Proper Equipment - This is probably the most important aspect of home poling. There are so many "novelty" and counterfeit poles out there and it makes a dangerous situation for those who don't know better. One must purchase from a reputable brand. Most of the poles in adult shops are nothing more than a glorified shower rods. Those simply cannot support the weight and toque of a poler. Period. A proper pole can be the difference between life and death. There have been several instances of people becoming permanently disabled from a poor quality pole. Some poles don't line up at the seams and can pinch you. Some have plastic domes that can crack. There are shoddy chrome jobs that bubble and crack, and can cut the poler. Protect yourself. Avoid plastic parts. If the price is low, that is a HUGE red flag. You get what you pay for. Your safety is worth saving up for a more expensive, safe, reputable pole.
Getting hot - A proper warm-up is probably one of the most important aspects of starting a workout. It gets the muscles prepared for the upcoming training by increasing body temperature, loosening up the muscles and joints, and decreases the risk for injury. A proper warm-up should cover the entire body and last about 10 minutes. Get your heart rate up slowly. Do hip, chest, and shoulder circles. Do sexy walks. There are many ways to warm up. There are even YouTube videos that can serve as warm-ups. Be sure to warm-up your pole at this time to, because a warm pole is a grippy pole! Touch the crap out of it!Nice and slow - I know pole is exciting and everyone wants to bust out some bad-ass Aysha's asap, but slow down there tiger! You need to master the fundamentals first! Start with the basics and follow proper order for learning moves. I will give resources for the levels in part 2. Starting slow ensures proper technique to build upon. You can't do an Aysha without inverting first. You can't invert if you can't hold an inverted crucifix. You can't hold an inverted crucifix until you learn an upright crucifix...you catch my drift? The proper order of moves ensures you have the strength for subsequent moves, and is to prevent injury. It is so easy to develop injurues from pole. Inverting too soon is a major culprit. Can we say pulled rhomboid???
Momentum - Momentum has it's place in pole, and it's for spins. You need to get enough momentum to get around the pole. You won't have it right away, but it will come, once you get used to the feel, once you hands are strong enough that you won't go flying into a wall, and once you build enough callouses to where you don't develop and rip a blister all in one session (ouchie.) Momentum is NOT allowed in inverting. NO KICKING OR JUMPING INTO INVERTS. I will send the pole-ice on you!! If you need to jump/ kick to get upside down, then you aren't strong enough to invert. A leg sweep is ok, but you should be using your strength to get upside down, not the momentum.
Work both sides - So, this probably seems obvious to some, but it isn't. A lot of polers get excited about learning a bunch of tricks, and only practice on their dominant side. I was one of these people. The problem in doing this is two fold. One: you develop muscle imbalances, and muscle imbalances cause havoc on the body. You don't want to end up in physical therapy because your torso is tilting and twisting from lack of balance. Two: Some moves require you enter or exit on your non-dominant side, so it is important to be solid in each move on both sides. It gives you more variety in your poling.
Don't overuse split grip in a session - I've done this, and it's not fun. The hand and forearm are full of tendons and tiny muscles. You need to slowly build the strength for split grip, and it is easy to strain them and end up with tendonitis. I had forearm/ and wrist tendinitis. IT HURTS LIKE A BITCH! Always stretch your wrists, hands and forearms after split grip practice...actually any practice. Limit split grip moves to a hand full of times per session. Don't even start split grip until you have a solid basic grip. Always keep the wrist straight in split grip. Protecting the wrist is important.
Don't over pole - I know pole is exciting and fun, and it is so tempting to want to do it everyday, but it's not
wise to. Your body needs a few days to recover from the major work you put on it, in pole. It's wise to take 1-2 days between sessions to allow your muscles to rebuild.
Crash mat - I touched on this in a previous post. I know not everyone agrees with me on this, but my thinking on this is better to be safe than sorry. Some people feel like crash mats make one less careful, but that should not be the case. One should practice entering and exiting a move as if the mat weren't there. Do not let go of the pole and flop onto the mat. It is there in case something goes wrong, only, not to develop bad technique. It is important to have it there in case something DOES go wrong. Concussions aren't fun guys!
Twisted grip is evil - This is a very heated debate in pole. To twisted grip or not? I'm gonna put my unpopular opinion out there in the hopes that it will save a lot of people a lot of grief. Twisted grip is not a safe grip. The amount of flexibility needed for it is not real common is most people. Very few people have the proper shoulder mobility for it. I hear all the time "but it is so much easier." It may seem easier because you aren't relying on strength to hold on. Instead it puts all the weight on your rotator cuff, a small group of muscles. When in the twisted grip, the rotator cuff takes ALL of the weight to pull the body up into a handspring. This is a recipe for disaster. The rotator cuff is very delicate and needs care. It should not have that kind of pressure put on it. In other grips, like true grip and split grip, the biceps and shoulder take on some of the load and helps protect the rotator cuff. I've heard people before tell me "but my teacher can do it and she competes and/or does it just fine." To that I say there are two possibilities: they may be one of those few people with the proper strength and shoulder mobility to do the move, or the more likely scenario, they WILL end up with a rotator cuff injury in time. It wasn't until fairly recently that the professionals started realizing how dangerous the twisted grip is. That was after pros started developing rotator cuff injuries.I've seen so many non-pros comment on their rotator cuff hurting after starting twisted grip training.
Strength train - This is another one of those, it should be obvious things, but it isn't. In the beginning especially, it is very important to supplement poling with strength training, in order to build the proper muscle strength to execute the basic moves. Not everyone naturally has the strength to spin, climb, etc. and in our desk job society, the middle back often becomes weak. The middle back is so important in pole!Proper posture - Posture is important in pole. It enables the proper muscles to engage and protect from injury. Do not wear your shoulders like earrings! Your shoulders should be back and down, and your middle back should be engaged.
Video your practices - This may seem like an odd suggestion, but it is incredibly helpful when learning on your own. Watching your practices can help you spot technique problems. Maybe you had bad posture. You'll see that in the video. Are you pointing your toes? Are you using control to enter and exit poses? All this can be seen on the video, while not easily seen in the mirror while executing the move. In this situation, you essentially become your own instructor critiquing your technique.
Flexy practice/cool down - Just like we brought our heart rate and temperature up at the beginning, now we must bring them down. Do a slow dance to lower the heart rate. Stretch. This is the perfect time to do flexibility training. Your muscles are more pliable and less resistant to stretching. Just stretch within reason. Don't get over zealous. Strained muscles suck!
Be a bad-ass - No matter what level you are at, you are still poling. You are participating in an incredibly difficult sport. You are a bad-ass.
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