Levy Solomon - Report

Levy Solomon

Report - Passive Hang

        The most helpful and important takeaway from the Invert Ready Coach training was my daily passive hang exercise, and how it has helped me feel balanced and strong in my pole dance sessions, and also in my daily life. I have scoliosis and I often get lumbar spinal pain, but since I started my passive hangs, I have not had any pain. In addition, in the past, I would get shoulder injuries every 6 weeks since I started pole dancing in 2012. Since the start of our Invert Ready Coach training, I have not gotten injured, and I think that the passive hangs have contributed to this. When I observe myself and how I feel during the passive hang, I feel a lengthening in my spine, as if there is more space between each vertebra. This release has helped me feel taller and more aware of my posture throughout the day.

Because of these self-observations, I wanted to learn more about the passive hang in greater detail so that when I teach my pole dance students, I have readily available information on the many ways that it can benefit them. I am also a classroom teacher. I teach Spanish as a foreign language to middle school students, and I would love to get permission to bring a horizontal pull-up bar to my classroom. I wanted to be armed with data on how it can help my students and co-workers. Lastly, although I understand that every body is different and has different histories, I want everyone to feel the same spinal release that I have after doing months of daily passive hang exercises.

Where did you go looking? (drop some links/pics etc.)

●      During office hours, I got approval to delve into the passive hang, and read the book Shoulder Pain? The Solution and Prevention by Dr. John M. Kirsch, M.D.

●      I perused Dr. Kirsch’s website titled “Heal your own shoulder.” https://www.kirschshoulder.com/

●      I also watched this video as a precursor created by two physical therapists. This video’s description states “Famous Physical Therapists Bob Schrupp and Brad Heineck describe a new and simple technique for treating shoulder pain.”

What did you learn?

I was intrigued when I read  Dr. John Kirsch's case studies about patients that could have treated their chronic shoulder injuries with surgery, but he instead gave them various exercises to do and ultimately got a 95% success rate in solving and preventing the pain rather than having invasive surgery. Dr. Kirsch says, “After 28 years of clinical research on the hanging exercise, it's not only safe but extremely effective in relieving and preventing the most common causes of shoulder pain.” Part two of his book explains the Kirsch Protocol Theory that hanging stretches the CA arch expanding the subacromial space. Page 102 shows a diagram of two shoulders. One shoulder is hanging, and the other is holding a 60-pound weight. The second part of the Kirsch Protocol Theory was a lightweight lifting exercise.

One quote that left me thinking was “Civilization’s progress has gone from rocks to silicone chips in a few thousand years. It will require millions of years for our anatomy to catch up with our social progress (p. 102)” He also states that “Decreased overhead use of the arms may be related to the epidemic of shoulder degenerative disease.” “It’s the pressure applied to the carocoacromonial arch by the humerus with repeated overhead arm activity as well as by a hanging exercise that engages the acromiohumeral joint and maintains the integrity of this joint and the space for the subadjuacent structures such as the rotator cuff, the subacromial bursa and the concentric function of the glenohumeral joint”

Kirsch also talks about the human pendulum, and this spoke to me because after doing passive hanging exercises, I wanted to try swinging from monkey bars at my gym. This was the first time in my life that I was successful at this. An uninformed, but well-meaning stranger at the gym told me to try this without momentum, and I did not feel that it was correct advice. Kirsh proves this uninformed stranger wrong when he talks about The Human Pendulum. While people may feel that the monkey bar swing may cause over-rotation which can cause an internal impingement of the rotator cuff, this is incorrect. “The human skeleton acts as a chain pendulum while hanging. The only joint that can rotate in a chain pendulum is the top axis or point of support. The wrist, or the top joint, is the only joint that can rotate while hanging. It is nearly impossible for over-rotation to occur in the shoulder while hanging from an overhead support.”

Ultimately, I did this research so that I could easily tell my pole dance students about the benefits of the passive hang and to further convince them to do their homework. I find that if I give research and data on how the exercise is beneficial to them, and how it can assist them in having strong inverts and healthy spines, my pole dance students are more likely to do them. Although I did not push them to get more chin-ups and pull-ups, they sent me videos of success in the chin-up journey due to the passive hang homework. I agree with Kirsh largely when he suggests that pull-up bars should be largely accessible at airports, parks, and other public places.

Since we started the Invert Ready Coach program, I have made a point to do passive hangs every single time I go to the gym, which is six days per week. Finally, in July, I installed a permanent horizontal bar near my kitchen so that I am prompted to use it as soon as I enter the kitchen, and every time I use the bathroom. Other easy ways to use it is if I boil water or wait for something to cook, I work on my passive hang during that time.

Because I have stronger and more balanced shoulders, I can be an adequate pole dance instructor for my students. I have found enjoyment in working at the gym, and saw pole dance differently. It has changed my perspective on what I do during a pole dance session. I used to do pole tucks to improve my "lower abdominal strength." I used to invert 10 times on each side only to find in my videos that my back was rounded, and that I had many energy leaks and possible sources of injury.

Now I effectively condition at the gym, and when I pole, I am efficient with my movements. Instead of doing 10 inverts per side to condition, when more than half were with bad form, I am doing my conditioning in a balanced way at the gym. Then when I pole, I am more aware of positioning my body, specifically spinal awareness, so that almost every invert that I do is in good form. I may not invert 20 times like I used to, and now I invert about 5 times, but it is with good form. At the gym I do inverted rows, sometimes unilaterally.

The most important conclusions that I formed were ones that I felt in my body, and that I could question and prompt my students to feel in their bodies.  It's a combination of physically going through the process, as well as giving them research written by an orthopedic doctor that brings upon success.

Levy Solomon - Case Studies

Levy Solomon - Self-Assessment

Click here to watch my video.  https://youtube.com/shorts/N22j6__KbHs?feature=share

This is a before and after photo of my invert. I used this picture as a teaching tool to show my students the growth opportunities. I used Socratic questioning to get the answers from them. Their and my answers were synonymous. They saw the rounding of the lumbar and thoracic spine. They saw how the elbows were precariously hanging and had no tone to protect the elbows. In the past whenever I would pole dance, I would have elbow pain, and it is now very apparent to me in the before photos how I used to hang on my elbows. My biceps, triceps, and pecs were not fully in use.  When I first started to invert, I did not think to engage them. My goals were simply to get my legs in a V position over my head.

It took me approximately 6 months to have the strength to invert when I first started my pole dancing hobby in 2012. I didn’t quite understand the move and primarily saw it as a lower abdominal exercise, and when I couldn’t do it, I always thought it was because I didn’t have the “core strength.” In my before video, I felt this, and I often use the spin to assist it in taking away some weight. I notice a rounding in and a tilting of my chin towards my chest. To be honest, I am not sure if the before and after photos and videos clearly show how much more controlled I feel, but I know for certain that I can now invert anywhere, any time with a proper warm-up. In the past, it wasn’t always a given, and I feel this because I now understand the biomechanics of my spine, and use leverage to invert.

