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.