Newbie and Arm Strength

thesoulstudio started this discussion · 1/3/2011

Movement-filled greetings to one an all! At long last, this Christmas marked the joy of a dreaming coming true for me. After three years of begging, I am finally the proud owner of a my very own pole. It's fully installed and I've been soaking up information by viewing the FlirtyGirl Fitness instructional DVDs and other YouTube vids, reading various websites and forums, and just generally talking about poling non-stop to anyone and everyone who will listen. I am ecstatic to find StudioVeena.com and the welcoming poling community here. While I have not signed up for official online lessons yet, I'm hoping to request them as a birthday gift in February. Until then, I woud love to simply meet other newbies as well as experienced praticioners and learn about your pole journey. A little about me... I'm a passionate motion artist who lives to move and moves to live. I've been bellydancing for around 10 years and in fact teach the ageless art. I've found it crosses over nicely with the sensuality for poling and love flirting with my pole to music. I'm comfortable dancing around my new partner, shimmying down it, booty scooping up it, and using it as a leaning post. The only "trick" I've attempted where my feet leave the floor is the Fireman Spin as I know I am not ready for anything further. I have wimpy arms which get tired after only a few standard pushups (which also create pain in my wrists). I'm going to transition to wall pushups since I've heard these aren't as strenuous on your wrists. I've also attempted sitting on the floor, straddling my pole, and attempted to lift my tooshie off the floor by pulling myself up on the pole. Let's just say my bum didn't even move a fraction of a centimeter! I would love any tips from fellow polers, specifically - on how to increase arm, shoulder, and back muscles needed for poling - your favorite groovin tunes - where you find inspiration, motivation, and encouragement - recommendations for online, video, or print resources - recommendations on pole publications - what you wish you would have known as a newbie (think of this as the "everything a newbie should know before starting" kind of thing) - anything else you find relevant, helpful, or fun I look forward to learning from and sharing this amazing experience with each of you. In movement, Nayana

18 replies

Veena · 1/3/2011
Welcome!!! Once you do get the lessons I have a full body strength training section and some strength specific exercise for wrist, shoulders ect! We have a lot of great members here to help you as well 🌸
meaganoff · 1/3/2011
Hey Nayana-- so glad to have you here! SV is the most amazing resource, seriously. Things I wish I would have known as a newbie: - Veena really emphasizes this in the videos but it's worth a reminder: start anything you are not sure of on the ground to get the body position right. Then, do it close to the ground, and move up the pole as your comfort level increases. - My hands & thigh grip get sweaty when I try a new trick. I initially thought grip enhancer would be for "hard moves" only, but for me, I have found that it really helps to stick a new move so I can learn the body position without worrying about sliding off. Then, later, when I am not so nervous, and very comfortable with the position, I can do it just fine without grip enhancer since I am confident and not as sweaty. So it's not just for pros, it can helpful for everyone. Experiment and find out what works for you. - Clean the HECK out of your new pole. When I got my new X-pole at home I thought it was just really slippy and I was super disappointed. Turns out I probably just didn't clean it well enough initially; I think there is some left over lubricant from the manufacturing process sometimes. it took me a long long time to get a really "clean" feeling on the pole. Try different things (alcohol, Clorox wipes, various household cleaners). Use it a lot, clean it a lot. - Some practices you'll excel like crazy, some are a grind and you just have to get reps in. Hang in there! - Start exercising your grip and wrist muscles now. Veena has some great videos for that, and also you can get a specific grip exerciser for cheap-ish from Amazon ($12) - Capezio has a boy short in different cuts that sells for about $12 on Amazon, I recommend that as well As for arm strength, I did not do any non-pole arm workouts until recently (as I am transitioning from Intermediate to Advanced moves, I am finding I need a little extra upper body strength). But when I first started, my arms got massively strong just from working spins on the pole and learning to climb. But again, Veena has a whole strength section in her video lessons as well. Welcome, hope to see you around often!
tiggertail · 1/3/2011
Welcome on SV If you just begin there some tips that i want to share with you, what i did wrong in fact. -Warm-up and stretch after are just as important as poling. -Take a day off between each practice, I know it's hard, pole screaming for attention even when your not in the same room. -Don't rush into new moves, see you're already smarter than me on that. -Make sure you know how the move are done before attempting it.😕 -Don't be afraid to ask, there's always someone here to help you and no one will judge you -And the best...as soon as posible get Veena's lesson they are worth every cent and will help you a lot. Don't forget to have fun and share your journey with us.
