You would think that with amount of times I go to try a new move and I’m not yet strong enough that I would learn to work on my strength well in advance.

Of course I go to the gym and always up my weights and pole as much as I can, but I don’t often think about getting my body ready for specific pole moves… Until now.

There are some moves for all of us that we can get without really trying too hard and then there are those that we really do need to work on to get – think Phoenix, Deadlift, Iron X.

With my Phoenix I thought that the hard part was getting my bottom hand around in the right place but I suppose now (obviously) it’s the lifting part that gets me. It’s frustrating that I will my body to move as much as I can and nothing happens! It’s like I’m trying to move someone else’s body.

So here we are… Let’s get ready for our strength moves!

How To Train

I’m a firm believer in working multiple moves at once. I figure that we spend so much time on the pole (or want to at least) that we should be getting as much out of it as we can – both mentally and physically.

Depending on what level you are at, there are so many different ways to train.

1. Work Both Sides

Yes we’ve heard this one over and over. I know it can be hard work to do both sides especially when you’re working on something new but how’s about this – do you pole warm up all on the other side. You can just do a few simple spins but it’ll start to get your other side stronger. The other great thing to try is to invert on the other side. While the main aim is to be able to nail each move on both sides, if you invert on your weaker side you can then switch your legs over once inverted if need be to try your new move on your stronger side. It’ll even get to the point where you don’t remember which side you prefer to invert on!

2. Lower with Control

There are so many ways to come out of an invert – and usually for me, this means a handstand down. I found that I was trying new moves over and over to the point that my legs were getting sore from sliding down the pole. While I expect to get pole burn from new moves, I shouldn’t get it from dismounting hence the lazy handstand dismount.

Instead of my usual dismount, I am now lowering my body down. So imagine you’re in an extended butterfly – unhook your top leg and really try to control your landing. As usual, pull with your top hand and push with your bottom hand. Squeeze your core and bottom (if you can) and just try to lower your body as slowly as you can.

When I first tried this, I came down very fast! No control whatsoever, but practice makes perfect and I can lower so much better now. So don’t worry if you find it tricky at first, it’ll start to become a lot easier. And this is a really great way to practice your Iron X. Your body will be using all the right muscles for your Iron X so it will become so much stronger so quickly.

You can also lower down in a variety of ways to help train different muscles – like lowering your front lever as in the picture. You can start lowering with a tuck, then one leg straight, then the other leg straight (to even it out) and then eventually both legs out straight 🙂

3. Hold Poses

This one is especially good when you are on a spinning pole. There are so many moves that we can do quite easily but holding them can become somewhat more difficult. Think of a Chair Spin – likely hood is that you may have tried it. Once you have given it a go you’ll probably be able to see that the move doesn’t put too much of a strain on your body. Now try to hold the Chair position. It suddenly becomes a lot harder! Whether you hold a Chair, Fireman or Attitude Spin, you’ll really be working a lot of muscles. In pole we quite often find that we have to hold our bodies in positions that they are not used to so this will help to train your body. Remember to do both sides.

There are so many little tricks like this that you can try. You’ll have to push yourself perhaps more than you want to but the results will definitely be worth it 😀

What are you waiting for? Let’s get training!