Hot for Teacher

LOL, not sure if the title fits, but i’m on an 80’s kick.  you can tell by the abuse of Bon Jovi’s “Bad Medicine” blaring from my car. 🙂  Life has been crazy busy!!!  There are few nights that I’m at home now and it seems with every week there has been more to do.  I was asked to be in a wedding by a dear dear friend of mine.  I was very touched and can’t wait to help her!!!

Oh! AND!!!  I started teaching pole!  Wow!!!  I have wanted to teach since the day I walked in the door at Pole-licious and knew I was home.

Barbara put me through teacher “boot camp”.  It was a short, intensive training and boy is it really intense.  Teaching is very different than how I had first imagined.  I have forgotten how hard beginning tricks are when you are a beginner and I defenitely didn’t realize the amount of steps there are to breaking them down…SAFELY!

My first class, I was a nervous wreck.  Arrived at the studio super early, lit candles, put on some music to clean and set up to, I even wrote my entire floor workout down so I wouldn’t forget any step or ab or martini, goddess, etc. 🙂  To be honest, I wanted to cry I was so nervous.  Nervous my workout wouldnt be hard enough.  Nervous I wouldn’t teach tricks right.  Nervous my music sucked.  You name it.  I was a wreck!!

I had a few students my first class and even a brand new girl!  They were all thoroughly sweaty and breathless by the end of class and all danced out.  my new girls gave me a hug and said they would be back.  My veteran, also a friend I have been dancing with since my start at Pole-licious said “I rocked!” and she got a great workout.  I left that night walking on air.  I couldn’t believe how great I felt about myself after leaving.  Especially having Miss Kitty Betsey pay me such a wonderful compliment.

Fast forward, I have been teaching for about 3 months now.  I’ve become a little more relaxed and don’t come to class with a defined plan anymore.  I have my regular students who come to see me and they all want my butt kicking, drenched in sweat workout and it makes me feel great to see my little hotties growing and nailing their tricks they have been working so hard on.  To be a part of those magic “Holy s&*t!!  I got it!!!  Did you see that!!!! ” *happy dance* Those little moments and seeing the light in my students eyes are why I love teaching!  each and every girl that comes through the door are experiencing something different that day.  happy, sad, mad..whatever it may be, it’s my job to put a smile on their face and to let that tiger off it’s leash for 90 minutes.  My students put a smile on my face and make my bad day go away.  They would never know it by my face, but a few weeks ago, I came in feeling defeated from my day and from stress that has been plaguing me from the beginning of the year.  After class i found myself smiling, even though I hadn’t tricked the entire class.  It dawned on me, my students are my therapy.  They bring out the best in me for those 90 minutes and for that I am deeply grateful to all you ladies!

Come see me Thursdays at 6:30PM if you haven’t tried a pole class.  I promise it’s the best thing you will ever do for your body.  we are a loving and supportive environment and that’s why Pole-licious will always be my home. ❤

 

 

 

The Key to Nailing Advanced Pole Tricks

Hi Sexies!!!  I realized today it has been a whole month since I have written anything!  I’m so sorry!!!  I was going to write something and I came across this blog written on Studio Veena by Kira Lamb and could not resist sharing!.  It gives some great tips on structuring your journey and as always, it’s not a competition ❤  Hope all you hotties are doing great!

 

A POLE ADDICT’S GUIDE TO RE(DIS)COVERY: Step 10

Continued to take personal inventory and, when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

I had a brand new massage client (pole dancer) last week that complained of relentless stabbing pains around her right shoulder blade. It was the kind of pain and discomfort that kept her awake at night. As she described the nature of her injury, she told me that she’s only been pole dancing for 3 months. And she’s convinced her injury was caused by kicking up into inversions when she “obviously wasn’t strong enough” to be inverting anyway.  While blaming her overly eager attitude for dulling her own better judgement, she was also surprised that inversions were being taught so early in her training.

 

As insatiable pole addicts it’s hard not to want to excel at warped speed.  We want to bypass the tedium of the basics and master competition-level skills like the big dogs of our industry.  But all that passion and reckless determination can hinder our own true potential.  As athletes and artists, it’s important to honestly assess our training methods and determine if they’re really working to our advantage.

