I love pole. I do – everything about it. Learning new moves, revisiting old moves and teaching other people. It’s come as a big shock to me right now that I have no motivation to get on the pole.
I’ve got a competition in three months that I should be training for but so far nothing… I keep thinking about it and then find something else to do. To be fair, I have been working solidly including teaching pole on my one day off!
Pre Holiday Highs
I haven’t been on a holiday to a hot country for about 3 years. I’m a traveler at heart and so when I go without the sun or adventures for a while I get itchy feet and need to run to the sun. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve still had lovely adventures. My boyfriend has introduced me to skiing and we’ve been travelling to see his friends in different countries so now it’s my turn to show him the sun, water-sports and maybe a get a tan!
Before our holiday, I had got to the point where I was exhausted both mentally and physically. I couldn’t handle thinking about work, pole, articles, anything! I couldn’t wait for a week off to just breathe. To put it in context – I haven’t had time off since Jan and work at least 6 days a week, every week. By time off, I mean even just 2 days!
Needless to say, this holiday was needed. I’d trained a lot coming up to my holiday and worked out as hard as I could, to get in shape and be ready for coming back to reality. I was excited at the thought of coming back home feeling refreshed and ready to dominate the pole and get ready for my competition.
Post Holiday Blues
As soon as we were on the plane home, I realised that my coming home was not going to be as amazing as I initially thought. My 4 day holiday was simply not enough!
The first day home I had to teach – not a pole class but a workout class. Then I had to pick up my hamsters (who have now been named Bubble and Squeak by my boyfriends parents) and then home to get ready for the week of work. I’d tried thinking about how to add my extra pole workouts into my already full schedule. I decided to take the Mon off exercise as I had a full day of work and was tired from travelling.
On day 2 I had 1 pole class and 2 1:1 sessions – I figured my hands had enough pain for one day and moved on! On day 3 I had the whole day off – watched as much tv as the day would allow and forced myself to do a 2 hour workout at 9pm. Day 4 saw 1 hour of exercise, 3 hours of pole classes and a nap! Days 5 and 6 have both been 10 hour non pole workdays followed by a migraine on day 5.
And here we are… still suffering the side effects of the migraine and hoping this current slight headache doesn’t turn into something more sinister.
I find the more and more I go on, the more excuses I find not to pole and I’m really wondering: Why?
What’s The Problem?
When I first got back, I was feeling like a sulky child not wanting to get back to work and trying to live in holiday mode. The next and main problem was that I had covered myself in sun lotion and moisturiser for the whole week on holiday – my skin loved it! It soaked in all it could which felt great, but left me sliding all over the place. I didn’t want to injure myself so I decided to do as little pole as I could.
I’d also somehow managed to injure my rotator cuff on day 3 meaning that my 3 hour classes on day 4 had to be taught primarily on my left side – although I teach both sides, but right tends to be the longest example.
How To Continue
So I’m now thinking of the future. Life is back to normal and here I am. I’m going to focus on my competition. When I first decided to do it, I was thinking that I had 4 months to get ready which felt like a lifetime. Now I’m 3 months away and have not much more to show for it. Time goes so quickly and there are moves that I want to put into my routine that I’m simply not ready to show. If I want to put them in, I need to make them perfect.
I’ve decided to schedule my workouts in to my working week nice and early. If I get up earlier and just get on with it, then I’ll still have the whole day to get on and work.
I almost feel guilty for not wanting to pole but somehow even writing this has helped me to get it off my chest. I’ll write a list of all the moves I want in my routine and put them on the wall in my pole room to spur me on. I’ll practice as much as I can all, anywhere I can! Wish me luck!
Have you ever had moments where you don’t feel like poling? How did you get over it?
Wow, i can relate a whole lot!
I’ve step back from teaching almost 2 months ago.
During a private session in early March, I hurt what appeared to be my rhomboid. Of course, did not stop & rest the injury. Kept on teaching almost everyday for over 2 months until finally it would take my breath away to just invert.
I want to compete and know that either you train to teach or compete, there’s not enough time in the day to do both and work full-time. Well, it’s my scapula and gonna be a long road to recovery. Been doing PT, nerve test this week, MRI’s, CT scans, pain meds…Lord knows when I will be able to compete, if ever…
My dedication to teaching was for 3-1/2 years and finally realized that I needed some time for myself and my own poling. Although now I’m barely poling, it’s about time for me to #1) rest the hurts, #2) get caught back up in my life w/ loved one’s and #3) not always be so damn rushed to get off work & to the studio to teach. While in the meantime, was feeling like I wasn’t inspiring the students / teaching them anything new – MY BODY WAS BURNT OUT! Students and other instructors saw it.
A few of the pro’s that I’ve trained with take time off to heal their bodies. What makes us any different?
My pole future is unknown at this time. The last couple of months have been an interesting change for me. While I am doing other exercises that don’t trouble the scapula, I’m concerned about losing the upper body strength.
I too love pole & aerial fitness; however, it is very hard on our bodies. While we think we’re Superwomen, it’s times like these that serve as a reminder that we’re simply mortal.
Good luck! ; )-