            The biggest difference is in my chin-ups, and I am most proud of this. In January 2022, I was able to do about 3 supinated close grip chin-ups total. I noticed that I needed to use momentum in order to achieve this. I know that the use of momentum is not always bad, but in this case, I saw that I jumped into the top position which didn’t allow me to engage my biceps. I can now do supinated wide-grip pull-ups, and I have only been able to do this one other time in my life which was in 2016 when I was training for a pole dance competition. I was approximately 20 pounds lighter. I started this year with success in doing three sets of one pull-up. It gradually went to three sets of two reps. Now, on a good day, I can do three sets of approximately four reps immediately followed by a decline set of two(ish) pull-ups with one band, immediately followed by another decline set with two bands of whatever I can do with control.

            Of all the before and after differences, I see the most difference in my pull-ups. I now train these more often than my inverts. I feel that my ability to do the pull-ups comes from a daily passive and active hang with the horizontal bar. The passive hang exploration with one foot on the floor has helped me find lumbar spine release. In playing between active and passive, I have a better sense of what it feels like when I use my traps, and when I am not.

            Due to my passive hanging daily exercises and consistent pull-up work, two to four times per week, I have played on the monkey bars for the first time in my life! Even when I was a child, I could not do this. I saw my friends doing it with ease, and I was a little heavy as a child and I always thought it was due to my weight. The inner child release that I got when I was able to play with monkey bars has been so healing, and I am grateful for this opportunity to work on them.

I still need to work on many things. I notice that near the top of the pull-up, I unintentionally pronate my shoulders. This happens when I get fatigued when I invert as well. I often take videos, make observations, and try to make changes by the next set. I believe that I need to focus more on activating the upper pectoral muscles, what I’d call a chest puff. Ways that I work on this are working on just the top of the pull-up using a pull-up weight assist machine. I can sometimes use a band, but I find that the band gives support from the bottom of the pull-up and not the top. Other ways I have worked on this are starting from the top of the pull-up, and having my eyes focus on the top corner of the room where the ceiling and wall meet. I find that when I have a place for my eyes to look, I can position my cervical spine better.

            I also notice that when I have taught inverts to my pole dance students, the cervical spine is also one of the last ways for them to improve. The lumbar spine and pelvic understanding is often the first place for improvement but can be fixed with spinal flossing. This is similar to thoracic positioning. It can be a problem, but with some personalized work, it can be fixed. The cervical spine is often the last place that students need to address. I am not sure if this is due to my own hindrances, but when I talked to my other invert-ready coach friends, we mentioned trying to erase years of body memory of curling into a meatball instead of using the physics of leverage. I’ve also noticed that there can still be a success in the pull-up and invert if the rest of the spine, thoracic and lumbar are positioned correctly. In contrast, if the cervical spine is positioned correctly, but the lumbar spine is not, there are larger problems to overcome.

            Most importantly, throughout my 10-year pole dance career, I used to get injured every 4-6 months, and I attributed this to overuse of my shoulder. I am not a doctor, and when I went to the doctor to see my shoulder, I did not quite understand what the problem was. He would simply tell me to rest. After the first day of our invert ready training, I learned that placing my shoulders “back and down” before lifting my hand to the pole was not the ideal positioning for strength. Since I stopped doing this in January 2022, and my regular passive hang exercise, I have not had any shoulder problems, and do not feel any overuse, fatigue, or imbalance. While the picture can say a thousand words, I cannot emphasize enough the freedom of movement I now feel since I have not gotten routinely injured. I feel balanced, strong, and healthy in every part of my life, not just in inverts.

Patricia Borba - Case Studies

Patricia Borba - Report

Patricia Borba - Self-Assessment

The conditioning exercises and techniques learned on the IRC:

After working properly on my chin-ups, Squats and Spine flossing, I can flow easier throughout the movements. SPINE FLOSSING helped me to understand how to move the different sections of the spine independently (seen in this video in the climb position).  CHIN-UP was the clue in the second part of the sequence where Scapula retraction was combined with shoulder elevation to give a floating effect and facilitate the Lombard spine wave movement.

ILH/OLH - My aero invert feels completely different and effortless after applying the IRC technique I learned in this program. The second invert makes it even clearer how the waist contact on the pole contributes to easy knee placement on the pole with no need for adjustment. The last part of the sequence is also my absolute favorite leg hang the “Brass Monkey.” Ironically, the Brass Monkey hang is one of my biggest struggles. For this reason, the Brass Monkey hang was my first choice for my IRC final project. I am a work in progress and there is so much I still have to do, but overall, I feel that I accomplished a lot and am happy the way that my movements look and feel after the IRC mentorship.

February-August 2022.

Amberlee Moreno - Report

What do I want to learn more about after taking IRC? What don’t I want to learn more about is more like it. I’m finding myself diving down paths of research on muscle activation, asking my massage therapist, who does sports activation massage, to help me find the muscles that aren’t triggering so that I can find and explore different forms of strength based exercises to help prevent injury for myself and others. However, my focal point for this paper is one that my students continue to ask me in my beginner/intermediate class and that’s “How do I find flow with beginner inverts”. For some this may come naturally and if I wanted for something to come more naturally I’d be writing about anatomy and muscle groups, so here I am challenging myself to explore deeper into the flow of inverts.

Where did I start? First I assessed the common pathways and behaviors that my members took upon setting up for their inverts: circular, intentional, concentrated, questioning, yet mindful. Also by watching my own combos, past workshop videos, and pole peers, professionals around the world.

What did I find? That it’s important to find a path that goes with the flow of energy, that’s level appropriate, and is based on the strength that is there in the beginning. As this strength, muscle awareness, activation, and variety of inversions grow, so does the exploration of how to enter the inverts safely. Perhaps more than one anchor point is used to assist or a controlled sweep of some sort as well.

My beginner classes often start in circular pathways from a walk, spin, transition all while tying in a trick or climb. So I began watching videos of beginner pole flow like:

Kiley Aerial Fitness

In this video I notice the circular pathways and reverse to kneeling lunge, which at that point was the lightbulb moment of “insert lunge invert here” and then the Juliet and standing lunge and “insert tuck to invert here”. None of this movement is new to me and I often teach similar combos so being able to see this and to know exactly where the inverts would go with the flow.

Side note upon researching: it’s apparent why so many members have asked this question in my level 2 class because many beginner combos on YouTube don’t involve inverts and if they do it’s either here is a basic invert or a combo that is our level 3. So I’m finding myself going through combo and flow videos seeing where I would insert an invert and making notes of what moves came before the vision of the invert and after.

Sammy Picone

beginning -33 seconds only.

I remember doing this combination as a beginner pole student and Sammy makes it look amazing. Sammy is great with musicality and taking time to extend the movements by slowing down the pace, using length by stretching up and away with their extremities. Their lines are beautiful and it makes what is considered basic to the next level. I love the leading leg sweep, extension and follow through with the body ending with the head. It brings so much variety vs squat, dip and quickly go into a back hook which I often see in class. A great spot for a waist hold would be after the back hook or standing invert after the fan kick and you could even toss in a floor shoulder mount prep in towards the end.

