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Cross Training for Pole Dance

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Cross Training for Pole Dancing?

Why cross train for pole dance? Pole dancing as a sport involves several of the important aspects of fitness: strength training, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance and is more of a circuit training/whole body workout than running or dancing or weight lifting. Why cross train, then?

First, let’s look at what cross training is. Because doing one activity over and over can result in overuse of certain muscles or muscle groups, and because the body will adapt and become more and more efficient at whatever sport it is that you are participating in, cross training is what athletes, both amateur and professional, will use to reduce:

Injury Burn out Boredom Loss of performance Limitation of overall fitness improvements

What does cross-training do for you as a pole dancer (and you are an athlete!)?

Improves overall performance in your sport (in this case, pole dancing!) Takes advantage of the benefits of each training method Combines a variety of sports/activities/exercises to develop the body Conditions different muscle groups Develops new skills Reduce strain or overuse of certain muscles

So how does this all relate to pole dancing?

Well, doing the same movements over and over will perfect them and make your routines smooth and efficient; but can you be better? Of course! Your fitness level can be improved as well as your routines when you train with other sports, activities and exercises. Your body deserves a break from the pole. Cross training will develop other areas of your body so that when you come back to the pole, you will be more balanced, your physique will develop evenly and you will be ready to work the rested areas.

In this eBook I am going to talk about how using various activities, exercises and sports will improve your pole dancing…and how to incorporate them into your workout schedule.

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There are four basic fitness areas:

1. Cardiovascular Endurance (huffing and puffing power!) 2. Muscular Strength (ability to pull your body weight up, for example) 3. Muscular Endurance (ability to do a million push-ups without fatiguing…yeah right!) and last but definitely not least- 4. Flexibility (splits!)

1. Cardiovascular Endurance

What it cardiovascular endurance exactly?

It is basically the ability of your heart and lungs to deliver oxygen to your muscles. Think, ease in running the mile (without side stitches!) or the ability to dance non-stop to all of ACDC’s hits!

Some examples of sports that develop cardiovascular endurance are:

Running Cycling Dancing Swimming And any other exercise that keeps your heart rate up and does not cross

into anaerobic activity (more on that later)

2. Muscular Strength

How is muscular strength defined?

Muscular strength is the ability of your muscles to exert force. Think clanking metal plates in the gym or pulling yourself up in a pole hold.

Some examples of sports or physical activities that develop muscular strength are:

Weight training Yoga Pilates Push-ups and pull-ups

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3. Muscular Endurance

What about muscular endurance?

Muscular endurance is best defined as the ability to exert force without fatigue.

Think of military-style push-up regimens (boot-camp, really?) or pole routines that involve several tricks for several minutes without rest.

Some examples of exercises that develop muscular endurance are:

Functional training Kettlebells Plyometrics

4. Flexibility

Does flexibility mean you have to do the splits?

Not necessarily. Flexibility is best defined as the range of motion in a joint or joints and the length of the muscles that are involved in that area. We will talk more about simple ways to increase your flexibility later.

Some examples of working on your flexibility are:

Simple stretches Yoga

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(A Few More Helpful Tips for Cross Training...)

Rest Rest is an absolute need when doing any type of exercise. Your body needs this time to repair muscles and strengthen itself. If rest is skipped, overuse of muscles and joints occur as well as the risk of injury. Overtraining syndrome, which some athletes experience, includes depression, lack of enthusiasm for the sport, injury and a decrease in performance. You definitely don't want these involved in your passion for pole! During a time of rest, whether it be a day

or a few days, your body has the chance to rebuild itself and to adapt to the new stresses you are putting it through, such as a new pole grip, a hard sprint or a weight-lifting session. Fluids are replaced as well as your energy stores and body tissues are repaired. Some ways you can rest include:

a good night's sleep taking some days off from poling

or other exercise a hot bath with Epsom salts and

drops of calming essential oils such as chamomile and lavender acupuncture a massage hot stone therapy

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Visualization

“ Always remember that dreams – your creative visualizations – must come before their physical manifestations.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach Visualization is a useful tool, skill and process that you can use to create a mental picture or intention of what you want to happen. Using powerful and colorful images and emotions while you create this image in your mind helps to cement it and to make it come to realization. It is said that the more you can feel something that you are creating or seeing in your mind, the more powerful the desire of your body to create this experience in reality becomes.

So let's say you are going to visualize getting the cross-ankle release down. You may have surpassed this trick, but for examples sake, let’s use this intermediate trick. Before getting out of bed in the morning or before going to sleep, when your mind is open and you are relaxed, close your eyes and start thinking about doing this trick. See yourself on the pole, inverted, feel the blood rushing to your head, feel your scalp tingling a little from the increased blood, feel the pole being gripped between your legs, feel the metal pulling against your skin, feel your confidence as in your mind you hold yourself in this position. Feel the rush as you let go of the pole with your hands. Feel the freedom on

hanging upside down in the air. Feel, feel, feel everything you can imagine about this...feel and experience in your mind a safe dismount. You can even imagine that you feel the rush of satisfaction and pride at a performance; see the bright lights, the stage, hear the audience clapping, see that special someone smiling there at you. Feel your body so powerful and able. And then go and work on your trick again and see the difference in your performance level.