polefairy · 1/3/2011
Heeey Welcome along! I look forward to see your bellydance/poledance fusion videos in the future ;) I'm not experienced enough to give you any tips but one thing I will say (as I wish I had have been told this) is, if at first you find that you can't manage so called 'simple spins', don't give up. I was so SO close to throwing in the towel because I honestly thought that I just sucked. In my first poling class we were shown how to do the fireman spin, chair spin and the carousel. In my opinion, these are not basic nor simple, particularly the chair and carousel, I honestly kept slipping, couldn't really get going around the pole, body slammed into the pole etc because I was not anywhere near strong enough (or confident enough in being strong) to manage these moves. But because I was put in a position where they were the first moves I ever tried to do on the pole, I felt really stupid for even thinking I could pole dance. I still really think that they rely too much on arm strength to be expected of an absolute beginner. I suppose what I'm saying is, move at your own pace because there are many perceptions of what 'simple' pole moves are and that can sometimes pressure you and make you disheartened when you have difficulty with it. Even now when I see beginner videos showing inverts, I'm just thinking ''what the heck?!'. So you're 100% right to take it slowly for your own safety. Fair play to you! 😉 The only suggestion I can give for strength is Veena! Her lessons are deadly, she has a whole separate section of just strength building exercises and they can be made nice and simple or really hard, depending on what you're able to do. She'll also show you lots of nice beginner moves that DO NOT involve being expected to be able to hold your whole body weight at your very first attempt (haha I'm like a dog with a bone over my first class, haha!) Congrats on your new pole and I wish you lots of success and safety!
Runemist34 · 1/3/2011
Hello! I'm happy to see the old community still growing...I used to be on here a while ago, and just came back! I drop in and out of love for the pole, but I'll be honest...belly dancing was one of my first loves when I was learning to dance! I don't do it anymore, but...well, I should. I just should! I loved it then, and maybe I'll have to bring out the jinglies and do it again! How *I* tend to increase strength is through practice. I'm notoriously bad for not wanting to do "strength training" and "cardio" because I find it tragically boring. Usually my improvement comes from practicing my moves, through dancing, over and over again. Anything I think I can do, I give it a shot! If you feel like you SHOULD be able to do something, but fail every time, perhaps try asking the wonderful people here. They can usually spot something you might not, or tell you what you need to work on to get the move. I would like to be able to say "I find inspiration from within," but that's a new thing, yet untested. Usually I found my inspiration from watching others, most of them WAY above my skill level, and telling myself I wanted it, more and more! This tends to end badly, which is why I'm trying this new, self-motivated way ;) What I wish I knew when I was new? That there was an incredible repertoire of moves available to me, for free, online! I started doing lessons at a local studio...and I had NO IDEA that there were other moves! So, I'd say you've got an awesome head start there! I have a particular preference to electronic music, so many of my selections are likely things that people have never heard of. My current new favourite (for music in general, and also for dancing to) is "Cthulhu sleeps" by Deadmau5, off their latest album of 4x4=12. Yes, electronic people are crazy :P I also enjoy slower stuff (that one's a little fast), like things by Massive Attack. :)
EvaRut · 1/3/2011
I like to warm up with 15-20 minutes of strength training moves on the pole. I think thats a good way to gain strength and warming up. I always do pull ups on the pole. It took me about 2 months to be able to pull myself up just once but I still tried everytime until I got it and gained arm strength. For back strength I like to do this one. Lie on stomach on the floor infront of the pole and lift your legs up as high as you can. About 10 times 2 reps. :)
CD Hussey fka Jivete · 1/4/2011
Hi Nayana, I'm new too and also have been belly dancing for about 10 years. I started at a local pole studio. But partially from over-enthusiasm and improper technique, I've pulled a rib muscle kicking into inversions. I'm letting it heal and planning on signing up for courses here to hopefully learn safer technique. I don't struggle too much with arm strength and I think that's because I'm a tribal dancer. Not sure what type of belly dance you do, but you might try incorporating more snake arms into your practice or Flameco arms. While my arms are *much* stronger now, that really helped me in the beginning. I also do a fair amount of poi and hoop, so that may have also helped. Good luck and I look forward to meeting all the nice people here and getting back on my pole! Jivete
