2015

So... It's been a while.

I don't even bother to explain exactly why I've been gone. I'm struggling on which blog I should write on. I like this more for targeting pole-dancers and aspiring pole-dancers, but on my norwegian blog I usually just write about pole anyway. But I also blog about other things, like my hair and everyday-life. So when it comes down to very specific pole-posts, like "how to get flexy" and "how to get better at freestyle" my other blog just doesn't fit my target. To much bullshit there.

Lots have happened since last time, I got my twisted grip ayesha just a few days after the shoulder-mount, I got handspring just a few weeks ago, and a lot of other moves have been accomplished. I went to a workshop with Gøril Johansen as the instructor, and had a lot of fun playing around in a real studio.

A little summary of some of my goals for 2014 and their current status

Orion - has now obtained the status goal move of 2015.
Front splits - also a goal move of 2015.
Ayesha - achieved!
Handspring - was a goal for 2015, but nailed it at the last minute of 2014! Succsess!
Shoulder mount - achieved!
Cross ankle release - achieved!
Unsupported headstand - achieved!
Unsupported handstand - goal for 2015.
Superman - achieved!
Butterfly - achieved!
Russian layback - achieved!

And a bunch of other moves has been achieved as well! So many I haven't even got pictures of myself in all of them.

For 2015 my goal-moves are

- Orion
- Jade split
- Allegra
- Janeiro
- Coccoon
- Titanic

I've made even more specific resolutions to make sure I do my best at obtaining my goals. I'm gonna start with leg-days at my gym now. I want a pretty V spin, and I want to be able to lift my legs upright, so that I'm "flashing" my crotch, if you catch my drift. To be able to do this, I need more thigh-muscle. To get a more secure CAR, I need thigh-muscle. To make Titanic easier, thigh-muscle. To get splits faster, get muscles. To straighten legs better, get muscles. Also wanna be able to do booty-claps, and then need to get a booty. So leg-days it is. I think I'm gonna hit the gym tomorrow. Also, leg-days makes me soooooo nice and warm, perfect for stretching!

I have SO many posts planned, just gotta get time to sit down and actually write them, lol. I want to write one progress-post each week, and one pole-related post each week. And start with the blog-hops. And get a sweet header and stuff.

Challenges and accomplishments!

I was feeling down and out. I had lost my spirit, my motivation and ambition. I knew what to do. I knew I just had to push through it. Like I've done all the other times things got a little rough.
And then, out of nowhere I got my very first shoulder mount!

Watch the vid on my IG

I'm still in awe of myself. I can't believe that I'm actually able to do it. I've always admired all the ladies and gents who are able to do this. So much strength. So much practice and hard work put into it. And now me. Now it's my turn.
I must be honest and say, no, it's not a purebred deadlift, but I'm working towards that. My momentum is anyway pretty small and controlled, so I'll say that I'm able to do a controlled and safe shoulder mount and cross it off my list. Feels gooooood.

My other goals yet to reach for 2014 are

• Crossed Ankle Release
• Orion
• Front splits
• Ayesha
• Superman to inside leghang drop
• Knee hold
• Free handstand
• Free headstand

I'm being pretty strict on my goals. I can do a CAR, but I can't do it while feeling safe and comfortable, and therefore will not use it in a choreo. And therefore wont cross it of my list. I came pretty close to the front-splits today, tried out some different stretching-techniques, if they prove to be more effective I might make a post on that later.

A little discouraged

I've been trying to write a couple of posts over the last few weeks, but haven't bothered to finish any of them. Truth is, I'm feeling a little discouraged.

It's different this time. It's not because I "can't" do anything, or that I don't see progress, or that I'm feeling frustrated or something.... I just don't feel like dancing. The thought of practicing gives me a empty feeling, it makes me sigh and I just want to wait until I feel more in the mood. That hasn't happened yet.

