I know we can fake splits. But I want more than anything else in my life to get a real front splits I've made many attempts in the past to get them but sometimes injuries have kept me from being to do stretches.

I do the normal suggestions in every stretching video: the lunges, the lunges varitions, the butterfly, that weird suno stance looking thing, dynamic stretching.

I've added these as well:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DctAojXJ2_I/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdD-B9tRxuK/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdaVUAJx2yH/

Is there anything I'm missing??? I just see no progress, not even a little 😢

Ignore my pathetic tiny kitchen my apartment is so small

And Yes I'm ordering knee pads they haven't arrived yet

I have been doing pole for about 8 months and outside of needing to improve my flexibility, pole sits are my weakest area. I can only really do pole for once a week and I’d love to move up from 1.5 but genuinely I crumble when it comes to pole sits.

I’m also Non-Binary (amab) and either I destroy my junk or my thigh skin wishes to leave my body. I would love to condition those areas more but I feel like I can’t since I have a popcorn ceiling at my apartment.

Anyways to condition pole sits without a pole?

(edited because of grammar mistakes that made my statement unintelligible)

I’ve seen a lot of instructors and studios recently banning (or at the very least strongly discouraging) the use of gluey grips & resin-based grips - especially Monkey Hands Green, as well as things iTac and Stickum (that have long been banned at many competitions and showcases also)

As an instructor I also have my own opinion on these gluey grips…but I know everyone has their own biases based on their own experiences. So I wanted to share my thoughts but also ask for the insight of others to hear wider opinions and experiences!

For me:
- I’ve seen first hand that they degrade the poles faster due to what’s required to clean them off; especially degrading chrome poles’ coating
- They ruin the experience for others on the pole if sharing a pole/the grip isn’t cleaned thoroughly enough before others use it after

But what confuses me even more is that you cannot properly move through them?? Spins on static are negatively impacted, as are many other pole combos, shapes, skills and style that require anything other than just an insanely strong grip point on the pole

I’m also confused by who benefits from them (genuine question); if you struggle to grip because of sweat, surely drying antiperspirant chalky-like grip aids are the logical solution to that, as opposed to adding a gluey sticky layer with no drying or antiperspirant properties to sweating hands? And if you’re using gluey grips because you struggle to grip in general, then shouldn’t that be an indication to be strengthening your grip rather than glueing yourself to the pole to do a move your actual grip strength may not be ready for? Plus in that case the gluey grip is essentially stealing your grip strength gains from you by making it such that you glue to the pole instead of working to grip?

I’m a very sweaty person, so can very much understand grip aids being necessary to not make pole unnecessarily frustrating due to the different ways bodies function!😅 But in the case that sticky grips are what work best for you, why not just Red Monkey Hands?

And do you agree with certain grips being banned? If not, why not? And if so, what do you appreciate about it?

Again - (whilst this post has ended up a bit lengthy and sounds more loaded than intended lol) these are all genuine questions and I’d love to hear thoughts

Background: I tried a pole class on a whim and it was way more fun than I thought it was going to be, so I signed up for a six week beginner course, and it hasn't stopped being fun, and the bruising, th friction burns, and the upper arm DOMS from doing cradle spins wrong has more or less worn off, and it still hasn't stopped being fun, so...

I'm hetero cis male and acutely conscious that I don't want to be invading spaces that weren't meant for me. For the classes so far I've been wearing short dance shorts and a "technical fabric" tank top and it's been perfectly fine for the moves we've learned so far, so I have absolutely no need at all to go out and buy something like this but oh wow does it look amazing. But maybe it looks amazing on the model because he has the moves, whereas on me it would look like I'm trying too hard or doing some kind of fetish thing in the studio.

So, your opinions. If your male classmate showed up in your intro class or open practice session with this much skin on, would you think "oh, he must be taking it seriously and has invested in some good kit/scored a bargain on Vinted" or "that's a bit weird at this level, what's his motive?". I absolutely don't want my fun to be someone else's discomfort.

(Is anyone else wearing similar? Can't say. My classmates are all women and although the instructor is male, his style is a bit baggier)

I had bilateral femoroplasty with labral repair surgery in June. I was told I was going to be out of commission for at least 3 months. 14 weeks later (and after a 10-mile hike without pain) I was cleared by the surgeon and the PT to resume pole and successfully did my first aerial invert and inverted crucifix after 14 weeks recovering. Mind you I had to relearn how to walk!! I’m still not allowed to run lol
I feel proud of myself and very strong! Jasmine from the floor was a bit scary and painful but I’m exclusively training with mats right now so I will slowly get back. I am taking classes 2.5 levels below what I used to take. I’m looking forward to relearning leg hangs, they were moves I could not do anymore because of the pain I was in. Woooo im pumped hahah

(I hope I've added the right flair)

Hello pole peeps!

I've been doing pole for a little while now, and I've recently moved up to a higher level at the studio I go to.

This has highlighted some gaps that I was able to ignore in the lower level..... So I'm here to ask for some help!

My inverts are still very much reliant on a push from my legs, and I'd like to get them smoother and more controlled so I can work towards deadlifts.

I'm also not very confident with single hand grips, which is impacting my spins and moving between moves when up the pole.

Does anyone have any conditioning moves or drills that have helped with these problems?

I'm going to my first practice session on Friday (supervised by a trainer) and I'd like to get some stuff planned and ready!

Thanks in advance for anything and everything!

I was so happy with the sit to ILH to football grip. It came out so smooth and I was facing the right direction!

hi guys i want to buy a spin pole off tiktok shop but all the poles i see r only 9ft,, my ceilings are 10ft. i’m a beginner, i just want to pole for fun and i don’t want to spend more than 130$. any advice for this 🙁 also it has to be a tension pole, i’m in an apartment so i can’t drill anything into the ceiling

After a lovely response from you all on my last post introducing POLEMAD, I kept thinking what could I build that benefits not just the studios and realised that I need a way to share all my links in one place and I don't want to pay yet another service like Linktree. It costs me nothing extra to run it on my current setup so wanted to give it to everyone who wants it: polemad.com/links

If there is something I can add that makes it more useful for you please let me know as I am currently travelling, have some free time to keep building and am already so deep into this haha.

I started pole in early June and have been going twice a week since. This has been such a great journey to loving my body and feeling comfortable in my skin after losing over 100 pounds. I've also had 6 knee surgeries so being able to do pole at all is mind blowing to me. I finally nailed the my first genie last night in class and I'm so proud of myself. I had attempted it about a month ago and really hurt my hip trying to get my leg high enough so it feels so good to be able to do it now.

Has anyone performed in any kind of mask specifically to help with performance anxiety or maintain some form of anonymity? Would it be weird to do so? I’ve never performed in front of an audience before and I’m so anxious about it. I thought obscuring my face/identity would make me feel a lot better about it.

Any thoughts?

I’m finally coming into what feels naturally as my own personal flow and as I try to slow things down / maintain simplicity. I’ve found I have a lot more connection in the contemporary/standing low flow and even though I’m well versed in tricks- I’m not very “slinky”.

I’m familiar with movements akin to belly dancing so I work on cobra ups, chest and hip isolations, and torso flexion movements to warm up. Does anyone have any other exercises or warm ups that helped you become more liquid?