thesoulstudio · 1/4/2011
StudioVeena - Thank you for the very warm welcome. I am so excited to have found such a welcoming community. I am thankful for your creating and maintaining this amazing online resource! Meaganoff - Thank you for all the great tips! For pole cleaning, my husband actually recommended it (prior to my reading your post) to just get the dust and stuff off from shipping. I couldn’t believe the vast difference it made. I will, given your awesome suggestion, clean often and try out different products. -- What type of grip exerciser are you referring to? Would I simply search “grip exerciser?” -- Apart from sitting on the floor in a straddle (or split V leg) position and attempting to climb the pole from there, were there other pole climbs you used to increase your strength? Tiggertail - I appreciate the reminder about warming up and stretching. I found myself, in my over exuberance, jumping right in and my muscles are so not happy about it. Rest assured I will be warming up and stretching and cooling down with each dance, spin, practice, and play session. -- Taking a day off is difficult. Poling, even for a baby poler like me, is so much fun. Each spin around the pole is like a return to childhood freedom. I will trust your wisdom and try to alternate by passions with one day of bellydance practice followed by one day of pole practice. -- As for knowing a move before doing it, I tend to be a perfectionist and worry wart so I won’t be attempting any moves until I feel like I have a strong handle mentally on them. If there is something that doesn’t make sense, I’ll be waiting until I can get with a professional instructor for training. :o) Polefairy - Videos from me… Well, we’ll all be waiting a while for that one! ;o) I’ve been bellydancing for ten years and I’m still all goofy about videos from that. Poling, um, yeah. -- I appreciate your honesty about keeping at it and not giving up. I think it is so easy to get discouraged when trying something new, especially if you don’t have a local support system. I am so thankful for the opportunity to connect with others through this site and to learn from your wisdom - whether you be an experience spin/climb/trickter or a baby starter like me. Runemist34 - Welcome back! Bellydance is my first movement love so I would, of course, encourage you to pick it back up again. There is something so empowering and sensual about it (much like I expect to feel from poling). If you need any inspiration for movements, check out my free online bellydance dictionary at http://www.thesoulstudio.net. ; It’s a work in progress, but a solid start. -- I’m so with you on being notoriously bad for strength and cardio. I frequently joke I’m “allergic” to sweat and am only “allowed” to glisten! ;o) -- Thanks for the musical recommendation. I’m not familiar with either of the groups and I look forward to giving them a listen in the near future. EvaRut - Thank you for the recommendations on strength moves. For pull ups on the pole, do you grasp the pole in a “prayer pose” (I believe it’s called) and then lift your feet off the ground behind you? Or is this something completely different? -- For the back strength, hmmmm… I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks! Jivete - I am sorry to hear about your pulled muscle. Allowing time to heal, although difficult with enthusiasm to get moving, is best and before you know it, you’ll be back to spinning in no time. :o) -- I am a fusion dancer. I started with class Egyptian for about two or three years and then moved towns. The only instructor in the new town was a tribal based dancer but she was more of a fusion than a hard core American Tribal Style (ATS) dancer. I like to think of myself as very electic. :o) I can hold my arms up in ATS stance for a lengthy period of time, but the actual sustaining of my own body weight or lifting is problematic. This has been something I’ve always struggled with…even in high school I remember having trouble with pull ups and rope climbing. Oh well, that just wasn’t fun. A pole is way more motivation! -- Poi and hooping, too! I have a poi video and really want to learn. It’s on my ever-growing movement wish list. I’m also an “experimental” hooper. Experimental in that I can only do a few moves and I don’t spend a great deal of time working on them. -- Thanks for the warm welcome!
hookedonpole · 1/4/2011
Welcome! As you can probably tell, you'll love it here :) One thing I need to keep remembering is we all progress at different levels, even with the same moves/tricks/spins. I realized that focusing on one or two things at a time helps strength and accomplishment, instead of trying too many things at once. Warming up for me is also something I make every effort to (especially since I've injured myself due to not warming up). Also hope you can get veena's lessons, they are wonderful; however, make sure to go as much in order as possible. Again, welcome!