But I got a new pair of shorts and a new top, so I got that going for me, which is nice. Haha, ok, bad joke. I love my new shorts, they are gorgeous! And I've desired this top for a long time too, it's so cute. And now it's finally mine! Thanks to RAD Polewear<3

I started working on my first routine though, and it's coming together pretty good. The first minute is already done, a minute containing mostly floorwork. That's been challenging, since I never do floorwork. Floorwork isn't exactly boring, I just feel like floorwork doesn't take as much work to get good at as pole-moves, so I never take the time to practice it. It's looking good though, it's kind of a sexy routine. I'll maybe post a video after next practice. Now I'm starting on the pole-part of the routine. Finally ^_^

Like, who bothers to draw nicely when they're making a routine? Seriously

Aaaaaand I've signed up for a pole-challenge during october. So now I kinda have to keep up my practices. My goal is to actually post one photo (or video) a day. This pole-challenge is excellent for me. I've always wanted to do a pole-challenge, but never found one that fit me. Most of them contain way to advanced moves for me, like maybe I could finish half of it. Day one - Allegra. Day two - Machine Gun. Day three - Spatchcock. Day four - Oversplits. Like, come on guys! And others weren't even about pole. Not really. Like february handstand. I tried to do it. I managed two days in a row.... Just got way to boring for me.

Pole Progress - OMG I'm cheating!

I really wanna make a full routine one day, so I've started practicing on the thousands of combos I've written down in my pole-diary over the months. Maybe I can string some of them together and add some floorwork and such to make a routine? That would be neat!

Anyway, it's a good thing that I've started to work harder on the combos. Cause I suck at poleing continuously. Seriously, after one combo I'm out of breath, sweating and panting ferociously, and I can't for the love of God understand how I'm supposed to keep it up for a whole routine when I can barely make it through one combo without dying from oxygen deprivation. I wonder if it is physically possible to actually forget to breathe....

But I worked on a hard combo though, the combo was all in the air on the pole and included an aerial invert. I'm not doing too well on the aerial invert, it's gotten better as I'm able to get straight into chopper, without hooking any legs on the pole to help me bring my hips up. So I thought I did great, but when I watched my video and noticed that I use my climbing-foot to push myself from the pole and gain momentum to get up.... So I'm actually cheating.... Dang it.... Doesn't look very pretty, have to work on that.

I'm also hooking up with Maria on thursday to start up with the training again. I need to work on my instructor-skills and she told me she's been kind of stuck and lost her pole-mojo over the summer, so it's a win-win! Gonna have a look at her invert, her leg-hangs and see if we can get her butterfly prettied up a little, and maybe try something new? Have to think about it, come up with something cool. Maybe falling star?

The Peacock

During the instructors course I found out so many things about myself. One being that I am actually getting close to shoulder mount! All this time I thought I just wasn't strong enough and that I needed more core-muscles, when actually it was mostly my technique that was wrong. Can you believe that?! Me, shoulder-mounting?!!! I'm so inspired and motivated right now, I just wanna work that core so that I'll get there asap! So yeah, it wasn't just my technique, I still have a long way to go, but finally I get it!
And when I say close, I mean close as in "I'll be lucky to have a deadlift by january", but for now nearly all my dismounts are shoulder dismounts. Prepping that shoulder for some serious pain. And hey - I can shoulder dismount!

PS is being a bitch and wont let me make proper gifs, so you'll have
to bear with me with a crappy snapshot from the vid. Vid is on my IG

Yes, I am a teeny, tiny bit overly excited about this, but this is really huge for me ^^ Been one of those dream-moves, like it's not even human to be able to do this, you would have to be an alien or a superhero or something to be able to do it.

Back to school supplies (hehe, I love this theme) - a new mat and a stretching band. I've wished for a mat since I got my pole in december and started stretching, but it has always gotten down-voted on my priority list. Because.... because I'm stupid. Stretching has been my least favorite part of my pole-workouts, mainly because my floor is just a thin layer of linoleum on concrete, so it hurts to stretch. More than it should, anyway. My heels hurt, my butt hurts, my elbows, everything. But now I'm actually looking forward to some serious stretching on a comfy, thick mat.