Where do I go from here? Well since flow also includes coming out of the invert there are options of slowing things down, tucking into the pole or tilting back when controlled. There are options of circular movement, linear lines : wavy legs or fan kicking out of it to a lunge, and movements of letting go then coming back into the pole, leading with the head, and bringing the movement down or taking it up the pole depending on the students level. At the beginning of the series I always ask members to give me the name of a “music genre, song or artist that makes you want to dance” and “if anyone, what poler do you follow that inspires you?” Also as I get to be a part of their journey it’ll be fun to see what movement pathway they prefer and as always I’ll continue to remind them that taking videos is encouraged, because using what I have learned in IRC has already changed so much in their inversions that the flow is already developing and some are yet aware of it!  

Amberlee Moreno - Case Studies

I.               Who are you working with?

Heidi: Level 2 intermediate: has been inverting for six months, developed a pulled muscle near the left scapula upon conditioning and doing inverts at home, has scoliosis of the lower spine, wingspan is the same as height.

Sandi: Level 2 Beginner: has been doing it for just a couple of weeks. Wants to get inversions down and is taking two flexibility classes a week. Has tight calves from running.

Bri: Level 2 intermediate: had an inversion two years ago and lost it during pandemic, hyperextension of the elbows, short wingspan.

Lindsey: Level 2 intermediate: has a strong chopper “most of the time”, working on OLH and flow. No pain points other than skin conditioning for tricks.

·       Include before/after photo/video of

·       T + L spinal flossing

·       Squat

·       Chin-up (or attempt)

·       Invert (whatever version they are closest to)

·       OLH (BM+ILH optional)

·       Feel free to include anything else you would like to track progress on (forward hinge, shoulder mobility etc.…)

II. What are their goals?

All: find flow in and out of inverts, become comfortable enough that the invert doesn’t take much thought and the body is conditioned to do what’s necessary to get there without injury.

III. What are your goals?

Educate them on the importance of coming in with an open mind and starting from the basics and moving up as those “basics” are accomplished. So if they already have a standing invert they will still learn the waist hold and fundamentals. Can always slow it down or give other cues to help them explore something they’ve already accomplished to see where it goes and how the pattern changes.

Conditioning and stretching: reduce risks of injury, bring awareness, awaken and strengthen dormant muscle groups. Bring a variety each week to find out what worked, what felt different and if there was anything they didn’t like or find helpful, stretch, being with waist hold inversion fundamentals and control, lunging inversion and then to standing inversions.

Practice the inversions and control of the inversions (may need props or things to help: stool, blocks, bands etc)

Find flow going into and coming out of the inversions. I will guide flow combos if I see that they are getting stuck and unable to think of where to go with cueing or feel as if they are being redundant in their movement. 

IV.What is your hypothesis/strategy?

Overall that they accomplish an inversion of some sort with correct form, that their inversions begin to feel more fluid and that their form reduces risk of injury because they are knowledgeable and capable of the correct form for their body.

Also that they will become aware of muscles that need flexibility, strengthened, that don’t automatically engage, and how important it is to use cross training methods.

Lastly that they will find flow!

V. Documentation of Implementation of strategy:

What actually happened in each session?

Session 1:

What did you do?

Spinal flossing: table top with bands and w/o to feel the difference, squats, chin ups: before videos, pole conditioning with the bands.

Waist hold with cues of a long spine, low hands, looking over the inside shoulder, working on the quietness with the contact of the outside foot and using the inside foot to descend back down slowly followed by a tuck.

Posture photos: this helps me to evaluate their standard stance and what we may need to adjust or keep in mind when creating balance for central points of the body and where we need to be in the inversions.

How did it go?

T&L spinal flossing:

It went well, spinal flossing looks good on them, I see a for sure contraction in the rounded spine and am going to work on them slowly moving through and contracting for the arch. Which we did today and they said the warm up for sure generated heat, but was also conditioning and drained some energy since they are used to this much conditioning prior to getting on the pole into inverts. They all say Sundays are harder because they often have breakfast and it’s typically a Sunday pancake or heavier carb breakfast day.

Chin ups :

Lindsey: before has great form with palms away! Palms to the face she could puff the chest to break the bar a bit more to see if another ½-1 rep is possible and to slow it down

Sandi:  before: shoulders shrug from the beginning in both pull ups. She wanted to try without the band to see if should could do them.

Heidi: before: overall looks good. Chest puff with the palms facing her and slowing it down will help assess the control as well.

Bri: before: uses an alternative grip for her hyperflexion in the elbows working on passive and active hangs vs chin up as this is pre conditioning.

I see a little energy dump at the end with them all wanting to do it without the band and going fast through the pullups. Will work on some active and passive hangs!

Squat:

Heidi before: has the most flexible hip flexors and the deepest squat.

Before: All three forms look good with flat backs, the hands are in towards the body for Lindsey and Heidi which help with balance for they aren’t as flexible and run tight in the hamstrings, hip flexors, and quads for doing this pre warm up. Next week we work on the chair warm up.

Bri: before: has a little sway in her squat and I see weight more in the toes with a slight lift of the heel.

Invert:

Lindsey: before: uses a bit of momentum rock for chopper on the left, right is solid and went right into her OLH. She could rotate towards the pole more to get into that knee pit for the OHL and allow for a smoother transition into something else.

Sandi: before:  waist hold: chin tucks and head projects forward, use a block for the back of the head, puff the chest to reduce rounding of the back and shoulders. Standing: takes a lot of thought and a rock step to sweep which is what she was doing in the in person RCT training. We will work on control and smoothing of that, bring it down to a lunge first and revisit stand with looking over the inside shoulder.

Heidi: before: hands are high, head projecting forward and shoulders are rounded. Puffing the chest and driving the elbows back in the rowing will help, sliding the hands down to lock in a solid OLH. Will start OLH from the floor.

Bri: before: Just got her chopper on Tuesday before the class. What helped? The IRC training you hosted and looking over the inside shoulder. Will work on sliding the hands down a bit sooner with chest puff to avoid rounding of the spine. Bri does have a short wingspan and we tried various grip options of the hands and she feels most secure in the stronghold.

Session 2:

What did you do?

Assessed squats using this method: which I found extremely helpful!

https://youtu.be/ubdIGnX2Hfs

chair: with squatting, bands, and wall warm up: gecko grip and shoulder mobility.

Posture wall stance assessment and activation to help reduce forward posture with the inverts.

T&L spinal flossing:

When cued to do a table top spinal floss with round and arched spine everyone does this in a relaxed form with rib flare for more of a stretch. So I had them do it a few times and then reset, with a cinched corset breathe, while slowly moving through a rounded and arched spine. Then led by a pelvic tuck and tilt and after a thoracic rounding and arching. To find any spots that may have more movement and others that may feel stiff and needed breathe to help create space or further movement.

