Who are you working with? What are their goals?
Marjen
Marjen did pole for 2 years, then took a 3ish year break (COVID). She grew up doing musical theater, and some tap and ballroom dancing. She also did some basic gymnastics/tumbling as a child. Marjen doesn’t really like going upside down and was taught the “just get your feet above your head” method of inverting. She has a tendency of overtraining and getting injured because of that.
Her goals include: inverting with control (no momentum), all splits and increasing all flexibility, gaining strength for overall performance, being kinder to herself and learning when to stop to prevent overtraining.
Sandi
Sandi did yoga for years before moving to Oregon. She started pole right before COVID, and has got back to it when Bliss opened. She states she’d like to work on overhead mobility in her shoulders and mobility in her calves.
Her goals include: being able to flow in and out of moves, and being able to access her arms when inverting (she feels like she’s “locked out”).
Emily
Emily has been doing pole on and off since 2019 (due to COVID lockdowns and injuries), she has no prior dance experience, but did swim team and still enjoys swimming. She hikes frequently and enjoys time spent outside.
Her pain points associated with pole include pain in the calf/inner knee when doing leg hangs and hamstring stretches, shoulder pain in some stretches (like puppy pose), and her hands getting stuck when she inverts.
Her goals include inverting smoothly with straight legs, and inverting without her hands getting stuck in her knee pit.
Lindsey
Lindsey grew up dancing (ballet, modern, etc) and playing soccer, and started pole in 2021. She occasionally has a pain flare behind her left knee when she stands up from a squat. When coming out of an invert straight down, she feels a strain in her upper back.
She wants to be able to flow in and out of moves and do inside leg langs.
What are my goals?
I hope to work with this group at least 4 times over the next few weeks. I want to help all of them improve their flow and build their basics. Everyone in this group is at different places, one is unable to safely invert while the rest are at different levels of inverting. I want to take them back to basics to build a level of awareness and strength to reach their goals. More specific goals include: have them get stronger at hanging/pull ups, have everyone have a solid pole hip bridge, have everyone be able to control/flow in and out of moves (especially hip bridge).
I want to instill the idea that pole and inverting is a process, not an outcome activity. They can (and will) meet their goals, but they may not do so completely within the next few weeks (and that’s completely ok!).
What is your hypothesis/strategy?
My strategy is to run exercises to build strength and awareness for about half the class, and drill fluidity and hip bridge/invert drill the remaining time.
I want to make sure to incorporate games/fun, encouragement and celebrating progress and asking questions so they start to notice what’s happening in their body, they know what their plan is for approaching movements, and I know if they feel as if they are getting something out of this.
Documentation of implementation of strategy
Session 1: Emily, Lindsey, Sandi, Marjen
For the first session, I talked about what I hoped to accomplish over the next few weeks, we talked about their goals/pain points. Then I went over the plan for the day. We started movement with reflexive core stability with a stick and foam rolling. I had them go through: T & L Spinal flossing, squats, forward hinge, chin-up and/or hang at the top, and invert (to OLH).
The class went well. Spinal flossing, squats and hip hinge were new and challenging, but everyone did really well. Marjen has an injured hand and found a way to loop the band around a dowel so the band wasn’t pressing into her hand, she was not able to invert or do a pull up. Lindsey did her first ever pull up, and was incredibly excited. As this was more of a set-up class, there wasn’t anything that didn’t “work” per say. I had to remind them that if they don’t have a flawless invert by the end, that is more than ok, as this is a process and we’re looking at building blocks, not a finished product.
Session 2: Emily, Lindsey, Sandi, Marjen
Class Plan: Warm up with the musical chairs block game block game. Spinal awareness by rolling up and down the wall. Hip and pelvis work: CARS and hip hinging. Upper body: Pole banded lat pull downs, passive/active hanging. Lastly, we’ll look at hip bridges on or off the pole (ability dependent), I’ll ask them their plan to get in and out of the move and ask them to half their speed on whatever they plan to do.
Notes: The cues for pulling hands apart (sheering forces) were helpful for everyone. Most people have a need for speed so I asked them to breath before they did a different move, it slowed them down a bit, and allowed them to remember to engage what they forget when they’re going too fast.
Session 3: Lindsey, Marjen, Sandi, Emily
Class Plan: Warm up with game/story (on a sinking ship in rough waters/using the subway).
Breathing in curled position with band around torso-work on 360 breathing, Serratus anterior press & quadrupedal hover, hanging/pull ups, hip bridges and inverts. Deeper dive into hip bridges and invert positioning, and talk about breathing and engagement while in these hip bridging/inverting.
Notes: Exercises before hip bridges went well. Emily has a tendency to jump her bottom leg to the pole and loses all posture when she jumps. Sandi loses her arm engagement as soon as her toe touches the pole. For both Emily and Sandi, we slowed down the invert and made sure they were secure and talked through the steps as they did them. Descending from inverts needs work as well, we spoke about watching toes touch the ground to descend with control.
Session 4: Emily, Sandi
Class Plan: Warm up with rolling. Spinal isolations- “walk” up spine, serratus anterior isolations, hanging/pull ups, squats, hip CARS, hip bridges
Notes: Spinal awareness is getting better for everyone; they are starting to be able to self-adjust when they move different parts of their spine in drills. They are able to hang for longer periods, and work on different hanging drills. Emily jumps much less and Sandi keeps her arms engaged throughout her invert now!
