Stop the press! After almost five years of pole dancing I have finally fallen in love with the painful but oh so necessary art of a good old fashioned conditioning session. Zero bullshit here I really bloody do. This once despised yet crucial element to pole training has now become one of my favourite parts of pole class, be it seated climbs, invert climb-overs, leg switches or some old faithful shoulder mount training, if it’s conditioning related I’m going to whole-arse jump into it. I’m crediting my new teacher Eloise for this sudden obsession with all things conditioning related, as that woman is a pure strength machine who puts us through our paces on the conditioning front in every class, and it’s fucking great.
First off, I guess the main reason why my new found love for conditioning has decided to make a long, overdue appearance is that it provides an awesome base for you to set some pole goals from. Are you training aerial inverts as part of your conditioning routine but aren’t quite there yet? Well then add those fuckers to your pole goals list. Have you nailed shoulder mounts but not quite mastered the art of an aerial one just yet? To the list it goes. Can you bust out a tidy, clean tuck invert on your good side? Better get practising your bad side too! In fact, as I type this blog I have just re-read my pole goals for 2019 list and four of my goals were all ones that we drill weekly in class as part of our conditioning exercises. Aerial shoulder mount you bastard I will get you back
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Conditioning, like all elements of pole dance, is of course very progressive. You don’t begin your pole dance journey doing a fucking Rainbow Marchenko at the top of the pole (unless you’re a former gymnast or some shit), therefore you won’t begin conditioning by doing Ayesha climb overs Beth Finlay style. We all start training our climbs and inverts and working our way up. However once you have mastered one conditioning task easily, there’s a lot to be said for (safely for fucks sake) pushing yourself and to nailing the next level up. The harsh truth is with all things pole related (and life related actually) is that you won’t progress if you stay within your comfort zone doing the same old shit. I can invert relatively easily, but if I kept just inverting there would be no improvement being done here. Instead it’s been time to hoist up the big girl’s pants and train seated climbs from the floor, inverted climb overs to the top of the pole and shoulder mount flips. Fuck me it’s painful, tough and my eyes genuinely felt like they were about to pop out last week doing seated climbs from the floor, but I sure as hell felt strong and proud of it afterwards.
Which is yet another reason why conditioning is bloody brilliant, it provides you with a fabulous opportunity to show off your strength. We all have different talents when it comes to our pole dance abilities and for some dancers out there, their strength is their strength, and they can perfectly execute arms only climbs, aerial handsprings and all manner of other craziness. And I am here for that shit! I want to see all you badass strength queens and kings tearing up the pole and inspiring us all with your pops, Iron X’s and whatever other mad shit you can do. I love me a good strength show as much as the next pole dancer, and the best way to get strong as hell is to not neglect your conditioning.
Basically, the raging wide on I have right now for conditioning is because I am seeing the results of drilling it like a motherfucker in my own training. After months and months of hard work and heaving myself up as best as I could, an increased conditioning regime has worked a damn miracle and returned my Shoulder Mount in heels. YAY! It’s not perfect and needs drilling but it’s back and that’s the main thing.
Do any of you lot have any awesome conditioning moves or tips that get results? If so share the wealth and drop them in the comments!
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