And I revisited an old move, the peacock. I've called it the fish-hook earlier, but on the fb-group "you know when you're a poler when" we discussed this, and the majority of people seem to call this the peacock. And poisson. And russian fish... So I changed to peacock.
This was a move I clearly wasn't ready for when I first learned it. It injured my forearms badly, which caused a 3 weeks lasting pole-break. So I had to keep this move on the shelf for a while till my forearms and wrists became strong enough to support it. I tried it again today, and it didn't hurt at all :D Totally pain-free! Gonna ease into it though, take it slow. Don't wanna get injured again, pole-breaks always messes up my pole-mojo.

Splits-progress

Arrgh, I was hoping to have the split at the end of summer, but now it's August the 18th and I'm still a couple of serious stretching-sessions away from it. Damn it....

It's ok though, I'm not in a rush or anything. But I keep catching myself thinking "where is it? Is it hiding somewhere? I could swear it was supposed to be here by now.....".

Progress-pictures taken 09.january

I made it my new years pole-resolution to at least nail the front-splits by the end of 2014, and when I started practicing for real in April I got a little overly excited and decided to get them before the end of summer....
Well, that didn't happen, but I'm still aiming for nailing them before 2015. I don't need oversplits, I don't even need to be perfectly flat against the floor, but being able to do the Jade or Pole Splits would be nice. Also I'm not too positive about my box-splits since I've never been any good at them, but if they don't show up until 2015 I guess I have a new years resolution for next year.

Bad bad bad pictures, but I see huge improvements in both splits! If I can keep up the workouts and stretching, and also be patient, they'll come in time (:

List of polemoves

Here I'll post pictures of the moves that I've learned (:

I don't have pictures of everything yet so they will be posted later. Also, pictures and gifs will probably be switched out over time as I'll constantly be working on and get better at the different moves, and getting files with better quality than these.

Fireman spin (picture coming soon)

Front hook to back hook spin

Stag to back stag spin

Sunwheel spin

Chair spin  (picture coming soon)

Carousel spin  (picture coming soon)

Dolphin spin  (picture coming soon)

Swan spin variation

Corkscrew (picture coming soon)

Angel spin (picture coming soon)

Pretzel spin variation

Cradle (picture coming soon)

Ball

Hangback (with bridge)

Layback

Plank (picture coming soon)

Figurehead

Basic invert to chopper

Inverted crucifix

Inside leg-hang (picture coming soon)

Outside leg-hang

Butterfly

Superman

Cupid

Eye opener (picture coming soon)

Yogini

Russian Layback

Fallen star (picture coming soon)

Let's talk injuries

The oh-so-boring part of poledance. Injuries. It's pretty common, if you haven't got injured yet, you probably will someday. A strained muscle or something. Or maybe it's not even pole-related at all. Maybe one day, at winter perhaps, you will slip on the ice, fall and break your arm. Even a bad cold could slow you down. That's just life, shit happens.

I got my first couple of strained muscles about one week after I got my pole. I'm a fast learner, my body adapts well, and my quick progress fed my ego and made me even more eager to train than I already was. I guess I practiced the first week straight before I hit the wall.

I hadn't paid too much attention to do everything properly from the beginning, and my first bad habit was holding my outside arm way too high in basic spins. I strained my deltoid muscle (shoulder) and it took three weeks to recover. I also strained one of my calf-muscles during a chopper, which took three weeks to recover as well.

This happened in mid-december. I was recovered in the middle of january, but something had changed. The progress I had made was gone. Suddenly everything hurt again. It hurt to climb, it hurt to invert, everything except the basic spins hurt. I basically had to start from scratch again. I exercised a few times in january, a couple of tries in february, but the spark was gone. I was utterly discouraged, nothing seemed to go my way. Everything hurt, the pole was slippery as f***, my legs never got warm enough to stick, I couldn't figure anything out. It was pointless. I gave up.