virgopolechic · 1/5/2011
hi newbie!! im also a newbie,and my story is just like yours;;;lol my sister and i were obsessed with the videos, and all we would not shut up about it, and people we told about, just never understood, but ididnt care...lol anyway my sis and i finally ordred one from xpole,and it was so funny because we both thought we were just gonna jump on,and do cool stuff, but that was a little dissapointment, but the girls sometimes make it look easy,lol, but its been almost 3 weeks, and i can feel my arms getting stronger,and im stretching non stop i can do like 4 moves now,and each one i always call a breakthrough because it all leads to ur next lovely move.....as soon as i get a new cam i would love to watch ur progress and keep in touch....i have newbie questions also, like is it normal to end up with 100 bruises...lol
Cherry87 · 1/5/2011
Reading through all these posts has got me even more excited to buy my pole :D
thesoulstudio · 1/5/2011
Hookedonpole - Thank you for the welcome. I can see how these forums can be very addictive! I also greatly appreciate your advice of picking one or two things to focus on rather than attempting to get better at everything. Let it be documented here and now, my present focus is being able to sit straddling the pole and pull myself up (we’re talking butt off the floor at least a smidgeon) as well as increase flexibility to reach a full split. :o) Virgopolechic - Welcome as well! It is encouraging to hear you’re seeing progress after only three weeks. How exciting for you! It would be fun to share our experience via webcam. I believe my computer has one, although I have no idea how to use the crazy thing. Technology, isn’t it grand! Cherry87 - The enthusiasm of others is very infectious. Every time I read someone’s response or post on another discussion board, the fire in my stomach burns a little bit deeper. :o)
Reyn · 1/5/2011
Keep doing the basic pole hold... gripping the pole at about eye level with one hand just above the other, picking one leg up, then picking the other leg up. Holding this position, and pulling up into this position will help build your arms and core (you do not want your legs falling into the pole though, try to keep them pushed them away from the pole during your hold to work your abs). One thing I wish I had known beforehand is to really really focus on building core and arm strength before trying inversions. I know its said a lot, but I'll be the one to say it yet again. Also, make sure you're stretching properly before workouts as well as engaging the proper muscles while poling- I hurt myself around my shoulder blade by doing inversions without following those guidelines...
thesoulstudio · 1/6/2011
Dyvo - Thank you for the tips. I can assure you I am not going anywhere near inversions until I have a solid foundation of floorwork, arm/core strength, and spins under my belt. The idea of being upside down without anything underneath to protect me down right frightens the daylights out of me! ;o) I am grateful for your explanation of the basic pole hold and how to do it by engaging my arms/abs. I’m adding it to my list of daily pole plays. (Plays because “work” is just not fun enough!) With regard to warming up, its importance is always a welcome reminder. I’ve been bellydancing for about a decade now and I am very familiar with the impact of skipping this most important step. I actually really enjoy warming up my body by just dancing to a song or two and then following through with a song or two of stretching. After practicing bellydance (and soon pole moves), I typically use one to two songs to cool down my body with softer movements and more stretching. Mmmm…my entire being relaxes just thinking about it!
meaganoff · 1/6/2011
Hey Nayana! Sorry it took so long to answer your questions... For climing strength drills - just trying to climb is a good one. Also, holding on in a pole hold position and then tucking your legs up as many times as you can is good - then try pulling legs up in pike, just crunching in different ways. I try to do this on both sides (i.e. different hip & leg is on the inside and different arm is on top in the hold). Great ab work not only for climing but starting the motion for a controlled invert. Grip - I just searched for Grip Exerciser on amazon.com - this is the one I got for Xmas: http://amzn.to/fUAcCF I got it in Blue, light tension, which is way harder than I thought! I keep it near the couch so I can grab it while I watch TV shows or surf the web. I started with whole hand grips, and now I'm starting on individual finger work (my pinky and ring fingers are vastly weaker than the others and I can feel it on the pole.) You have great questions! You are going to be an awesome learner! 🙂
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thesoulstudio · 1/12/2011
Thanks, meganoff! As it turns out, I mentioned a Grip Excerciser to my hubby and had one just collecting dust. I have officially confiscated it! It's just a stander gripper and doesn't allow me to push each finger individually, but it's a start at least. :o)
BeanieBaby · 6/7/2012
Thanks so much for this thread, it's been extremely helpful since I am new also and can only hope to one day to one pull up (right now I seem to be clenching all the wrong muscles in an attempt to make my body move ... or just hang there ... ouch, my bruised ego)
Veena · 6/11/2012
BeanieBaby if you're looking for some pole specific exercises for arms check out the lessons here if you haven't already. You'll find them in the Pole Strength in the Beginner section and more in the Conditioning section. 🌸