Chin up:

They all wanted to see where they were at without a band and compare it to the first video. Then in the next class I had Bri and Lindsey slow down their chin ups with the band to assist and to help focus more on form vs speed and numbers. We focused on the chest puff and the shoulder blade gliding. I also let them know to begin the pull with the non-dominate arm and it balanced out their chin ups more as well. I will do this with Heidi and Sandi when they return as they did it without the band and both are pausing in their strongest. I see a loss of engagement upon descending so the bands will help smooth the movement and increase engagement without that loss and help train and target the areas that stop firing. We will work on inverted rows as well and face pulls to help the posterior deltoid, lats, teres minor and major kick in to gear. I see those needed most attention with this level 2 class.

Squats:

Heidi: consistent with the squat, got lower this time and controlled

Sandi: flexibility classes are paying off! Deeper squat and slow and controlled. Sandi has been coming to 4-5 classes a week (2 flex, 2 choreo, 2-3 level 2 classes which include inversions). Her progress is amazing!

Bri: has been working hard taking two flexibility classes and I see further range of controlled motion in her squat!

Lindsey: was out for two weeks due to illness. Range of motion has increased slightly in the depth of her squat and hip flexors. She feels as it gets better that her leg hangs will also improve since her hips are tight.

Invert:

Heidi: invert looks good, a bit more rotation toward the pole to lock in that outside leg hang, and then she went right into a combo of the inside leg hang (we have yet to dive into those) and pulled up to a sit. That was all her! So my next goal with Heidi is continuing to secure that OLH and then go over the difference of the invert and line of the spin for the OLH and ILH. ILH : I’ll be sure to have her go into a waisthold with her head above her hips and shoulders pulling away in more horizontal plane so the pole can contact the waist and go across the back.

Sandi: inverts are looking great, dismount: she chose the option I usually stay clear from, its not wrong, but a lot can go wrong with one false move or the release of a once contracted muscle. So plan of action is to change that up into something like a tuck or ½ fankick in slow motion out of it, then continue the movement. For her leg hang if the outside hip came a bit higher or the hands came down the pole after the chopper with her rotating the torso into the pole that outside hip has the chance to get higher, leg across and knee pit secure. She has progressed these with only guidance of finding a OLH from laying on the floor in a side lying V.

Bri: Feeling confident in her consistent choppers which have taken two years and the looking over the shoulder was a game changer. She is working on the OLH and I demonstrated the chest puff and sliding the hands down. Then from the floor had her get into the OLH by rotating towards the pole with her torso and she felt where it needed to be in order to get the outside knee pit to the pole. Will continue working on this from the floor and bring into standing inversion.

Lindsey: Chopper to OLH with right arm high is solid, chopper to OLH with left arm high: added a slight turn of the torso or looking over the inside shoulder to help that outside hip hike up a bit more (video is the before)!  We went over ILH from jasmine and a flare. She got into it great from a flare, the jasmine caused her to be in the hip too much vs the waisthold and she was unable to adjust into the waist hold due to limited range of motion, flexibility of the outside leg.

What worked?

Day 1: They got warm fast. The cue looking over the inside shoulder, having them push their head into my hand as the hips come up, low hands and long spine for the waist hold. Bands and blocks for assistance with a spot.

Day 2: Slowing down the chin ups with band assistance for Bri and Lindsey improved form. Bringing leg hangs to the floor to go over form and revisit standing inverts to leg hangs.

What didn’t?

Day 1: Heidi and Lindsey felt it warmed them up fast and their muscles got tired faster during class.

Bri felt she needed more stretch of the hamstrings and is use a stretch based warm up vs heat generating.

All pull ups demonstrated without the band to see where they were at and what they would typically do and then added the band in the next time around. I may start with the band regardless in class because I’d rather see them progress by decreasing the resistance vs start out trying to do a pull up. Also beginning with passive and active hangs which they had already done in another class so we did went straight to the pullups.

[include media documentation]

Day 2 (week 4): Their muscles and backs are fatigued by the halfway point. They have been taking invert training on Monday and Sunday with 3 + other classes a week. We discussed the importance of rest days and flex and stretch only days since the muscles that are awakening can become fatigued. ILH: this has been a difficult one as we’ve been working on it for a month. It’s accessing a comfortable and secure ILH. We discussed common injuries and how to actively leg hang vs passively. Also discussed the placement of the pole for ILH being waist hold and an open vs a closed ILH. Flexibility for this one to get the pole in the proper position and finding an entry that is attainable for each of them as well. I have on next weeks plan to warm up and include a happy baby pose with the forearms coming between the legs and through the knee pit. Then the knee pits can squeeze the elbow pit and vice versa. Followed by floor leg hangs. Then go over variations of ILH entrances: apprentice, jasmine, OLH to ILH switch or sit to ILH. This will be at some point in the next month or so seeing how their placement goes from the floor, active holds from a bridge and stretching.

VI. Results of strategy: They are all excited with the progress they have made. Each of them said they feel stronger and more fluid. They would love to see it become incorporated in their combinations. Which I have the first one as dip turn, invert, OLH. They all shared with the new level 2 member how long it has taken them to get to this point: Bri: 2 years taking two classes a week and has increased to 4 (two being stretch), Sandi: (has a yoga background) two months taking 4-5 classes per week, Lindsey: 2 years taking 3 classes per week and Heidi : 1 year taking 2-3 classes per week. They have told many other members about it and now we are getting requests for invert specific classes and coaching!

VII. Concluding findings: Explain what this case study has taught you and how it can help other people.

That there is a lot of cross training off of the pole that’s necessary for it to work on the pole and awareness of where your body, strength and flexibility is at vs where it needs to be. That all bodies are capable of some type of inversion if the individual is willing to put in the time and effort.

I really like that this certification gave me so much to work with in my classes. I have an endless library of warm ups, strength training, peer videos from group meetings that I can reflect on. Plus having students go through a day training in the studio was so much fun! I have ideas on how to bring inversions into combinations in class since there are many types and placement options. I feel like it gave me the stepping stone for my new polers and modifications for my experienced polers. I have found great progress in my own inversions. I also have become hyperaware of form and am really encouraging all of our instructors to take the course or have those who took it teach the inversions because the risk and history of injury is so high otherwise.

I feel like there could for sure be levels of this: beginner inversions like we just did to an intermediate and advanced version that we didn’t really dive into. Inversion flow for beginners as there is a lot out there for more intermediate and advanced polers. So this is something I am working on with my class and letting them know that they don’t have to rush into the next level after accomplishing an invert, the fluidity of the movement will also compliment with they will be doing in the upper levels as well.

