Overall Self Study Notes:
Overall, this was an amazing program for me. I had been able to invert for years, but perhaps not as efficiently as I’m capable of, and during pandemic I largely stopped doing any strength training or pole ‘fitness’ training, so this was an amazing way to get back into it. As a teacher, I can’t even begin to fully address all the ways in which this has helped me to become a better instructor, and all of the little (and big!) successes my students have seen already, before even offering an official Invert Ready Course.
I learned that my body was imbalanced - lacking strength in the low body and the back side of the body in general. I was over compensating with biceps and pecs a lot of the time. Since doing this work consistently, I’ve had less migraines and less shoulder impingement issues. I feel overall fourteen times better than when I started this program.
Here is a link to my before and after videos:
Unfortunately, I did not have access to a ‘before’ video of my leg hang, but since I didn’t physically practice doing them nearly as much as everything else in this program, the video provided is probably a good ‘before’ video and I’m looking forward to seeing how it changes and improves as I focus more on doing them in the coming months.
At the end of this paper, I’m attaching an image of my inverted ‘chopper’ before the program and after the program, as well.
Individual Assessment Practices:
Chin Ups -
Before IRC -
Prior to taking the IRC certification, I hadn’t tried to do an actual chin up in years. When I first tried them, I wasn’t able to fully complete the range of motion even though I was able to do the ‘pull up’ a little. It felt really impossible at the bottom without a bit of momentum, and not ‘smooth’ at all. Looking back, it felt really dysfunctional. My shoulders weren’t rotating at all to start the pull (ie - no ‘bend the bar’ cue) and once I was up I wasn’t able to really bring my elbows to my ribs or my chin actually above the bar.
After IRC-
Now, I love doing chin ups! They feel really smooth and functional, I can feel my shoulders rotating and compressing before the pull, and it feels like both arms activate simultaneously and with the same amount of engagement. I can easily get my chin above the bar and I am able to get my elbows much closer to my ribs. I can hold for a few seconds, and control the eccentric movement on the way down, and my shoulders stay ‘active’ all the way until my arms are straight before coming into a passive hang. Seeing this improvement has been really, really cool.
Outside Leg Hook -
Before IRC -
Prior to taking IRC Cert, I thought I felt really comfortable with outside leg hooks. It didn’t feel super laborious or physically ‘challenging’ to get there, but looking back at videos I see that my approach wasn’t particularly ideal. I often had to do a little skip up the pole with my leg to hook it, even though it was just one and family small - it was still there and not a smooth transition into the hook. I also can easily see I am a little too inverted too early in the process and the pole ends up high along my ribs rather than down near my waist. Shoulders and upper back were quite rounded.
After IRC -
Not only does the actual ‘invert’ itself feel smoother and more functional, my spinal alignment is much more optimal and I am able to keep the pole closer to my waist. It also LOOKS a lot cleaner and smoother. I can hold it longer and I have more freedom in the leg hook space for flow and exploration of movement. A much easier and smoother hook, without having to do much if any repositioning to get the knee hooked.
Inside Leg Hook -
Before IRC -
Prior to taking IRC Cert, I truly hated inside leg hooks and *never* did them - lol! They feel SO PAINFUL and it doesn’t feel like I have enough ‘room’ around my torso area to comfortably settle into them.
After IRC -
So, I have to come clean here and admit - in this entire series I’ve maybe practiced inside leg hook a couple times. It still doesn’t feel good in my body, and I still don’t feel like I have enough ‘room’ - I don’t know if this has to do with literally having a negative wing span, a grumpy knee, or if I’m just chickening out because it hurts so much, but I went to give it a try and even though I mentally understood more about it (getting more horizontal instead of ’too inverted,’ allowing the torso to rotate outwards away from the pole, etc.) physically, it still felt really foreign, uncomfortable, and unmanageable. It was a good ‘wake up call’ to the fact that if I want it to be more accessible, I have quite a bit of work To do and I can’t keep refusing to do it for forever - lol!
(Top Photo Most Recent ‘After’ Photo, would still like to work on drawing shoulders back to line up with mid-axillary line more and let head press back a tiny more. Bottom Photo 1 month into the IRC program)
(Top photo one month into program, Bottom photo first ‘assessment’ photo from the program, week 1.)