Let’s not and say we did.

Fucking leg raises.

It came it be in a flash: a month or so before my pain had first started (at first in waves of back cramps that would come and go, and then in a tsunami of pain that quite literally took me off my feet), I’d started a new class at my gym.

It was called “Ab Lab.”

Great cross training for pole, right? It’s at 12pm in the gym attached to my office, and it’s only a half hour long. A quick ass kicking AND time to eat a sandwich? Sign me up.

The workout–while intense–is very old fashioned. It’s also very fast paced. And the instructor–a totally lovely guy–takes no prisoners. He will call you out. That’s my kryptonite because I have an ego when it comes to working out. So I ignored how certain things felt in order to simply complete them. Like how series after series of extended leg raises, criss-crosses, scissors, and roll ups were making my back ache and burn, not my abs.

Dat curve.
Dat curve.

Now, I’m not dumb. I have been working out and dancing for a long time. I know that to protect my back in ab exercises, I have to pull my abs in and keep my lower back glued to the floor.

Unfortunately, that’s impossible when you’re working on a double time count and flinging a medicine ball around. In fact, it didn’t even work for me at half speed. (A pilates teacher last night walked up to me and grabbed my back and was like, “wow, look at that lumbar curve.” Apparently that can cause back pain during the ab stuff because anatomy?? So I was like HOLY FUCKING SHIT, MAYBE IT’S MY BODY AND NOT MY TECHNIQUE. Because it can’t possibly be for lack of trying. I really, really try to keep my back on the floor.)

Anyway, I don’t take the ab class anymore. And I don’t give a flying fuck what kind of side eye I get during other fitness classes I take when I sit out on the leg raises.

I do not do leg raises anymore.

I just fucking do not.

Some things I can do (like lower leg scissors) if I keep my hands under my back, which helps me get into the C position where my abs do the work. But other times, if we’re doing those full body V things, I just don’t. And I apologize to the teacher or point to my back and shrug, but I DO NOT DO THEM and I don’t not let myself be bullied into doing them.

Just to reiterate:

pilates
No.

Do you have a an exercise that’s your mortal enemy?

Are leg raises amazing and I’m some kind of mutant that can’t do them?

Pls explain.

A call for a return to normalcy in pole

Posted on by Cathy Vandewater

Read this, almost threw my computer with YASness. Like, I was so worked up in agreement that it turned into rage and then back to total agreement again. I’ll copy and past a lil teaser here but please check out the whole (fantastic, with videos) blog here: http://www.badkitty.com/news/when-pole-was-easy/

“Pole has gotten older and some would even say better. I remember thinking that Sara Cretul doing her twisted grip was the most amazing thing ever! Now we have, fonjis, flips, and flaming double-back spiral thingies. We have become a legitimate sport. Tara who? Fluffy skirts were replaced by slightly sexy but sensible outfits. Shoes were no longer the norm unless during Sexy Pole vs Athletic Pole vs Pole Art. Like a junkie I continued to chase the pole dragon and from time to time when I mastered a trick or danced in the dark by myself, I would feel a bit of the original rush. But the reality was it became harder and harder to replicate that high. Something was missing. Pole became a serious sport and I was still looking for simple. Pole was hard.”

^omg so much yes, right?

When I first got interested in pole, it was because of people like Leigh Ann. You guys already know how I feel about her. She danced, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. And actually, I remember thinking that the upside down stuff was kind of boring–I like watching her DANCE.

Now Leigh Ann is famous for her insanely acrobatic “Diamonds” video… a lot changes in seven years. But her old videos are just as popular, which I think says something about how we all feel about the new, gymnastic trend in pole dancing.

I won’t call it “easy,” but I miss a time when pole wasn’t so damn hard, and when everybody wasn’t routinely getting injured trying to wrench themselves into poses Ukrainian former-rhythmic-gymnasts-turned-polers did at the last whatever competition.

I associate pole with pain so much now that it’s something I have to build myself up to do, whereas it used to be something I used to really look forward to. I remember that one Leen Isabel cartoon that I can’t find really speaking to me in the winter months… it was a panel of a blustry, dark winter day outside, and then a sparkly, pink, happy studio inside (and maybe a unicorn?). That comic totally represented my feelings of walking into a pole studio after a long, boring, glitter-free day. Pole was magic. Pole was challenging, but in a fun way. Pole didn’t hurt that much, except in small, manageable doses that reminded your of your progress. (Somebody please link me to that comic if you can find it!!)

Am I just being being bitter, or are other people a tad nostalgic too?

Let’s face it, I’m not 110 pounds and have no background in gymnastics or ballet so I also feel like most of the “hard” pole stuff is just not gonna happen for me. So like, I’m just not all that interested in it for logistical reasons (on top of just being lazy and wanting to have fun.

What do you guys think?

How did you first feel about pole when you started out?