VIII. Reflection Questions: Did you invest yourself in this process? What are you proud of in this process?

I did invest myself in this process. This is an extremely important skill to learn as every instructor in our studio has had an injury of some sort and many were due from inverts. I wanted to reduce that risk of injury with our members and give them the tools to do so. I wanted this for myself as having a toddler I’ve had to learn new things about my postpartum body: in some ways I’m more flexible, where I’ve lost and gained strength, what works for my body and what doesn’t and what I need to do to have my desired, strong invert. I think having a course geared towards this milestone has helped me to realize what all is necessary to make inverts successful and the amount of time it takes to be successful varies with each individual.

I am proud that I watched all of the videos and got through it with just taking one week off ( I had a burnout week where my mind and body needed rest ). I am proud that I got my chopper back and OLH. I am so excited to bring these skills into my classes and a beginner invert specific class. I can’t believe how much is accessible after accomplishing those two inversions! Also I feel so much more confident teaching these as an instructor!

Amberlee Moreno - Self-Assessment

Before / After Invert, OLH, ILH and chin up

How did it look feel/function before?

Invert before: I needed a bit of momentum, my hands are slightly high and can slide down once the hips go up to help open the chest, perhaps looking towards the inside shoulder, I’m so focused on the invert that I didn’t think to flow in or much out of it until the second side (coming out I did a bit). This was an early afternoon.

Chin up before: palms away: right side activates before left and slight shoulder shrug up. Palms to the face: equal engagement, I was focusing a lot on keeping the whole body engaged and as little sway as possible. It was harder which is surprising since palms to the face are typically easier. This was an early afternoon

OLH and ILH from the floor: ILH : need to increase flexibility and strength of the heel to booty and squeezing the pole activation. OLH: felt doable from the floor.

How does it look/feel/function now?

Invert: It has come a long way from waist hold, standing invert to finding my inversion combos. There are still moments that I feel I could bend the bar just a bit more and drive the elbows down or puff the chest slightly. I tend to take my videos at the end of my classes post teaching for 3 hours so I’m interested to see the difference of going in fresh and taking some freestyle vidoes and compare!

Chin up: activation is more balanced, shoulders are further from the ears, chest puff is improving and passive/active hangs longer. I did it without the band but practice my multiple, controlled ones with the yellow band as I’ve graduated three band resistances from most to least supportive! Yay!

The OLH is going well and working on the foundations of the ILH because I still don’t feel that I have found an entry that works for me just yet so that is a work in progress. It’s difficult to keep the leg in a more closed position with my tilted pelvis and internally rotated hips while being on the waist hold and wanting it to go more side and down the back when my hips don’t open and the stopping point being a more bone on bone. Like in a butterfly sit I am the person with high knees because they don’t lie flat. Even in a laying down, floor ILH its painful on my joint. So it’s something to explore without creating injury.

Overall they all feel like a world of difference. I’ve gained a lot of awareness, curiosity and interest in my own body. I know where my strength and flexibility is at and where I need to work and improve it. I feel like as an instructor I am more confident and knowledgeable in making adjustments and training my pole peers / members on how to accomplish safe inversions.

What changed?

My posture, strength, flexibility, confidence, knowledge, and my INVERSIONS! After so many years of being injured (rib, hip flexor, and low back pain from inversions) and being told the “textbook” way on how to invert and then coming into this and having so many options and variations has brought a new spark of joy into pole. I honestly didn’t know if I’d be able to invert after having my toddler, my body has changed so much from the inside out and I’ve had to work around internal things (my grapefruit sized fibroma and rebuilding a strong pelvic floor). I think having this start basic was fantastic since the foundations are so important! I totally would take this again, inversion flows, and would be curious if I’d be able to take an even more focused training in other beginner-intermediate inverts because I’m sure they have progressed throughout the years and new knowledge of how to prep and execute them properly for myself and others. I love learning all the new things, even if my body says no, my mind says “give me all of the information because I’m sure I can find a way to bring that closer to the floor.”

Marcy Kerr-Lemus - Report

Self-Directed Study, Requirement #2

By: Marcy Kerr-Lemus

There are four joints that comprise the shoulder. The joints are listed below starting from the medial and anterior part of the body and working outward through the shoulder.

Sternoclavicular

The sternoclavicular joint connects the medial end of the clavicle with the sternum. It connects the humerus and scapula to the torso. The movements of the SC joint include elevation. depression, protraction, retraction, and rotation. This joint does not touch the scapula but is guided by the movements of the scapula. (Varacallo, 2021)

To understand these movements, hold a pencil along your clavicle, with the eraser at your sternum and the tip at your shoulder.

Elevation

The eraser moves down towards your belly button and the tip moves up towards your ear.

Depression

The eraser moves up towards your nose and the tip moves down your hip.

Protraction

The whole pencil moves forward off your body slightly.

Retraction

The whole pencil pushes into your body.

Rotation

The pencil spins in place.

Acromioclavicular

The acromioclavicular joint connects the lateral end of the clavicle to the acromion process of the scapula. The movements of the AC joint include upward and downward tilting, posterior and anterior tilting, and internal and external rotation of the scapula. (Acriomioclavicular Joint, n.d.)

To learn these movements. Imagine you have big football shoulder pads on.

Upward rotation

The pad lifts up coming closer to your ear.

Downward rotation

The pad starts to slide off the end of your shoulder.

Internal rotation

The front side of the pad comes closer to your chin.

External rotation

The back side of the pad comes closer to your spine.

Anterior tilt

The front part of the pad starts to fall over your chest.

Posterior tilt

The back part of the pad starts to fall over your back.

Glenohumeral

The glenohumeral joint connects head of the humerus to the glenoid fossa of the scapula. In simple terms, it connects your arm bone to your shoulder blade. It has seven movements including extension, flexion, abduction, adduction, internal rotation, external rotation, and circumduction.  (Glenohumeral Joint, n.d.)

Let’s learn the movements with some yummy ice cream! Make a fist with your right hand and imagine it is a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Hold your left hand open with the palm facing your of ice cream. We have 5 areas of the cone: top, front, back, inside, and outside. We are going to add toppings to your ice cream cone to learn the movements of the humeral head. (Kopelovich, n.d.)

Flexion

Spins posterior

Let’s put chocolate sauce on the inside of the ice cream cone. Take your ice cream come and put it directly into the palm of your left hand and spin it towards your L thumb to coat it in chocolate sauce.

Extension

Spins anterior

Now add a second layer of chocolate by spinning towards your L pinky.

Abduction

Rolls superior, glides inferior

Now, we want to put chocolate sauce on the top of the ice cream cone. Turn the top of the cone into your fingers on the L palm, and then push the cone down to the base of your palm.

Adduction

Rolls inferior, glides superior

We have too much sauce now! Remove the top of the ice cream cone and push the cone up the palm to remove the excess.

Internal rotation

Rolls anterior, glides posterior

Let’s add some sauce to the back of the cone. Rotate pinky to pinky and then push the cone towards the L thumb.

External rotation

Rolls posterior, glides anterior

Let’s add sauce to the front of the cone. Rotate thumb to thumb and then push the ice cream come back towards the L pinky.