Using visualization can also clue you in to things you may need to do differently in "getting" a trick or pose down. Our subconscious minds are powerful tools in

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themselves and resources of information about us that processes such as visualization can help to access. Dreams also access this part of our mind but dreams are less in our control. The only way I have been able to access information from my subconscious through dreams is to ask myself a question that I have not been able to find the answer to before going to sleep at night. I ask myself a deliberate question that I want the answer to and feel trust that the answer is already in my mind. Sometimes it has worked.

Setting a Goal

Do your training with an objective in mind. When you go to your pole class or if you are practicing at home, start out with a plan, a goal, an objective such as: “Today I will practice the pole sit until I am able to let go with my hands” or “Tonight I will work on my split grip” instead of just going to free pole class and playing around practicing what you are already good at.

Training with a goal will help to push yourself to grow and learn quicker and then you can go on and build on your gains. Some ideas of objectives:

If you are already good at a specific trick or spin, work on transitioning in and out of it smoothly

Focus on proper posture and proper muscle usage on a specific trick or pose

Work on making a move look more effortless and clean

Ask your instructor for pointers because sometimes others can see our mistakes or unclean lines and then we can have something specific to work on

Cardiovascular Endurance A closer look at how to incorporate it into your workout schedule

Cardio, the short name for exercise that makes you use your lung power, should be incorporated into your workouts as a pole dancer. There are several ways to do this. If you have a favorite sport besides pole dance, such as just dance, running, riding your bike, hiking or even running hanging out on cardio machines in the gym, then use that as your cardio development exercise.

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Cardio should be done anywhere from 3-5 times a week, depending on your goals. If you are trying to drop the pounds, shed fat or just strengthen your lungs so you are less winded during routines, then try 4-5 a week.

A good maintenance schedule is 3 times a week, after you have lost the weight you want and the rest of your workout time is being taken up with pole routines or other exercise.

There are a couple of sports that I highly recommend for pole dancers looking to incorporate cardio into their workout schedules. Here are my suggestions.

Running

Running is cheap, easy and all you basically need is a good pair of running tennis shoes. And since running is one of those “strong on bottom” exercises, it is a good balancing cardio workout for the pole dancer. Pole dancing uses a lot of upper-body movement and strength so running, which uses the quads, the hamstrings, hips and glutes is a number one choice.

If you have not been running, even if you are strong, start out slowly since the impact of running on your knees and ankles can be harsh if your strength is not built up slowly. Start out with walk-runs, even if it feels too easy and your lungs feel like they can take more. Start with a 20 minute walk-run where you walk for 4 minutes and run for 1 minute. If this is too much also at first or if it has been a long time since you have done any cardio, then you can lower it down to walking for 4 ½ minutes and running/jogging for 30 seconds. Do this pattern over for 20 minutes. The next week work up to 25 minutes and add in another 30 seconds to your running time. In no time at all, you will be running a full 30 minutes or an hour, however long you would like to go for.

Also, run only 3 times a week or less. It is easy to overtrain when running because you lose weight quickly, your legs become powerful as well as your lungs and you can get a great “runner’s high” (a flood of endorphins) and it is easy to get addicted. Pacing yourself as well as training no more than 3 times a week will keep you from overtraining and keeping healthy knees, ankles, shins and feet. Shin splints are the WORST!!!

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Equipment needed:

Loose, comfortable running clothes such as a t-shirt and shorts

Good running shoes-go to your local sports store and try them on!

Quality running socks Also, hydrate before and after your run!

Cycling Cycling, whether on an indoor gym bike or outdoors on your ten-speed, is perfect to

use along with your running cardio plan. Cycling is aerobic as well as helping to maintain a good range of leg motion. Cycling also uses your quads and hamstrings in a different way than when you are on your feet so the whole muscle, with running and cycling, is developed fully. 30-45 minutes of cycling 2-3 days a week or splitting your running workout with cycling, such as 20 minutes or running and 20 minutes of cycling can be effective.

Dancing

Dancing for cardiovascular fitness has become really popular as is evident by the Zumba movement as well as the myriad of dance for fitness dvd’s available. There are many different styles of fun dance routines that are geared to keep your heart rate up and go for at least 30 minutes to get the benefits of a cardio workout. These styles include, hip hop, burlesque, cardio striptease, ballroom, jazz and music video styles, just to name a few. An online search for “dance dvds” will bring back some good results. You can use a video at home or in the gym as well as take local classes at a gym or dance studio. Dancing as your cardio workout can be a fun alternative if things get boring on a bike or treadmill. Again, aim for 3 times a week and 30 minutes of sweat!