“Pay attention… your results don’t lie.”–Jack Canfield

Of course, pain, bumps, bruises, injuries, learning curves and training plateaus come with the territory.  But how might we re-think our training in order to maximize our time on the pole, advance steadily and sustain fewer injuries and setbacks?

 

FUNDAMENTALS: Learning proper alignment is like learning the alphabet of dance. It’s our foundation. Ideal alignment is being able to find the most mechanically efficient positioning for the body as we dance or perform pole tricks.  In fact, every pole trick is based upon a.) a fundamental grip, brace or hook b.) understanding the push/pull forces required to achieve and sustain a pole trick and c.) knowing how our bodies should be positioned in relation to the pole.

Proper fundamentals allow us to:

1. recruit the proper muscles for each skill in a way that maximizes our strength, ensures joint integrity & our physical safety

2. dance with aesthetically beautiful, clean lines

3. generate push/pull forces to create resistance and stability

4. generate spin impulse and sustain a spin using centrifugal force

5. create fulcrums that support static poses whether we’re upright or inverted

6.utilize pivot points for turns and spirals

TECHNIQUE: Once we’ve mastered the “alphabet” (fundamentals), technique is like learning to create basic wordsandsentences. It’s our ability to move skillfully and efficiently, step-by-step.  And that’s an ideal way to begin learning pole tricks; progressively building strength, coordination, confidence and muscle memory with basic skills that focus on alignment and technique.

Good, clean technique allows us to:

1. master the basics of pole dancing

2. build a foundation of strength, stability, coordination and control

3. develop the necessary skills and muscle memory before advancing to more challenging pole skills

4. seamlessly transition from one move into the next

5. dance with aesthetically beautiful, clean lines

ARTISTRY: Artistry is just as significant as fundamentals and technique. It’s the part of our pole dance training where we learn to turn sentences (technique) into whole paragraphs and eventually stories by adding our own self-expression.  It’s about discovering our unique “selves” by exploring our own organic movement without judgement, comparisons or preconceived ideas.  It’s about allowing ourselves to get lost in the experience of unifying our movements with music to create a mood, feeling, character or story with depth of emotion.

Developing artistry allows us to:

1. infuse our technical skills with our personalities

2. create our own individual style

3. get out of our head and experience the feeling of each movement

4. interpret the rhythms, mood and emotions of the music we’re dancing to

5. evoke a meaningful and emotional response from an audience which is part of the beauty and magic of creating art.

6. turn pole dancing into a cathartic experience for us, even when no one is watching.

“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road.”–C.S. Lewis

When it comes to developing athletic and artistic pole skills at an advanced level, the basics matter.  In fact, no matter how “advanced” we are as pole dancers, it never hurts to go back and fine-tune the basics.  Sometimes we have to ignore our overly ambitious egos that are dying to create intricately detailed stories and simply return to the alphabet.

Kira “Keex” Lamb

Pole Dancing = Therapy

5 weeks of no poling felt like prison. 

I became completely unmotivated and didn’t workout or stretch for that whole time.  Partly because my pole room is my workout room and it was depressing to be in there and not be able to use my pole, but there was something else missing too…  So I didn’t workout…  I ate….

After coming back last week and having a delicious, calorie torching class with Barbara on Wed., a great class and workout from Lauren, and an epic BBQ pole party …I came ot the conclusuion that pole is my therapy….  Not just class and nailing awesome tricks and feeling accomplished in my journey but the missing puzzle piece was my girls.  I never realized just how much I need all of you ladies and what your energy does for me.

Pole is the one place where we all let out our inner goddess, sex kitten, diva, whatever you call her…  The freedance, pirohuettes, spins, inverts, you name it, it’s the best high ever!  I’ve exposed my soul and raw emotion to every hottie in pole and it smacked me right in the forehead that YOU are the reason I keep pole dancing and coming back.  The feedback and encouragement I receive at pole…  No judgement..   open loving arms…  postive re-inforcement…  laughing….  uplifted…    I’ve walked into many a class in a foul mood ready to cry over my day, or a fight with my hubby and a million other things we all feel every day.  but I’ve never left feeling that way…only uplifted and like I can conquer the world.  I only hope that other studios give their students what Pole-licious does.  This is what it’s all about.

Wednesday evening Divas / Stars class will focus on letting that inner tigress off her leash.  Bring your stilletos, tutus and whatever else makes you feel sexy.  Our very own Kitty Betsey donated some fabulous costumes to the studio she picked up at Secret Desires. (ooh la la!!!)  Come ready to play at 7:30!