Scapulothoracic

Finally, the fourth joint is the scapulothoracic joint. This is the articulation between the anterior side of the scapula and the thorax. It has ten movements including elevation, depression, protraction, retraction, upward and downward rotation, internal and external rotation, and anterior and posterior tilting. (Physio-pedia, n.d.)

To learn these motions, pretend you have butterfly wings on your back.

Elevation

Lift your wings just slightly so the crest of the wing shows above your shoulders.

Depression

Attempt to hide the wings so none of it shows above your shoulders.

Protraction

Wrap your wings around you as if you were a bat going to sleep.

Retraction

Open your wings as if they were a coat you needed to take off.

Upward rotation

Normally, the bottom point of the wing is pointing directly to your toes. Lift your wings to the side until that tip points the floorboard in your room, where the floor meets the wall.

Downward rotation

Now rotate that wing tip to point to the back of your shoes again.

Internal rotation

Take your wings off your body and stack them perpendicular to your body so the outside of the wing connects to your back.

External rotation

Take your wings off your body and stack them perpendicular to your body so the inside of the wing connects to your back.

Anterior tilting

Press the top of the wing into your upper back and lift the bottom of the wing off your body.

Posterior tilting

Press the bottom of the wing into your lower body and try to lift the top of the wing off your back.

These joints work together to create all the movements we love on the pole. When one joint moves, it automatically makes a shift at another joint. We move in many ways on the pole, but let’s look at four: vertical pulling, vertical pushing, horizontal pulling, and horizontal pushing.

Using the imagery from above combined with an isometric wall hold, we can see what each joint should be doing.

Action:

Sternoclavicular joint: pencil

Acromioclavicular joint: shoulder pad

Glenohumeral joint: ice cream cone

Scapulothoracic joint: wings

Horizontal pulling: sit in front of a doorway. Place your palm around the frame, in a thumb up position at shoulder height. Try to pull the frame to your body, without flexing the elbow.

The pencil moves closer to your body, as if it were going to connect with your upper ribs.

The back of the shoulder pad moves toward your spine and starts to slide off towards your back.

Put sauce on the front of the cone.

Hide the wings behind you, below your shoulders, and tip into your upper back.

Horizontal pushing: sit in front of a wall. Place your palm flat on the wall in a fingers up position and try to push the wall away from you.

The pencil moves off of the body, away from the ribs, like it was going to pop through your skin.

The front of the shoulder pad moves toward your nose and starts to slide off towards your chest.

Put chocolate sauce on the back of the cone.

The wings are wrapping around your side like a bat curling up, lifting high above your shoulders, and tipping down towards your legs.

Vertical pulling: lay on your back in front of a doorframe. Raise one arm to wrap your hand around the frame with thumb pointing into the ground.

Eraser at the sternum is lifting towards your chin while the tip at the shoulder is coming down towards your belly.

The pad slides towards the edge of your shoulder.

Take sauce off the top of the con.

The bottom of the wings are coming towards each other and dropping below the shoulders.

Vertical pushing:

Eraser at the sternum is moving towards your belly while the tip at the shoulder is moving closer to your ear.

The pad lifts towards your ear.

Push sauce on the top of the cone.

The top of the wings are coming towards each other, and becoming visible above the shoulders.

Bibliography

Acriomioclavicular Joint. (n.d.). Retrieved from Physio-pedia: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Acromioclavicular_Joint

Glenohumeral Joint. (n.d.). Retrieved from Physio-pedia: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Glenohumeral_Joint?utm_source=physiopedia&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=ongoing_internal

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Glenohumeral_Joint?utm_source=physiopedia&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=ongoing_internal. (n.d.). Retrieved from Physio-pedia: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Glenohumeral_Joint?utm_source=physiopedia&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=ongoing_internal

Kopelovich, A. (n.d.). Shoulder Kinesiology: Glenohumeral Joint. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ozqdbAp-E

Physio-pedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from Scapulothoracic Joint: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Scapulothoracic_Joint

Varacallo, T. N. (2021, July 26). Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Sternoclavicular Joint. Retrieved from National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537258/

Marcy Kerr-Lemus - Case Studies

Lydia, age 35, female

Lydia has participated in horse riding since age 8, and still does as an adult. She has enjoyed hiking and running as an adult. She has trained for a half marathon before, achieving 10 miles in training before incurring an injury. She sporadically attended a gym and would lift on her own. She did not have guidance in a class form or with a trainer.

She started pole in January 2021 with 1-2 pole classes a week and an additional fitness class like stretch or yoga. Her membership was 8 classes/month. In June 2021, she upgraded to the unlimited membership and added a weekly strength class in addition to her usual classes. In 2022, she is averaging 4 classes a week between pole, strength, and flexibility training. She has not had any significant time away from the studio since starting.

She first reached out in June of 2021 with concerns about her inverts feeling difficult and feeling like she wasn’t keeping up with her classmates. We talked about strength, inverts being a very difficult skill that takes a long time and scheduled a time to review her invert in a private session. This is also when she increased her membership and added strength training to her regimen.

There are two items important to note. First, many of her classmates achieved an easy invert quickly and were not the norm. I didn’t want to move Lydia to a different level because she was strongest in her class in every other skill: climbing, spins, poses, and is excellent at casting. She continued to work her invert, but she utilized a cast and descent into inversions more often than an invert. While I think this was the best class for her, I know mentally it was tough to feel as though she had the weakest invert.

Second, Lydia is 6 feet tall. She truly has extremely long levers which typically make pullups, and many exercises, more difficult. Her length does help her on the pole with many things, but it is not an advantage in specific lifting skills. I think her height coupled with lack of any physical activity that required use of the upper body as a youth makes inverting especially difficult for her.

Lydia’s Goals

Lydia’s goals are very simple. She wants to invert from the ground without jumping or kicking into the invert, and to be able to aerial invert.

My Goals for Lydia

My initial goal for Lydia is to improve her confidence. I often see her second guess herself when inverting and stop herself halfway through it. It’s not that she has a perfect invert inside that she is missing out on, but I do think she has a stronger invert than what she is showcasing now.

My second goal for Lydia is to improve her upper body strength. I have seen her progress greatly in the 1.5 years together, but she needs even more specific, individualized training.

My third goal is to provide her cues and isometric training exercises that allow her to connect better with her body. She often says “I don’t know how to do that” when we talk about using certain muscles or exerting a specific force on the pole.

I want to bring her body awareness and movement understanding to a point where she feels like she knows what actions she needs to do and that she can assess her inverts better herself.

Strategy

Lydia is primarily lacking in upper body strength. She has attended my strength classes for over a year, but she needs even more focused exercises. She is a dedicated student, and I know she will do her homework. My main strategy for her is weightlifting twice every 7-10 days in addition to her usual 2 days on the pole/week.

Implementation

I created a workout plan for her with two different workout routines. She is to complete the 2 workouts every 7-10 days.  We first met July 19th, 2022 to review her lifting exercises. She either completes them at home or in the studio, depending on her availability. She is a vet for large breed animals, mostly horses, and is often on call so at home training is sometimes easier for her than making group classes. During this session, we also recorded her “before” videos.

