Optimise Your Pole Dancing Workout
As with any workout, you can either have a great deal of time and not know what to do with it, or have a very limited amount of time and wonder whether your work out is worth it at all! The best way to go in to any workout is to have an idea of what you plan to do – even having a think about it on your way to the pole studio or even while you’re getting changed will be a great help to you.
Warm-Up
A warm-up is key with any form of exercise. Even if you only have 20 minutes to work out, a mini warm-up is essential.
Sit-ups
Sit-ups are great for toning and engaging your core muscles. You do not need to do a ridiculous amount of sit-ups – just enough for you to feel your core. If you can feel your core muscles when you are pole dancing, it will remind you to use these muscles more when you are dancing which will help you improve and make you stronger.
Suggested sit-up work out:
Normal sit-ups x 10
‘House of Pain’ sit-ups x 10 per side
These are not as bad as they sound! Lie in a normal sit up position with your back on the ground, legs bent and feet on the floor. Cross your right ankle over the top of your left thigh. Have your arms bent with your hands by your ears. Bend up to a normal sit-up position and then twist trying to get your left elbow towards your right knee. Twist back to a normal position and lie back. Do this 10 times and repeat with the left leg crossed over.
Feet to the ceiling sit-ups x 10 per side
Lie in a normal sit up position. Straighten your legs up in the air at a 90 degree angle from the floor. Cross one ankle over the other. Have your arms bent with your hands by your ears. Lift the top half of your body up as with a normal sit up. Do this 10 times and repeat with the other ankle crossed over.
Straight Leg sit-ups x 10 per side
From the above position with your legs in the air, uncross your ankles so both legs are straight and while keeping them straight, slowly lower them to the ground. From this position cross one ankle over the other and lift the top half of your body as you would for a normal sit-up and lie back down. Repeat this 10 times, then cross over the other ankle and repeat 10 times.
Normal sit-ups x 10
Max Time: 3 mins
This sit up work out is great as it is not very time-consuming yet really works your core muscles. When you have done this work out a few times you will easily be able to remember it and it will hopefully become part of your pole work out.
Your Pole Workout
In order to improve with your pole dancing you will need to have an idea of what moves you want to improve in and which moves you wish to master. While I can’t plan your work out without knowing your goals I can give you suggestions:
Spins
Every time you work out it is a great idea to spend a few minutes going over a few of your spins. This is a great way to warm your body up, as well as the pole and keeps your spins at their very best. Every time you do a spin you should practise it using both hands as the stronger hand. Whether you are confident or not with your weaker hand this spinning warm-up will help you improve quickly.
Max Time: 3 mins
Inverts 
If you are practising a move from an invert try to invert in different ways; You can either try inverting a different way every time throughout one workout or you can spend each workout only inverting one way – this is more beneficial if you have a lot of workout time on the pole. Inverts to try:
- Basic Invert
- Basic Invert on weaker side
- V Invert
- Iguana Invert
- Cradle Invert
This is a great way of improving your inverts without even realising! You will get stronger, quicker and smoother with your inverts very quickly.
Max time: No additional time
Forward Planning
While you might not yet be at a high pole dancing level it is always best to have moves that you want to aim for. With a harder move in mind you can spend a short amount of time preparing your body for these moves with every workout.
If you want to learn to shoulder mount stand with your back to the pole with both arms above your head, holding on to the pole with your thumbs pointing to the floor. Keep your legs together and slowly bend them, bringing them up towards your chest. When you can not get them any higher slowly put them back on the floor. Repeat this 5 times and swap your hands around so that you get used to using both hands as the dominant hand.
If you want to learn the air walk, face the pole and place your weaker hand at the top of the pole and your stronger hand lower with this thumb pointing to the floor. Pull your top hand towards you and push away with the bottom hand to give you a strong grip on the pole. From this position practise lifting your legs off the ground at the same time. You can either bend them at the knees to lift them behind you or lift them out to the side. The idea is to get your arms used to lifting your body weight while your legs are moving. Do this 5 times and then swap your arm positions to repeat 5 times again.
Max Time: 2 mins
Your time
The rest of your workout is your time to spend on learning those moves that you have planned to do. The above advice is intended to last no more than 8 minutes so if you only have a 20 minute work out, you will still have 12 minutes to work on the pole dancing moves that you want to. With these extra little exercises you will improve very quickly without really trying.
If you do have time for a longer workout try taking breaks in between your workout to add in some more ‘future planning’. Make sure you do not over work your body and you must stop if you are finding anything painful.
To finish
It is important to finish a workout with stretching as this will help to increase flexibility and reduce the risk of injury. For more tips on stretching try reading our post on conquering your lack of pole dancing motivation.
Happy Poling x