 

Just another Manic Monday

Hi all you gorgeous ladies.  My brain is a little fuzzy from our hot dance night at On the Rocks.  I thought maybe to make this Monday a little more bearable i would post an assortment of pole related things for your viewing pleasure.  Don’t forget that workshops with Madeline are Saturday!!!  Sign up now!  there are workshops for all levels!!  See you hotties ’round the poles!

OMG!

Gaining Hip Flexibility Through Resistance Stretching

  I am continually on the quest for flexibility and it is an uphill battle. I hate to stretch, it hurts.  It’s a necessity, and I don’t just mean for pole and it making tricks pretty. As you age, your muscles naturally lose strength and size and can become less supple and stiffer. This  can affect the range of movement around your joints, which may lead to stiffness and put you at risk for injury.  While trolling Aerial Amy’s blog i came across this video and entry on resistance stretching.  Read below for an explanation on what the benefits of resistance stretching are from Ellen Lovelace a pole instructor in Redwood City, CA. and check out her video below!

 

I discovered resistance stretching when my Rolfer showed me some of the stretches to do in my quest to restore movement to a hamstring that was locked up with scar tissue for almost 20 years. She also referred me to a resistance stretch trainer for assisted stretch sessions (there is a whole other form of this work that involves being hands-on stretched, kind of like a Thai massage but WAY more intense.) I started to see tremendous gains in my flexibility, and realized the power of this form of stretching for me. Passive stretching always hurt, and I’d find that the next day, I was just as tight as I’d been before stretching the previous day. With this method, I found that each time I stretched, I maintained some of the gains from the previous session. By engaging my muscles while stretching them, I realized that I couldn’t overstretch, and therefore never felt like I was injuring myself, while I was able to go deeper into stretches than ever before. The first time I used resistance in a center straddle stretch, and my nose touched the floor in front of me, I was hooked for sure! When the Ki-Hara people offered resistance stretch training in California, I couldn’t wait to attend and learn more.

I’ve seen a lot of the same gains in clients with whom I’ve used these techniques. Both in people who are trying to achieve gains in flexibility for pole, and in people who are just looking to be looser and more comfortable in their bodies for everyday life. Forward bends get deeper, splits get closer to the floor, hips open, and bodies feel longer and stronger.

Resistance stretching is the concept of continually contracting a muscle while you move it through its range of motion. If I contract my bicep (“make a muscle”), and you pull my fist away from me to straighten my arm while I gently resist you, I am getting a resistance stretch of my bicep. The main advantage to this method is that you cannot overstretch a muscle since you are actively engaging it during the stretch. Also, as you’ll see in the video, each stretch has a counter-move, so that in one direction you are strengthening the muscle (while you contract/shorten it), and in one direction you are stretching it (while you extend/lengthen it).

In resistance stretching, we focus on the balancing muscle groups in the body. Think again about “making a muscle” with your bicep. When your bicep is contracting, your tricep is extending. When you straighten your elbow, the tricep contracts while the bicep extends. In theory, if your tricep was really weak, you might not be able to straighten your arm, no matter how long and flexible your bicep was. Now apply this to your leg: if your quads (front of the leg) are very weak and can’t contract effectively, your central hamstring (back of the leg) won’t be able to fully lengthen. I can just work a client’s quads, have them touch their toes, and watch them get closer to the floor than before, without ever going near their hamstrings. This is why we do both a strengthening move and stretching move for every muscle we work on–we need to be both long AND strong in all the balancing muscle groups in order to achieve maximum flexibility. Today’s stretches are all about the hip flexors, but the medial, central, and lateral hamstrings are every bit as important!

The main challenge people have with this method at first is the tendency to resist themselves too hard. You should be providing gentle resistance, such that you can smoothly move through the range of motion, and are not shaking with effort. About 60% of your max resistance is all you need. Keep the target muscle engaged/resisting through the entire range of both the strengthening and stretching motions—you should never be relaxing the muscle. These stretches should feel like work! And remember, unlike traditional static stretching, there is no need to “hold” the stretch at the end range. Rather, you should be continually moving, contracting and extending, strengthening and stretching. To see these concepts illustrated, check out the video below or take a peek at it directly on YouTube here.