Until a day in late march. The boyfriend had just fallen asleep, and I was cleaning my room since I couldn't sleep. And the pole was just there. In the middle of my room, where it has been since I put it up. I took a couple of spins. Like, it was just standing there right? Why not just use it? Just for fun? Suddenly those couple of spins resulted in me having a little 30min workout. Put on my new, unworn pole-shorts from lulu lemon which the boy had bought me from his trip to the states. I had a blast. I had fun on the pole until my arms were shaking and sweat was dripping. I had finally found the joy in poledancing again.

Since then I've been practicing regularly, but with a couple of rest-days between each practice. I've learned from the mistake of exercising way too hard way too often. And I've come into a pretty good pattern. I usually work out on thursdays and fridays, because that's my days off work, and when the girls come over for lessons.

Unfortunately, I got injured again. Or I was on the way to get injured. I'm not sure what it is, but my forearms hurt while doing some types of moves, like the fishhook. It wasn't too bad at first, but over time it got worse, and last practice it was so bad I figured I had to take some time off before seriously hurting myself. Dang, I've been hitting some bad speed-bumps lately.... It's been two weeks since last practice, so I'm gonna try again today and see if it's gotten better. And avoid the moves that triggered the pain in the first place...

The fish-hook

Busy week

Lately I've been really busy.

Work, friends, boyfriend, housework, getting my drivers license. Yeah, lot's to do.

But I've been able to squeeze in a few practices. I thought I would give you a follow-up on my "list of improvement", so here's how everything is going.

My invert to chopper has really improved. I'm working a lot on pointing toes, getting clean lines, holding the chopper forever and getting a little momentum.... I really struggle with my momentum, can't spin while inverting, unless I'm doing aerial invert. Btw, I got the aerial invert! Feeling a lot of doors has opened up for me now, hehe ^^

I'm really happy with my butterfly, so I'll check that one off my list! Next one would be extended, but since I'm nowhere near that flexible yet, I'll save it for another time (: Both superman and cupid needs a lot of work, still. But I'm getting there!

I've had a couple of workouts since last post, so I've learned some new tricks as well. Got my phoenix, my aerial invert and my russian layback! Each move still needs a lot of perfecting, need to get flexier for my phoenix to look prettier, still need to work on my basic inverts in order to make aerial better, and need to work a lot on transitioning into and out from russian layback.

Not the best angle, gonna get a better pic as soon as I have it perfected

I'm also happy to say that my progress with the splits is really going forward! If I can keep up my training I guess I'll have my splits by the end of the summer! YAY, FINALLY! Not my box-split though, that one is faaaaar away in the future, lol.

I'm also ambitious about getting a real video out asap. With some real choreography, but trying to keep it at a low level. Need to get my groove on, and not just practice tricks.

Already amazed

I've been a little lazy the last couple of weeks, haven't bothered to put up a camera during my workouts. Frankly, I always get a little disappointed and feeling a little bit ashamed when I look at videos of myself dancing. Suddenly I'm able to see myself from another perspective, and then noticing all my mistakes and bad habits. So, sadly I've felt a little discouraged about taking pictures and videos.

And I don't wanna blog about my achievements when I got nothing to show for it. Which is too bad. I read through the few posts I've published so far on this blog, and I am already amazed by my progress. I got my outside leg-hang on 11th April, but to me it feels like ages ago. It feels like I've been stuck on the gemini for months, but actually it only took me two weeks to go from gemini to superman.

It's great to go back and look at my journey. Especially when it feels like I've been standing still for a while. It's like I don't feel the progress if I don't nail a new move or combo at every practice, but it helps when I can remind me when I accomplished what. Then it doesn't seem so long ago since I progressed after all.

