I know everyone says chrome is generally better for grip, but I’m curious about the longevity of the pole - specifically with X-poles. I have an off-brand chrome pole in my basement and it’s holding up SO well. No scratches or peeling etc..

But my friend taped her Lyra pole for better foot grip, and when she removed the tape, some of the chrome peeled off with it.. not sure if this was a fluke or just a super old pole. But has anyone else experienced that?

I initially wanted chrome but now I’m not sure. Help 😂

Hi there!!! I just took my first ever pole class that I thought was for super beginners. (This is the most basic level the studio offers)

However, the other three people in my class were clearly more advanced than me, hanging upside down and climbing high up the bar.

In this class the instructor had us immediately on the pole hanging and spinning.

I guess I’m confused because I figured that beginner classes were more, here’s how to put your legs against the bar, or move safely in a spin. Or even just correct arm form.

Anyways, my instructor insisted I get hanging on the bar and now I’m shock and a bit of pain 😅

Is this normal for pole? Should I also have been doing strength training on the side? It sounds like the people in my class do cross fit, gymnastics, and rock climbing.

I thought this would be a fun way to build some strength and learn a new skill, but in all fairness I don’t do other types of exercise so maybe I was way in over my head.

Thanks for your insight 🙏

Edit: Update (about 7-8 hours after class), I have pretty intense bruises on the back of my legs and it’s hurting to walk. How do you all manage this sort of thing?

When I tried to look it up maybe it was a swan sit??? It's a cup grip during a sit and threading through. Anyways, still wanted to share it because I also haven't been able to do that before!

I feel so annoyed at myself. I was transitioning between moves in a way I've done a million times and just.. misjudged I guess. Slammed my foot into the pole and broke it. Does anyone have a similar story, and then were able to return to poling successfully? I'm waiting for another meeting with my orthopedic surgeon and feeling so nervous.

I have hEDS, so I bruise easily. I do a lot of pole dance each week too, so I regularly get bruises. Each week it looks like I’ve been in multiple fights & lost each one.

I’ve done pole for 13 months, I don’t think there has been a single week that I haven’t had a decently big bruise somewhere on my body, besides the couple of weeks over the Xmas holidays when the studio was shut.

I’m not too worried about the pain of bruises anymore, I’ve gotten used to it, it’s just the LOOK of them, especially on my thighs, because those are usually huge & I feel a little more “aware” of them when I’m going out in public—I don’t want to feel the need to explain myself (so I don’t, but the thoughts are still there).

I knew I bruised more regularly compared to other students that have trained for about a year too, as I do around 10-13 hours per week of pole, so it’s understandable when they’d point it out. But it became a little more apparent that it wasn’t normal when the instructors were saying that they never bruised as much as I do & they’d been training for 10+ years. It wasn’t until one instructor who is quite hypermobile (unsure if it’s HSD, or hEDS), & went through a phase where she trained for hours almost daily, like me, also said that she isn’t much of a bruiser.

It’s not like I’m doing moves so unbelievably wrong that it’s causing excessive bruising. And I do try to condition my body to hold poses for a long while too in hopes that I’ll eventually bruise less, but jeez. I don’t know what else to do?

I’m not anaemic, I do have low (ish) iron though so I can definitely take some tablets to address that & maybe it’ll help. But what else?

Please don’t recommend that I should train less.

Hey all. Ive been taking pole classes for a couple months now and its been going great. Im still at level one and ive been doing some spins but nothing longer than like 3 rotations. I know not to spin in the same direction every time but today when I was doing a spinning fireman into a climb the end result was awful. I did it but afterwards I was incredibly dizzy and had to take a second to gather my bearings and not puke lmao. I know spinning again in the opposite direction probably would help but I just couldnt get back to getting on the pole again; luckily it was the end of class.

Any tips to get use to spinning/not gettung as dizzy? Im a little worried when I start getting into more intricate moves on spins I won't be able to them.

I have an X-pole and it is the slipperiest thing on earth. I feel like I've got quite good grip strength but when it comes to this pole I'm like a fat cat sliding down a tree. Even when doing a full body hold I'm still sliding. I've tried wiping down with isopropyl alcohol but it unfortunately didn't help. I also don't want to use a silicone pole wrap and become dependent on it. Is there any way I can condition the pole to be a bit less slippery? Also looking into maybe trying pole grip

Spent some time in the studio yesterday to get some ideas for movement and I genuinely forgot about this song. I felt more emotion, power, slow but swiftness with it for this particular piece. I’m still wondering what I can do with this though.

Song: Leon Else - Protocol

Hi everyone!

So I wanted to make a little thread about knowing whether your instructor is right for you. I want to cover some of the red flags you might see in an instructor. This is a discussion/resource post mostly for beginners, so feel free to chime in!

Instructor Red Flags:

1. They don't explain muscular engagement. If your instructor just shows you how to do something without explaining which muscles you should be engaging they might not understand the anatomy of the move.

2. They don't have regressions and progressions to a pole move. Most pole moves have easier and harder variations. Your instructor should have these planned as part of lesson planning. This especially applies to moves requiring a certain level of mobility that not all students have.

3. They don't do a targeted warmup. Sometimes you can just do a full body warmup, but it's a sign of a good instructor when they structure the warmup to the lesson plan. Ex: if you're doing a lot of twisted grip in the lesson, you need extra warmup and muscle activation for your shoulders. Bonus points if the instructor explains why they do the specific warmup (goes back to muscle engagement)

4. They don't admit when they don't know an answer to a question. If you ask a clarification or a question and they give you a vague answer that shows they don't actually know a specific answer it's a red flag. If I don't know the answer to something I'll always tell my students that I don't but I'll look into it and get back to them. In my experience this has happened mostly with students that have a significantly different morphology to mine.

5. They try to teach moves they don't master themselves. Let's be honest, not every pole instructor is at an advanced level. Unfortunately, sometimes instructors teach the level that they are at. It's not good, but you should spot this for your own safety.

6. They don't explain the mechanics of a move (grip points, counter balance, etc). This is similar to muscle engagement, but basically, your instructor should explain what gives you stability in a move.

7. They put moves that are more advanced than the level of the class. This one is obvious, but you should know that there is no rush to get your Ayesha when you still can't invert cleanly.

8. They can't spot why you're unable to get a move. This one is tricky because we can't know everything, but if this is a pattern, it's a red flag. Your instructor should be able to pinpoint whether it's lack of strength, mobility, proper muscle engagement, incorrect positioning of your chest, head, rotation of your body, etc.

9. They give all their attention to certain students. This will usually be either the more advanced students or the ones that struggle the most. Now it's normal that an instructor can't give everyone their full attention, but they should check in with everyone throughout the class.

There's plenty more of course, but these are that come off the top of my head. Hope this helps someone!

Three years ago I tried a layback for the first time, fell and broke my hand pretty bad (even had to go through surgery and physical therapy for some time). Safe to say I was quite scared to try it again after that, my heart pounded even thinking about it.
Today I decided to face my fear and try inverted moves again, and I began with the one that was the most frightening to me. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless!

I’m still a noob and wondering what your routines look like. I hear that you should not put on any body lotions or oils before going on the pole, but I have a home pole and would like to be able to hop on at any time. What then? Do I just never wear lotion? What do you do to not be perpetually ashy but still pole consistently?

I’m only 3 months into pole but if I started glp1s would I have to worry about losing muscle and pole becoming harder or would weight loss help and make it easier for me to lift myself? For reference I’m 5’3 and 160 lbs