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Swimming Swimming has long been considered an overall gentle but effective cardiovascular workout. It is good for those with any body pain, soreness, joint pain or injuries since

it keeps your weight off of any one part of your body. If you don’t have a swimming pool or live near an ocean or lake, try a swim in the gym or your local YMC. Most communities also have a swimming pool that you can take lessons at or learn along with the kids. Swimming uses your shoulders, arms, hips and

even ankles, parts that are great to develop in a gentle way for pole dancing.

Muscular Strength Building your body smart Muscular strength again is defined by your muscles ability to exert force against a physical object. In the sports world, it’s usually measured by how much weight you can lift whether it is with a dumbbell, barbell, resistance band or your bodyweight. Again, any muscular strength building exercises should be done on alternating days and it is good to do on days that you work on hard pole tricks, such as those that require climbing, hoisting or holding your weight.

Weight Training

Weight training is one of the best ways to build your muscular strength. Lifting weights that are heavy enough to only be able to do 8-12 repetitions at a time will be a good starting point for strength training with dumbbells or a barbell and plates.

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Lifting progressively heavier weights, even if only 1-2 pounds heavier, will increase muscle size and strength or the ability to lift heavier with ease the next time.

A very simple, good and popular program to use is what is called the “5x5” program which many famous bodybuilders have used as a basic strength building program. It is called the “5x5” because you do 5 sets of 5 repetitions of the following exercises:

Squats

Overhead press

Deadlift

Barbell/dumbbell rows

Bench press Do the exercises only on 3 days out of the week and you

can increase the weight you use by 5 lbs every time you workout. This enables you to slowly and steadily build strength without injury.

Bodyweight Exercises Bodyweight exercises like push-ups and pull ups (and pole dance!) are excellent for increasing strength as well. Instead of using iron plates or resistance bands, you use your own weight. Install a pull-up bar in a doorway of your home and use it to build up your shoulder, arm and back strength. This is a great way to start building strength before pole dancing, even if you don’t have a pole yet. In many pole tricks and poses, you are pulling your bodyweight as well as hoisting it around the pole. This involves a lot of core and back strength as well. You can start working on your core with the following exercises: For Rotational Core Strength:

Lying hip swing: Lie on your back on a towel or yoga mat with your legs pointed straight up at the ceiling and your arms extended out for balance. Keeping your legs straight and together, swing them all the way to the left. Right before your feet touch the floor, swing them to the right. Do as many reps as you can while keeping good form.

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V-Ups: Lie on your back and stretch your arms

straight over your head. Silumtaneously lift your arms off of the ground (keeping them straight) and your legs (keeping them straight as well), contracting the abs, form a “V” with

your body as you try and reach for your toes. This is also known as a “Jackknife” sit-up and is explosive and powerful work for your

core.

You can also use a swiss ball as in the illustration here.

Bicycle Crunch: Lie on your back on the floor with your legs bent, feet on the floor. With your fingertips at your ears (do not hold your head or neck), raise your left

knee and try and touch it with your right elbow. At the same time extend your right leg straight. Don’t let your feet or head touch the floor. Keep alternating in a

bicycling fashion until you have done 10-20 reps. Build up to doing reps for 2 minutes.

Muscular Endurance Again, muscular endurance is the ability to produce maximum force for a maximum amount of time. An example of this is a hard sprint or doing plyometrics, exercises designed to produce fast and powerful movements such as jumps and leaps. Some examples of plyometric exercises include:

Squat jumps

hurdling objects

push ups with a clap

burpees There are several exercise programs and DVDs that use plyometrics to gainmuscular endurance. Using kettlebells is also an example of plyometrics.

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Flexibility Flexibility is the range of motion in your joints and muscles and it can be increased regardless of age, size or current flexibility.

How to increase it There is a simple rule to increasing your flexibility: When performing a stretch, push just to the point of slight discomfort, not pain, and hold. Muscles will relax when held in position if held there long enough. Do not bounce while holding a stretch and remember to breathe from your abdominal area, not your chest. Some exercises that increase flexibility include:

Yoga

Simple stretches

Working on the splits Here are some pointers on starting to work on the splits, whether front or side splits:

Your body needs to be warm either from exercise or a hot bath

Stay hydrated

Stay relaxed

Breathe from the abdomen

See yourself performing the stretch-literally think ‘splits’

Stretch the quads, hamstrings, hips and glutes

Use the traditional ‘runners stretch’ pictured here:

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Important to Remember…

The same type of exercise should never be performed for 2 days in a row…or consecutively. For example, you should not run on Monday and Tuesday and then weight lift on Wednesday and Thursday. Your workouts should alternate so that different muscles are being used on different days and therefore rest is involved. Muscles and joints need time to repair and adapt for the next workout, hence one of the ideas behind cross-training!

To learn more about pole dancing, visit www.learn-pole-dancing.com