Fish-hook, screenshot from vid

I've nailed a few other moves since last time. I got the "fish hook" (that's the name I've heard for it) by a mistake and suddenly - a new move (: I think it looks awesome! Love it.

Aaaaaand the cupid. I thought I got it a while ago, but wasn't able to do it again at the next practice, so I've struggled a fair bit with it. But now I've really learned it. Like, I'm able to do it again with no problem. I've figured it out. It's pretty heavy though, so I have to practice it a lot before I get comfortable in it. My upper body just kinda want's to let go and fall to the floor.

I'm really happy though, it was my first goal move. The really REALLY first one. I remember when I was waiting for my x-pole from the U.K, and I was switching between renovating the basement (for pole-space) and watching pole-videos on youtube, dreaming about the day the basement was done and my pole had arrived. The first pole-video I fell in love with was DirdyBirdys freestyle to Wicked Games, and when she did the cupid at the beginning. It was so beautiful, so elegant, I just knew I had to learn that. Now I just gotta learn to do it as graceful as her, lol. But I'll get there (:

The victory of superman, and other happenings!

Today I did a move that I've had trouble with for a long time. For me it was ten times harder than it looked like on videos, I just couldn't seem to figure it out. Since I started working on my leg-hangs I've slowly been working towards this special move. For a lot of polers it's a milestone, and for some even the mark itself between beginner and intermediate. Do you know which move I'm talking about?

Today I finally landed the superman!

Screenshot from vid,  you can watch the vid on instagram

My particular struggle with this move at first was getting into it. I just couldn't find a way that was right for me to move into it from. Then I watched Jamilla Deville's Art of Pole dvd's and got my eyes open for the possibilities of the gemini and started practicing. I had never really thought about the outside leg-hang as important, and generally I had been avoiding it because of the pain, but when I watched her dvd's I saw the possibilities, and started to work hard on my leg-hangs.

And when I got comfortable in my leg-hangs, I started to work towards superman. The problem now was the legs. I wasn't able to turn my hips from sideways to the floor without massive pain, so much that everytime I got close I had to break it off. Annoying and frustrating.....

Then I turned to youtube. Started to watch videos, tutorials and so on. Anything with the superman in it. I was busy analyzing everything when I noticed how a girl used her arm to push herself from the pole while in gemini. That was what I was taught too, except she held her hand higher, pushed herself further from the pole and she held her hand in a different way. Could it really be that easy?

My biggest bruise yet, on the inner thigh

Of course it wasn't easy. It hurt like a bitch, I was scared of letting my hips drop, felt like I had no control and so on. Took a couple of tries before I got it. But oh, what a glorious moment it was when I finally did it. I still remember the smile on my face, the tingeling feeling in my stomach of pure joy and victory. And everything I had to do were those things. Holding my hand different, higher, and pushing myself further from the pole.

I feel that I'm in a good pattern now. Every time I get a little better, a little stronger, and I feel like I'm finally able to harvest the fruits of my hard work. I came up with another combo the other day too, that I'm working towards. Looking forward to the day that I finally get it!

Otherwise I'm happy to announce that I've officially signed up for the instructor-program! And I even got an appointment with the bank next week. It's nothing huge, just a kind of counseling meeting about maybe opening my own business in pole, how I'm gonna go about it, where to start, how to get the money and so on. But I'm really excited! Stuff is happening yo!

Finally something new to show

Since I've started teaching the girls, I've gotten better at practicing regularly myself. When the girls come over I want them to have as much fun as possible, so I work out an hour or two before they arrive so the pole is warmed up and ready to go. And today it really paid off! I've been stuck practicing leg-hangs for a couple of weeks now, which is fine cause I need to perfect them. But after a while it get's boring to just do the same thing over and over, so today I wanted to try something new.