Workout 1

1.     Pullups 3 x up to 10

2.     RDL’s x12, 10, 8

3.     Angled external rotations 3 x15e

4.     TRX inverted rows x12, 10, 8

5.     Supine hips up 3x10

Workout 2

1.     Negative pullups 3 x up to 5

2.     Squats x12 (no weight)

3.     Bent over t’s 3 x 12-15

4.     Single arm dumbbell rows 3 x 12e

5.     TRX pikeups 3x 10

We met for a second time on July 29th to work on pole activities. We tried a waist hold invert, which was brand new to her. I thought holding her chopper from the waist hold would increase her confidence to know that she is strong enough to hold that position once up, which it did. We also discussed how the negative pullup she is training is a very similar motion as inverting.

We did different drills such as driving the elbows and shoulders into a wall behind her, physically trying to break a wooden rod into 2 pieces, practicing exhaling when doing tucks on the pole, and exploring the push away mechanism of the hands when inverting. We also worked on descending into a chopper and bringing knees together to hook into an outside leg.

Additionally, we inverted with me giving her a small spot behind her outside hamstring so that she could complete the invert while focusing on her shoulders and back the whole time. Recording this and reviewing it together did help her confidence. She can see that I am not assisting her that much, and she started to realize how well she was doing on her own.

I do find, consistently with students, that the waist hold invert goes well and they feel very encouraged by their chopper strength. We then transition to trying an invert from a traditional position and they feel discouraged because it’s still incredibly hard to get the hips up to that chopper position. I think it mainly comes down to strength for most students. This is something I am working through, to coach them through this part that feels really discouraging.

I see Lydia at least once weekly. I remind her every class of her cues and drills and encourage her to focus on them with every invert. She often wants to resort to using more momentum to achieve an invert that looks closer to her desired goal. I encourage her to use less momentum and let the invert happen as it does, but with the attempt at correct form and muscle use.

We met for a third individual session on September 10th, roughly 7.5 weeks after our first meeting. She had completed her exercise workouts 5 times each. She did have about 10 days off in the middle of this for a funeral and illness. We recorded her after videos and tried multiple inverts together. We would focus on one aspect, like exhaling at the start, record each side and assess the video together. We would then layer on another aspect like pulling the pole apart, pushing the pole away, pulling through the whole invert, and pulling hips and hands together in the chopper, and then assess the video between each one.

Of course there were times when she would forget previous steps as we added a new layer. We would then go back a step, focus on that cue, and then try adding the next cue.

We have another session scheduled for the end of October to check her progress with side-by-side videos again.

Results

Lydia improved so much! Easily noticeable improvements are her increased height in her chinup and her back strength and form in her squat. Her unassisted chinup attempt improved roughly 20 degrees in flexion, bringing her shoulders about parallel to her elbows. Her first recorded attempt from July showed her shoulders still significantly below her elbows. Lydia also had trouble keepings her heels down in a squat, keeping her chest up, and keeping her knees from jutting out over her toes. Her knees are right at the tip of her toes, her heels are flat on the ground, and her low back isn’t collapsing as much. She is compensating a bit with her upper back to make her chest stay up, but there is still a noticeable improvement in her low back strength.

She is kicking less into her invert, her arms aren’t extending as quickly, and her hips are getting higher and staying higher. Previously, she would rock into her invert with a kick taking her legs and hips very far away from the pole. Her arms would extend very rapidly before her hips were able to lift, and her butt would drop back down quickly after reaching max height. Now, her legs are staying closer to her body, her arms are extending with more control which is allowing her hips to lift higher and still have support. While her hips are not achieving the desired height yet, they are able to stay in position instead of dropping immediately. Her leg hangs have always been very strong so that is the same.

I included an additional invert from our September session that we did after recording her official invert attempt. She continued to make improvements in that session, particularly in pushing the pole away as she inverts. We also practiced using the foot on the pole to lift her hips the last bit and then holding a chopper position. She was able to fix a lot of her back rounding here and is only teetering a bit with the balance.

Here are Lydia’s words about our time together:

“I've been really pleased with how our sessions have gone and am very grateful for the additional help and guidance. I'm gaining a better understanding of how to properly position myself and use muscle groups to perform a quality invert, and the tailored workouts have helped me in gaining strength in those necessary areas.”

Concluding Findings & Reflection

When Lydia first reached out in 2021 about her inverts, I attempted to comfort her. I told her I wasn’t worried, it would come in time, and that it’s a process. I didn’t want her to stress about an invert because she had so many other great skills to focus on. I wanted her to somehow have the same acceptance of pole failure as a 12 year pole veteran (me) even though she was just 6 months in.

Lydia was ready for individual attention a year ago, and I didn’t recognize that. It’s true that over time, her invert would eventually come to fruition. She was and is ready to do the extra work to make it happen sooner though, but I wanted her to let it happen naturally. I think I steer away from assigning people extra homework because so many people have trouble with just pole class attendance. I anticipate the adherence rate to be low. Going forward, it would be better for me to give them the extra tasks. They might not stick with it, but I should put that responsibility on them instead of trying to shield them.

Rachael, age 30, female

Rachael began attending 1 weekly pole class at Chrome in January 2017. In January 2018, she incorporated additional weekly pole practices and strength training. She has continued this since. Any physical activities she did were prior to middle school with short bouts in ballet, swimming, and basketball. She had no structured physical activity or exercise until beginning pole in her mid 20’s.

Rachael spent about 2018-2019 focusing on her pole strength mostly independently in our open practice times.  As her skills improved in practice, I would layer on a new skill like casting and leg hooks. After just over a year of diligent practice and strength training, she had the strength and skills to resume progressive classes. Most importantly though, I had a small group of students with similar abilities. I created a special class just for this group, and I was able to cater routines to their needs. She is still with this core group today.

Rachael’s Goals

Rachael wants a clean invert without having to shuffle up the pole to hook a leg primarily. Her secondary goal is to deadlift an invert. She also wants to increase her upper body pulling strength to assist her in spin pole holds, control on spin pole, and being able to manage a fast spin speed.

My Goals for Rachael

My primary goal for Rachael is to stop rocking and kicking so much into her invert. She is using more momentum than she needs.

Strategy

My plan for Rachael is to guide her invert with better cues so that she can reduce her kick. We will also practice a waist hold invert to help her condition her chopper holds. She will also receive a specific workout set to help her improve her upper body strength.

Implementation

We first met on August 5th. We recorded her initial videos, practiced a waist hold invert, and added cues for her traditional invert. We practiced driving elbows and shoulders back into a wall, exhaling upon initiating movement, and pushing the pole away from the head as she leans back. I asked her to work on lifting the outside leg without swinging it from behind first. Because she very regularly attends at least 1 lifting class per week, I didn’t assign specific exercises at this time. I asked her to continue practicing the waist hold invert and chopper and inverting using all the cues in her classes.

