When it comes to my pole workouts, I always have a list of moves that I want to try and perfect. Some come a lot easier than others. I’ve had some on there for only days where some have been on there for years…

I’m at a place now (luckily) where all of those moves that once upon a time I had on my ‘to master’ list have now been mastered – it took 6 years! Now don’t get me wrong, these moves aren’t perfect yet but they are doable every time. I’m also not saying that I’m master of the pole universe (I wish!!) but I’m getting closer to my own personal goals.

When Can I Cross Moves Off?

When I know that I can safely get in and out of each move every time, they get crossed off my list. Again, when I say crossed off my list, I don’t mean that every move I do is perfect. Far from it. I simply mean that I know that I can get into each move. I continue working on and perfecting my moves long after they get crossed off. The list is a means to the beginning!

I’m really happy that I’m now a lot more confident with my moves – I can do most of my inverted moves on both sides and with different grips – split, twisted, forearm, elbow and am working on my cup grip. My harder moves are also coming along swimmingly – my shoulder mount, handspring and knee hold are there and my dead lift is getting closer. It’s still a blurry blob in the distance but at least I can see it’s there. 🙂

I also like to work on a few new moves at a time and if I can, I try to work on moves where the grip is different – I won’t work on two new moves that the require knee grips at a time, just to save my skin!

What Happens When The List Is Finished?

The obvious thing is to add new moves to my list. The problem I have is that for such a long time now I’ve longed to be able to do certain moves I never thought were possible e.g handspring and have never had to think of what was next as I was always so far away from getting there. To me that was the hardest move!

So now I’ve had to have a rethink. I’ve gone through all of my pole books and DVDs and am longing to add more things to my list. There are certain things such as variations that are now list worthy, and they won’t take too long to get right.

I’ve noticed I have a problem – I’ll skip over moves that I don’t think are challenging or interesting enough and also pass up ones that I think are too hard! That’s right, I’ve been ignoring the too easy and too hard moves! No wonder I can’t find anything new to try!

So I’ve decided to go back and have another look. I’ve decided to add the moves that I’ve previously thought were too hard to try. My next ones to nail are the split heel poses, the titanic and the superman to a dead lift. Now some of you are probably thinking that these are really easy moves and some of you I’m sure can do all these but maybe can not do a shoulder mount, or they might be on your list too.

We all learn at different rates and for me these are the ones I struggle with. At this point, it is the flexibility in my legs and back that are holding me back. This is why I’ve started working on my flexibility as well as these moves so that one day they will all click into place… I hope!

My new found excitement for new moves comes from the Marley. The Marley was a move I tried long, long ago and really struggled with it. I didn’t have enough grip behind my knee or strength in my abs to be able to do this properly. Encouraged by one of my pole friends, I tried again a few weeks ago. Having not tried this for years I was surprised that I managed to get this move almost straight away! The picture in this article is my first Marley 😀 It’s still not quite perfect but I’m one step closer.

What Is On Your To Master List? What Shall I Try Next?