Best exercises for pole-dancing
June 27, 2015 11:50 AM Subscribe
I want to start taking pole-dancing classes, but I'm neither financially nor physically ready for them. I hope to start this winter, but in the meantime I'm going to the gym and lifting 2-4 times a week. What are the best exercises/lifts I can do that will help me get ready for pole-dancing specifically? Early 30s, female, terrible cardio capacity but can deadlift my body weight so far. My gym is pretty basic, with the usual weight machines, free weights, benches, etc. No kettlebells or rings, unfortunately, nor will I have access to an actual pole. Thanks!
Best answer: N-thing working on your core.
But actually, I don't think you need to worry too much about prep. If you start with a beginner class (which you should, because even if you were a pro athlete, you've never done anything on a pole before) you're going to work on everything that you need during the lessons.
I did lessons for a few months a couple of years ago. Worked up from no skills to being able to hold myself upside down. That's the whole point of doing the lessons. :)
posted by kinddieserzeit at 12:24 PM on June 27, 2015 [4 favorites]
But actually, I don't think you need to worry too much about prep. If you start with a beginner class (which you should, because even if you were a pro athlete, you've never done anything on a pole before) you're going to work on everything that you need during the lessons.
I did lessons for a few months a couple of years ago. Worked up from no skills to being able to hold myself upside down. That's the whole point of doing the lessons. :)
posted by kinddieserzeit at 12:24 PM on June 27, 2015 [4 favorites]
Best answer: When I was doing pole dance, I got a pullup bar and stuck it in my bathroom door. I'd try to do a few pullups pretty much every time I passed it. Life has gotten complicated and I've lost the ability to do ten of them without thinking much; I need to get back in that habit. Pushups are good too. The more arm strength you have, the better, because you are going to be supporting your entire body weight in your arms once you start doing inversions. Given that you can dead lift your body weight you've probably got this well in hand.
Also ab strength for sure. Can you hold yourself at a weird angle with your arms, and move your hips around while keeping your torso steady? That's the kind of stuff you'll be doing in pole sometimes.
Realistically, any decent pole teacher will be prepared for total noobs who start flabby. You'll probably start each class off with a workout designed both to teach you some of the kinds of motions you'll be doing, and to build the muscles you'll need for this kind of stuff. Lying on your back and spreading your legs with slow grace, then lifting them up and rubbing them together like a sexy cricket. Doing cat/cow from yoga except with an emphasis on rippling it through your spine and waving your butt in the air.
Also: yoga. Build some flexibility along with that strength. You'll need it.
And ultimately you'll need to be pretty toned across your whole body, not just in specific places. Pole involves hanging onto the pole via two or three patches of skin the size of your tongue and squeezing the heck out of those contact points while looking nonchalant.
But yeah. Pullups, pushups, situps, bicycles, stretches. And some yoga. And try to do all of them sinuously, slowly, and sexily.
posted by egypturnash at 1:13 PM on June 27, 2015 [4 favorites]
Also ab strength for sure. Can you hold yourself at a weird angle with your arms, and move your hips around while keeping your torso steady? That's the kind of stuff you'll be doing in pole sometimes.
Realistically, any decent pole teacher will be prepared for total noobs who start flabby. You'll probably start each class off with a workout designed both to teach you some of the kinds of motions you'll be doing, and to build the muscles you'll need for this kind of stuff. Lying on your back and spreading your legs with slow grace, then lifting them up and rubbing them together like a sexy cricket. Doing cat/cow from yoga except with an emphasis on rippling it through your spine and waving your butt in the air.
Also: yoga. Build some flexibility along with that strength. You'll need it.
And ultimately you'll need to be pretty toned across your whole body, not just in specific places. Pole involves hanging onto the pole via two or three patches of skin the size of your tongue and squeezing the heck out of those contact points while looking nonchalant.
But yeah. Pullups, pushups, situps, bicycles, stretches. And some yoga. And try to do all of them sinuously, slowly, and sexily.
posted by egypturnash at 1:13 PM on June 27, 2015 [4 favorites]
Best answer: In my experience, the biggest problem in making pole dancing progress is that you need to build up tolerance for a thick metal object in contact with areas of your body that are not used to such treatment—behind your knees, in your inner elbows, between your thighs, etc.
And for this, obviously, you need a pole. I have not found a substitute.
Building up resistance will take time. The first time I hung from my knee—Google "pole move outside leg hang" if you're curious—it left a bruise that looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to the flesh behind my knee. And I needed to be able to comfortably hang from this position, which took a couple months, before I could progress to other moves. Etc.
