Tutorials: Upright & Horizontal Poses
**To reduce the risk of injury, make sure you have warmed up prior to participating in any physical activity. Always check that your pole is secure and properly installed, listen to your body,
and use your best judgment. Participate at your own risk.**
Key Points & Tips:
- NEVER hang in/on the shoulders
- Always engage the shoulders--keep them rolled back and down, lift the chest, and keep the shoulders away from the ears
- Imagine you are "sliding your shoulder blades into your back pockets" or you are "driving the pole into the floor" or even that you "have big earrings on" and you pulling your shoulders down to "show them off"
- Always work the up and the down, never jumping on or off the pole. Stay strong and engaged from beginning to end.
- When transferring, always know your points of contact (POC)--what is holding you in place?
Progression: upright poses >> horizontal poses >> inverted poses
Master moves with the most contact before progressing to moves with less contact. Always practice moves from the floor/ground before moving off the floor and then aerial. When combining moves, make sure you are strong and comfortable with the moves by themselves prior to attempting them together. And, always know your exit options.
This video covers all of the pole sit variations and options--tucked, single leg, crossed leg, pike--and includes progressions with no hands.
The basic pole stand/pole T pose is a foundational move of pole. You can work on this move from the ground and then progress up the pole. Mastering this move is also key for later being able to master your basic inverted T/basic invert.
In this instructional video, we'll start on the floor and go through flexibility drills, move technique, and safe entry and exit options for both the ballerina and twisted ballerina pose variations, then we'll progress the poses off the ground.
This is the instructional video for the arrow and advanced plank pose. You should be strong and comfortable with your pike sit and upright superman/woman prior to working on these pose options.
This is the instructional video for the basic pole plank & upright superman/woman pose. You should be strong and comfortable with your pike sit prior to attempting these pose variations.
This is the instructional video for the front hook/figurehead pose and variations. You should be strong and comfortable with your side climb and the SH grip.
In this instructional video, we'll go through key strength drills, skill sets, red flags, and progressions for the thigh rest pose, 2-handed jasmine, 1-hand jasmine, and even progress into a semi-inverted variation. You should already be strong and comfortable with your side climb.
In this side knee hold instructional video, we'll look at the prep work needed to master this move including some drills from the ground, standing, and of then off course off the ground. You should be strong and comfortable with your side climb and thigh rest/jasmine pose before working on this off the ground.
In this instructional video, I'll show you why you don't want to "wrist" sit and we'll go through the specific POC and positioning needed to master this pose and even do it one-handed.
This superman instructional video will hopefully have you feeling like superwoman! I'm going to share flexibility tips for your shoulders and back as well as pose progressions from the floor, standing, and then finally off the ground. You should be strong and comfortable with your thigh rest/jasmine pose prior to working on this pose.
This instructional video will show you how to safely get in and out of the russian twist upright pose, as well as some options and variations. You should already be strong and comfortable with your side climb and side sit pose.
This instructional video includes tips, drills, and progressions for the superman pose. We will start on the floor and then progress onto the pole.
This instructional video gives you 2-hands, 1-hand, and no hand progressions for the arch back pose. You should already be strong and comfortable with your pole stand.
This instructional video covers front and back armpit holds and variations. We'll go over the progressions and options from the ground and then look at them off the ground, as well as discuss safe entry and exit tips. This video includes front armpit variations--tuck and straddle (aka teddy) and back armpit variations--straight leg(s) and arch/fang (aka rocketman and yogini).
This is the instructional video for the apprentice move.
In this video, we'll go over the forearm (FA) and elbow brace (EB) upright holds and leg variations. These are "off the pole" poses (no leg contact) so you should be strong enough to support your weight in off the ground in these poses.
In this flag hold instructional video, I'll go through the strength drills, progressions, and variations of this pose. We'll look at it from standing and then work our way up the pole.
In this machine gun instructional video, we'll go over the tips and tricks to safely get in and out of this move and work it from standing and then off the floor.
In this titanic instructional video, we'll walk through the pose from the floor and then from off the ground and I'll share my tips to help you lock this one in place. You should be strong and comfortable with your superman pose prior to working on this pose.
This is the instructional video for the upright jade pose. You will learn how to safely get in and out of the pose as well as some progressions and variations to work through. Plus, I'll go over my tips for flattening your split (even if you don't have a flat split)!
In this instructional video, we'll start on the floor and go through the flexibility progressions for the back and shoulder that will help you get into this pose. Then, we'll look at the pose from standing and finally getting into from off the ground. You should be strong and comfortable with your superman pose before attempting the crescent pose.
Resources & Bonuses
