Lots of pole and back to rope

So far this year my poling has been going quite well. I have been doing a fair bit of conditioning which I really need as I seem to have lost a lot of strength, where I could previously do five air inverts in a row I now struggle with just two. But hopefully this will come back soon as long as I keep up the conditioning. When I was doing regular conditioning before I noticed a big improvement fairly quickly so hopefully the same will be true this time.

My Aysha has been coming along nicely. I managed to hold it for a full ten seconds at the weekend and then at my class on Tuesday I managed to hold the aysha before moving into a straight edge! At class on Thursday I couldn't hold it at all though but I'm hoping that was because I'd already done a load of conditioning and attempting to lift into shouldermounts before hand.

My classes on Tuesday were busier this week. I'm still getting lots of new enquiries as well so hopefully numbers will continue to go up.

I was back at rope on Monday after what seems like ages off. It was good to be back although I seem to be taking a while to get back into the swing of it. Hopefully I'll do better next week.

Back to Pole

Last night was my first class of the new year. I only did one class as I wasn’t expecting many people, what with it being many people’s first day back at work after the Christmas break. That included me so I wanted to ease back in a bit gently!

I decided to only take two poles which I was glad about as I only had two people turn up. We had a good class though and it was nice to be back teaching again after nearly a month off. I managed to get a little practice in at the end. I held my Aysha for longer than I have in ages so I was pleased with that.

Classes are back to normal next week and I have several new and returning people booked in so should be quite a busy one. I’m also back at rope and back to Thursday pole class next week so I’ll be exhausted by the weekend!

Pole

Went to a mini pole jam at Spin City in Bristol yesterday. It was my first time on the pole for two weeks due to Christmas. I had a headache so didn't really do much, just a few shoulder mounts and some Aysha attempts, mostly on a 45mm xpole which I'm not used to using but quite liked. I ache today though. Those two. weeks off have certainly had an effect. Looking forward to getting back into regular pole in the new year.

My new year pole resolutions -
1) Have proper goals and things to focus on. When I was training for Pole Divas I really noticed an improvement (albeit a slow one!) as I was aiming towards something.

2) Work on flow and grace.

Bristol Pole Championships

Last night I went to watch the Bristol Pole Championships which were held at The Bierkeller in Bristol. Several of my students came along with me to watch as well. I was glad to just be watching this time and not competing! The competition was made up of three categories – Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced / Professional. I knew several people that were competing across all of the categories.

There were some excellent performances across all three categories. The professional category was won by my friend (the owner of 360 Pole Dancing in Bristol where I go for my Thursday lesson), Robyn Rooke, whose routine I loved. I also particularly enjoyed the performance by Emily Smith of Emily’s Pole Fitness in Swindon.

I love watching competitions, they always inspire me to continue improving.

Here is Robyn’s performance –

Pole

Pole class on Tues was my last one this year. It was a little quiet but I’m planning a website re-vamp and some advertising over Christmas to hopefully get some more people joining in January.

Pole class last night went alright. I had surprisingly good leg grip for a change but didn’t make use of it as I was still practicing my Aysha and Shoulder mount lifts. I managed one reasonable Aysha. I’m strong enough to hold it but my hands are just super slippy at the moment and I’m not trusting my grip at all. Shoulder mount lift is improving very slightly but it takes time to build it up.

I’m off to watch the Bristol Pole Championship on Sunday which I am looking forward to. Several people I know are competing so looking forward to some good performances.

Pole and Rope

I haven’t been doing that much lately. Monday was my fist Corde Lisse class after missing two weeks (the first week due to other commitments and the second week because of my reoccurring shoulder injury). We have a different instructor for this block. He taught a block a while back and I really like his style. I didn’t realise how much I ached from it until I started teaching my pole class on Tuesday evening!

My Tuesday classes are going well. They have gone slightly quieter over the past couple of weeks but that seems to be down to illness. My 8:15pm ladies are doing really well. I now have three people in that class who are inverting. They all have poles at home and seem to be good at making sure they practice between classes which really shows.

My own pole practice has gone a bit hit and miss at the moment. I am still going to my friends class on a Thursday but I have been suffering from severe grip problems due to the cold weather plus my shoulder injury wasn’t helping matters! I have been working on my Aysha some more, it’s still hit and miss so keeping at it as I am determined to get it nice and strong. I have also been working on trying to lift into my shoulder mounts as I am quite confident with my shoulder mounts now so I need to be lifting into them nicely. Easier said than done though! I can get my feet off the floor but that’s it so far. Still it will happen as long as I keep practicing.

Lots and Lots of Pole!

I’ve been really bad at updating this, which is a shame as I have worked so hard on my pole recently. The Pole Divas competition was on Saturday and I have spent weeks preparing, poling most days. My main goals were to get that elusive Aysha and to get my Lunchbox back so that both could be included in my competition routine. I (just) succeeded on one but not the other.

I did get my lunchbox back but it was (and still is) really hit and miss so I decided to take it out of my routine and concentrate more on the aysha. I worked so hard to get it and had just about given up hope when I managed it on Thursday. Two days before the competition!

I was training every day for the two weeks leading up to the competition. On reflection this was too much. I had to cancel my Tuesday pole class as I was too tired to take it and I knew that if I didn’t give my body a rest then I would be worn out before it was time to compete.

I was quite looking forward to the competition early in the week but as it got closer my nerves increased. This wasn’t helped by a bad run through on Friday night! (Although watching the video back the run through didn’t go as badly as I thought it did at the time).

Saturday came I was so nervous. I knew several of the other competitors and that helped as everyone was so lovely and friendly. There were two categories on before mine – Amateur and Advanced Amateur. I was in the Professional category and was first on which pleased me as I wanted to get it over and done with! My routine went ok. I managed my Aysha so I was really pleased about that. I did manage to forget the whole middle section of my routine so I made some of it up as I went along! I also started my hip hold sequence too soon which upset my timings a little but it was all ok. I also managed my meathook which had been a little hit and miss in practice sessions. My routine was messier than I would have liked. I messed up my air inverts, I think I had just worn myself out and didn’t really have the energy left to do them nicely! My double spin was also very messy which was mostly due to my slippy hands and also it was in the bit of my routine that I forgot so I knew I had to put it in but was confused about where as I had not done the preceding stuff that I was supposed to do!

Overall I enjoyed competing. It was a good experience and I learnt a lot from doing it. I had so much help and support from friends, both in helping me with my practice and giving me encouragement during training through to watching and cheering me on on the night and I couldn’t have done it without that.