But that aside, I think the best things you can work on without a pole are (1) flexibility and (2) arm and abdominal strength.
FLEXIBILITY
I am hopelessly, terribly, miserably inflexible, and this is currently the biggest impediment to my pole progress. There are many moves that are simply not possible for me right now because I do not have the flexibility. But in addition to making crazy tricks possible, flexibility makes all the "simple" moves look cleaner.
Based on my personal experience, these are the three most important areas of flexibility for pole dancing, starting with the most important:
(1) hip flexors — critical for clean inversions
(2) back flexibility — opens up a whole range of interesting moves
(3) splits — makes a ton of cool moves look exponentially cooler
Other notes:
- Go to yoga classes if you can.
- Balance is important too. Work on headstands and handstands and even cartwheels.
- Practice pointing your toes while stretching, because pointed toes are essential to good form. ("Pointed toes" in pole dancing means that your toes actually curl over, not just point straight.)
ARM AND ABDOMINAL STRENGTH
Abdominal strength is definitely important, but arm strength was the biggest problem for me. However, if you can already deadlift your body weight (!) then I doubt that this is going to be a serious problem for you.
A pull-up bar is what my instructors recommended. Unfortunately I didn't have access to one, but I have seen significant progress with the old-fashioned push up.
If you've already got solid arm strength, which it sounds like you do, then work on abdominal strength. Sit-ups and crunches work well. My favorite abdominal exercise is to lay flat on my back and slowly raise my legs as far as I can, slowly lower, and then repeat in sets of 8.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
As previous commenters have said, any decent pole studio is going to be supportive of beginner students with no preparation. A lot of pole dancing is muscle memory, so most people I know who are making fast progress go to classes 3 times a week.
Please feel free to MeMail me if you have any questions. Best of luck! Pole dancing is a lot of fun.
posted by Peppermint Snowflake at 2:26 PM on June 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
And for this, obviously, you need a pole. I have not found a substitute.
Building up resistance will take time. The first time I hung from my knee—Google "pole move outside leg hang" if you're curious—it left a bruise that looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to the flesh behind my knee. And I needed to be able to comfortably hang from this position, which took a couple months, before I could progress to other moves. Etc.
But that aside, I think the best things you can work on without a pole are (1) flexibility and (2) arm and abdominal strength.
FLEXIBILITY
I am hopelessly, terribly, miserably inflexible, and this is currently the biggest impediment to my pole progress. There are many moves that are simply not possible for me right now because I do not have the flexibility. But in addition to making crazy tricks possible, flexibility makes all the "simple" moves look cleaner.
Based on my personal experience, these are the three most important areas of flexibility for pole dancing, starting with the most important:
(1) hip flexors — critical for clean inversions
(2) back flexibility — opens up a whole range of interesting moves
(3) splits — makes a ton of cool moves look exponentially cooler
Other notes:
- Go to yoga classes if you can.
- Balance is important too. Work on headstands and handstands and even cartwheels.
- Practice pointing your toes while stretching, because pointed toes are essential to good form. ("Pointed toes" in pole dancing means that your toes actually curl over, not just point straight.)
ARM AND ABDOMINAL STRENGTH
Abdominal strength is definitely important, but arm strength was the biggest problem for me. However, if you can already deadlift your body weight (!) then I doubt that this is going to be a serious problem for you.
A pull-up bar is what my instructors recommended. Unfortunately I didn't have access to one, but I have seen significant progress with the old-fashioned push up.
If you've already got solid arm strength, which it sounds like you do, then work on abdominal strength. Sit-ups and crunches work well. My favorite abdominal exercise is to lay flat on my back and slowly raise my legs as far as I can, slowly lower, and then repeat in sets of 8.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
As previous commenters have said, any decent pole studio is going to be supportive of beginner students with no preparation. A lot of pole dancing is muscle memory, so most people I know who are making fast progress go to classes 3 times a week.
Please feel free to MeMail me if you have any questions. Best of luck! Pole dancing is a lot of fun.
posted by Peppermint Snowflake at 2:26 PM on June 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: The place I'm planning to take classes at has a good reputation, so I'm sure they're used to newbies. I just figured if I'm working out anyway I may as well do what I can specifically to help prepare me. Thank you for all the advice so far! Flexibility is definitely not my strong point, so I'm going to make a start on that particularly.
posted by skycrashesdown at 7:17 PM on June 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by skycrashesdown at 7:17 PM on June 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
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