I tried brass monkey, which I got at my first attempt! Or kinda, it needs a lot of work before I would call it a good brass monkey. And then.... That effing butterfly. It's been bothering me for a while now, I've just never found the proper way to get into it, and every time I thought I had it I got stunned by fear and couldn't let my leg go. But I watched a video where a girl went from gemini into butterfly, tried it myself and it was just ridiculous how easy it actually was.... Here I've been the whole time, perfecting my leg-hangs and struggeling with my butterfly, and this was the solution the whole time? REALLY?! But of course I'm happy I finally "cracked the code" and got it! The moves needs a lot of work, but at least it's a start.

Then the girls came over and we got a lot done today! They're starting to get really good at sitting and climbing, so I decided to teach them the hangback with bridge and inverting. And they did sooooo good! Very proud of how much we did today, they're really getting somewhere!

June in hangback bridge & inverted

And even more pole-stuff happened today! We have decided that June and Maria are going to practice regularly with me, and tomorrow I have another girl coming over for a try. It's almost starting to get a little out of hand, if the new girl want's to continue training and she also needs to come regularly I'm getting a lot of busy evenings. I also see a lot of other people who want's to try pole, but I can't take them all. 

Soooooooo I emailed the only woman in Norway who has instructor-lessons. Like, you get a license and everything if you pass the exam at the end of the lessons. I want to start my own studio when I get good enough, and the next instructor-program is in August, so I emailed her some questions about the program and if everything goes as planned I'm signing up!

How to take pictures of yourself

For the pole-practice today I decided to set up my camera and get some action-shots of my leg-hangs. First problem - I've lost the screw that connects the camera to the tripod. So I had to improvise with a ordinary screw that was way too long and didn't fit properly. But it just about worked. Then the battery was out of juice, so I had to let it charge for 20min, hoping that it would last long enough to get the shot. When the battery was charged I figured it would be best to try out my new remote for the camera. So 5 minutes was spent to learn how that worked.

When I finally got the camera up and running, I had to face a different kind of obstacle - getting a GOOD picture...... well, that never happened. Either I got zombie-arms, forgot to stretch the inside leg out, forgot to point my toes, my tomato-red face came right up in the camera, or it fell out or the frame or something. And when I finally started to get the hang of it the battery went dry. But I'll share anyways.

Well, at least I've nailed the move!

Didn't really learn any new moves or tricks, just practiced the leg-hangs and tried to get my pretzel-spin..... That pretzel-spin though....  Is my back really so stiff that I cant do a proper pretzel-spin, or am I doing something wrong? Other than struggle with mr. Pretzel, I got into cupid from gemini! One step closer to the choreography!

On Thursday I'm having a couple of girls over to try poledancing! I'm very excited and hope they enjoy it. Reeeeeaaaaally want a friend or two to talk pole with, dance and share my passion with, so looking forward to it! And maybe they can take some pictures for me, since these turned out so crappy x)

Today, progress was made!!!

New outfit - top from Nike, shorts from Lulu Lemon

FINALLY I got the outside leg hang!!!! I'm so happy, maybe I'll soon be able to transition from gemini to superman and cupid! The outside leg hang has really been bothering me, since I've been able to do the inside one for quite a while now, but never the outside... until today!

I have a little choreography in the back of my head that requires gemini to cupid to superman, which I'm practicing for. But first I'll have to get all these moves perfectly, one by one, before starting transitioning into them.

I also managed to do the cupid, I even let go of my hands. I wasn't able to do it from the gemini, so I just jumped on the pole and hooked the right leg around it. Of course it didn't look particularly graceful or anything, but just a preparation to know what the move feels like when it comes to balance, skin contact, etc.

Sadly I didn't take any photos.... Really need a training-bud or a audience to take photos for me. Wanted to ask my mom to help me out, but at the end of the practice I swear I had almost no skin left on my left thigh, or at least it felt like so. Lot's of burns today, but the progress and pride makes up for it. I'll try to set up a camera next time so you can get more of an action shot instead of a half-assed tired, after-workout mirror-selfie x)