They need to work on being at a deeper decline position in hip bridges, and descending with control.
Session 5: Emily, Sandi
Class Plan: Warm up with rolling and random movements, spinal isolations, hanging/pull ups, hip CARS, lat pull downs, inverts and hip bridges-high focus on arms and moving with flow. Flow in and out of hip bridges and getting into chopper while focusing on arm placement.
Notes: Exercises are getting stronger and more controlled (especially hanging and pull ups!); they are self-correcting without prompting. When we went to hip bridges and inverts, I had Sandi and Emily talk each other through hip bridge to chopper. I rarely had to give any prompts or say anything-except reminding them to squeeze the hypothetical ketchup packets under their arms. Emily has stopped doing the leg/knee hitch to OLH (unless she’s tired).
Session 6: Marjen, Sandi
Class Plan: foam rolling, reflexive core stability w dowel, band spinal isolations, hanging/pull ups, squats/hip hinges, hip bridges/inverts-focus on descent and slow intentional movements
Notes: Sandi has gotten super strong with her inverts and we talked about inside vs outside leg hangs! Marjen is getting stronger in her hip bridge and is able to get her toe to the pole. Now that she’s able to hold the hip bridge and lift a leg, I had her try with a block. She’s getting more spinal awareness as well! Descending is still a process for everyone, I’ve been asking them to slide the foot that hits the ground first and watch it, as well as giving cues on body positioning on the way down.
Final Session: Marjen, Sandi, Emily, Lindsey
Class Plan: Warm up with ropes, take “after” photos/videos of T & L Spinal flossing, squats, forward hinge, chin-up and/or hang at the top, and inverts.
Notes: The final session went really well! Marjen is getting more comfortable, and the prep exercises are getting more solid, as is her hip bridge-She’s not ready to invert yet, as she’s still working on getting both feet off the floor. The other three have solid inverts and leg hangs, but they only remember to descend with control when I remind them.
Results of strategy:
Photos/videos in YouTube video
Student Feedback/reviews (copied and pasted what was sent to me):
Marjen
The warm ups were amazing, bringing joy and playfulness was so important, particularly because the material was challenging. Being silly together built a sense of community and made it easier to be vulnerable and try (sometimes scary) new things in front of others.
When we started, I could barely hang on the bar (even with the band, and bands are awesome and helpful!). I'm not at a pull up yet, but the encouragement, guidance (bend the bar into a rainbow) and repetition have me hanging without the band for a decent amount of time, and I'm proud of that.
The isolations with the band really helped! That was one of the most effective ways to develop body awareness.
It is very strange to stare at yourself in the mirror and try to bend the correct way (maddeningly so). Perhaps there's a way that's more hands on to help? (ie you poking the upper and lower curve while we bend so we can better feel when we lose it?) I sometimes felt very lost during this part.
The invert/pole part: the tips like 'where you'd put a laundry basket' and 'alligators snapping at your butt' were very helpful (and silly, which helps when you are frustrated and tired). The stools/block thing helped a lot, too.
Sandi
I mean in general, breaking everything down focusing on where the pole was and all the work, we did on getting the feel of not only the pole position, but also maintaining the ribcage and the work we did with head and neck alignment was really helpful.
The repetition of everything was also very helpful.
But one of the biggest plusses for me was the insane levels of encouragement from you and Amberlee. Even when it wasn’t quite cooperating, I never felt like I couldn’t get myself there eventually, and that kept me motivated.
Emily
I found invert ready classes were eye opening and a much-needed way to re-learn how to invert. I am still working on strength while using the proper mechanics to invert, but I noticed such a dramatic difference in the feeling of being in control of the movement and not just going for it. I feel stronger holding an invert, and I am still working on the little lift at the end to get into a leg hang without getting my hand stuck. I also had NO IDEA that we used our back so much in a proper squat. I watched my butt wink virtually disappear when I pay attention to form and moving from my hips and not my back.
I would recommend teaching inversions this way, it was so hard to allow myself to re-learn something that took so long to figure out in the first place. But your support and instruction are always encouraging and pushed me to start small to get a better result in the end.
Lindsey
Spinal flossing was hard- but super helpful when you point out/ touch the section to move and remind me to slow down () inverts from the ground helped with conditioning and slowing down. The breathing out analogy helpful for finding the right position to be in.
Overall loved working on all of it
Concluding findings:
This case study taught me to trust the process, and remind others that pole is very much a process, not an outcome. Each week I got to see my students improving and getting stronger in both the conditioning exercises, as well as the hip bridges/inverts, even if they took time off. It has also taught me to be more aware of energy leaks, which has helped me when troubleshooting other pole moves with my other students.
Reflection Questions:
I took time to plan classes, and think about moves that would help my students work towards the goals they set at the beginning. I’m proud of the successes they have had, as well as being able to see and celebrate with them as they got stronger each week.
Marjen gained a lot of awareness and was telling me when she needs to not do anymore, to prevent injury. Her awareness has improved, as has all the moves we’ve worked on. I know that if she keeps practicing, she will get the controlled invert she wants.
Sandi has had massive improvements in her inverts. She’s able to invert without locking out her arms.
Emily looks stronger in inverts and does the hitch to get her knee over her hands less.
Lindsey missed a good chunk of sessions due to traveling and COVID. Her inverts are more fluid and can flow into them. She will keep working on flowing out, slowing down, as well as her ILHs.