We met again on September 9th, and recorded her “after” videos. She said she felt confused about how to lead with the outside leg. I think there was confusion if that meant legs did not go up in unison anymore. We sorted that out and were successful in inverts. We practiced a waist hold invert and chopper hold again. We reviewed all of our cues. After seeing her invert, I asked her to try lifting without any swing at all. She was successful! This is the first time she has ever been able to do this. We then discussed her specific conditioning exercises, reviewed them, tried her first set of 5 negative pullups, and laid out her lifting plan. We scheduled to meet in the first week of November to assess her strength gains and review her inverts again. She is to perform these two workouts every 7-10 days.

Workout 1 (studio)

1.     Pullups 3 x up to 10

2.     RDL’s x12, 10, 8

3.     TRX inverted rows x12, 10, 8

4.     TRX pikeups

5.     Squats 3 x 12

Workout 2 (home)

1.     Negative pullups 3 x up to 5

2.     Bent over t’s 3 x 12-15

3.     Angled external rotations 3 x 15e

4.     Supermans w/ 2-3 count hold at top, 3 x10

5.     Supine hips up 3 x 10

Results

We had great success! For the first time ever, Rachael lifted into an invert. Her years of pole and strength training provided her enough strength to invert. With the right activation, intention, and cueing she was able to invert without momentum. Her arms do extend quickly on her nondominant side, but this is to be expected with the weaker side. She has the confidence now to start without the swing, and bring her legs behind the pole towards a chopper position instead of stopping right at the pole once her leg aligns with it.

Rachael’s feedback about our time together is:

“So far I've been very happy with my progress and I'm feeling more confident about my invert as well. The new way of thinking about my arms on the pole as I invert has been especially helpful to me as my hand/arm/back strength is something I feel I've struggled with the most during my time poling.”

Concluding Findings

While Rachael still needs increased strength to fully meet her goals, she had more potential at this strength level that we were not accessing. When watching her before and after videos in slow motion, I can see that the second half of the invert looks similar. The first half of the invert is where we improved the most. She is able to lift her hips higher with her arms in a stronger bent position and with more control of the arm extension. The focus going forward will be on the second half of the invert.

Reflection

I have never given up on Rachael, and she has always trusted me. I think there are a lot of people that would say a plus size dancer will never be able to do a typical invert. The strength can be achieved. It will take a long time, but it is possible. With the right coaching, we can make inverts accessible. I am planning to revise our current curriculum to add waist hold inverts and spend more time in classes on technique in inverts without adding a pose after the invert. Hopefully this will give students more opportunity to focus on the invert without worrying about completing a second task.

Marcy Kerr-Lemus - Self-Assessment

Inverts & Leg Hangs

I started pole in February 2011, and learned inverts and leg hangs that year. I also started teaching that year and teaching these moves. I don’t have videos from that long ago, but I remember inverting fairly easily.  I also didn’t receive a lot of instruction at that time, and mostly figured skills out independently. I would lift into inverts or sometimes swing a leg. There wasn’t much thought about the process at that time. I do remember a time when aerial inverts weren’t reliable, and it would be questionable if I could do them at the end of a routine or end of a training session.

Sometime after opening my studio in May 2014, inverts became a reliable skill at all times. I figured out intricacies of the hips rotating to make legs clean when spinning forward or backward, and utilizing tabletop inverts for inside leg hangs. The oldest invert video I can find is from 2014. I could lift into an invert, hold a straddle, and hook cleanly to an outside leg hang.

My inverts and leg hangs were reliable and strong coming into this IRC program. Even though I was able to lift my hips high, hold a straddle, and cleanly hook, I can tell now that my back is rounded, not excessively but still some, and my shoulders are not pulling enough. I had the strength to make it through even if all the parts were not working 100% correctly. I also tended to look up with my head.

Since being in this program, I can tell a big difference in my back and chest positioning. My back looks straighter from hips to shoulders, even a bit arched. It is probably not something noticeable to most people watching me, but internally I feel so powerful when inverting. While I can’t claim drastic changes, I do think the set of cues and actions I have now will allow me to pole safely for as long as I want to. The tiny bits of missing form could have eventually led to an injury, especially with how many reps I do every day, every week.  My favorite cue now is to think about pushing the pole away from my head trying to bring it closer to my hips and away from my ribs.

My leg hangs are the same. I think I was naturally rotating the hips, but now I understand what is happening and am able to verbalize these actions.

Most importantly though, I feel that I have a set of cues and actions to actively think about when inverting myself and to use with my students. “Tuck and roll” was all I really thought about when inverting before, and that was fine for myself or other dancers with a good baseline of strength. It’s not enough for dancers teetering on the edge of enough strength, and especially not enough for those lacking strength. I enrolled in this program for that reason. I enrolled in this program to learn more ways to help my studenrs and staff. I feel I can do that now.

Pullups/Chinups

I have been training pullups/chin-ups since 2008 when I entered college. When I started pole in 2011, I could do 3. I remember this specifically because I thought climbing would be a lot easier because of the strength I had. For the last few years, I have trained pullups once a week very consistently. I do 3-4 sets of 10ish with a set each of underhand, overhand, and wide overhand.  In 2022, I added a 4th set of neutral grip. 10 was usually the max I would achieve in an underhand, overhand, or neutral grip on the 1st set. Every so often I would get 11 reps. Max was 6 reps on a wide grip pullup.

I recently heard the term “nipples first” in reference to pullup form and that perfectly describes my previous form. I would definitely lead chest to bar in an arched back form and straighten at the top. I would also drop into my shoulders at the bottom of the movement.

Since working in the IRC program, I have focused on keeping ribs closed, exhaling at the start, breaking the bar, externally rotating through the shoulder, and minimizing sway in my body to move in a straighter pattern. Happily, I can report that my PR is now 13 reps in an underhand grip, 12 reps in overhand and neutral, and 8 in wide grip. Naturally, whatever grip I use in my first set has the highest reps. However, I am still achieving really high reps in the remaining sets of various grips just 1-2 shy max in that specific grip.

I attribute this recent gain to correcting my form. When I first started focusing on strict pullups, my rep numbers of course went down closer to 8, but throughout 2022, I have surpassed my former PR’s. I even trained weighted pullups for a period in 2020 and 2021, and still did not see the gains that I have with just correcting my form.

I also want to thank you for continually talking about strength training and pointing out that the strength must be there for an invert. There is no magic that will make someone invert if the baseline strength is not there. With strength and cues, it is possible. I have offered strength classes since opening Chrome in 2014 and have always known that is truly what is behind an invert. I feel validated in my beliefs and feel confident discussing this with students now. I always felt a bit as an “outsider” in the pole world because lifting felt taboo for a long time, and almost like it was insulting to suggest this to a student. I felt a bit intimidated trying to broach this subject before. With the support of Marlo though, I feel ready to work with anyone!