Alesia Vazmitsel ~ World Pole Sport & Fitness Champion 2011
Think F.I.T. - So why has Pole fitness become so popular as the new form of exercise in gyms world wide? It's easy, the techniques incorporate all the elements and components of fitness - identified by Kay Penney, founder of Pole Passion, in 2001 when she first embarked on pole exercise and begun to write her extensive instructor training programme . With her comprehensive fitness experience and knowledge she begun her quest to make it available to all, safely and effectively.
So how does Pole Fitness work?? To make physical improvements in your body, you need to work your body and muscles harder than usual. This is referred to as the overload principle. As your body becomes more conditioned, you need to increase the frequency, intensity, or time of your workouts in order to continue improving your pole fitness level.
Frequency: How often you exercise on the pole . For beginners, consider starting with 2-3, 45 minutes to 1 hr sessions per week.
Intensity: How hard you exercise. For example, the pace you walk or spin around the pole, the amount of weight you lift (you can always add leg weights or wrist weights to increase this increasing your heart rate too.
Time: How long you perform an activity. "Time" can also refer to the number of sets or repetitions you perform in your sequences and training and the length of your performance and routine Start off with 1 minute routines then progess in 30 seconds at a time until you reach competition and world class standard of 6 minutes.
Exercise Component 1: Aerobic Exercise in general
Aerobic exercise increases the health and function of your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. For maximum effectiveness, aerobic exercise needs to be rhythmic, continuous and involve the large muscle groups (primarily located in the lower part of your body.) Pole fitness incorporates this component such as walking, jogging, cycling, aerobic dance, and stair climbing, all being excellent examples of activities that use large muscle groups. Activities combining upper and lower body movements such as Pole fitness and cross-country skiing, rowing, and swimming can lead to even higher levels of aerobic capacity.
Exercise Component 2: Strength Training in general
Strength training is the process of exercising with progressively heavier resistance to build or retain muscle. Unless you perform regular strength exercise, you will lose up to one-half pound of muscle every year of life after age 25. Muscle is a very active tissue with high energy requirements, even when you are asleep, your muscles are responsible for over 25% of your calorie use. An increase in muscle tissue causes a corresponding increase in the number of calories your body will burn, even at rest. So by building the pole dancing muscles will help increase your metabolism.
Exercise Component 3: Flexibility in general
Flexibility is a critical element of an exercise program but it is often overlooked. Stretching is important for a number of reasons; increases physical performance, decreases risk of injury, increases blood supply and nutrients to the joints, increases neuromuscular coordination, reduces soreness, improves balance, decreases risk of low back pain, and reduces stress in muscles and gives you more variety on the pole and during floor work.
Strength Training basics
We’d like to fill in the gap by giving you the foundation of any safe and effective strength training routine. You’ll learn the names of the major muscle groups and the exercises that target them, the difference between sets and reps, the elements of proper form, and the basics of frequency and progression.
The Major Muscle Groups during Pole Exercise
When selecting exercises for your strength routine, it’s important to choose at least one exercise for each major muscle group. This prevents muscle imbalances that can lead to injury. Let’s take a look at the major muscle groups and a few of the exercises that target them:
• Gluteals – This group of muscles (often referred to as ‘glutes’) includes the gluteus maximus, which is the big muscle covering your bottom. Common exercises are the squat and the leg press machine. The glutes also come into play during lunges, tall box step ups, and plyometric jumps. POLE – Body swerve, high leg hook.
• Quadriceps – This group of muscles makes up the front of the thigh. Exercises include squats, lunges, leg extension machine, and leg press machine. POLE – pole glide, double and single leg descend, pole back, back hook spin
• Hamstrings – These muscles make up the back of the thigh. Exercises include squats, lunges, leg press machine, and leg curl machine POLE – double and single leg decend, donkey kick
• Hip abductors and adductors – These are the muscles of the inner and outer thigh. The abductors are on the outside and move the leg away from the body. The adductors are on the inside and pull the leg across the centerline of the body. These muscles can be worked with a variety of side-lying leg lifts, standing cable pulls, and multi-hip machines. POLE - Back hook spin knees apart
• Calf – The calf muscles are on the back or the lower leg. They include the gastrocnemius and the soleus. The gastrocnemius is what gives the calf its strong rounded shape. The soleus is a flat muscle running under the gastrocnemius. Standing calf raises give the gastrocnemius a good workout, while seated or bent knee calf raises place special emphasis on the soleus. These small muscles can handle a relatively large amount of weight. POLE – standing on tip toes, pogo pole jumps
• Low back – The erector spinae muscles extend the back and aid in good posture. Exercises include the back extension machine and prone back extension exercises. These muscles also come into play during the squat and dead lift. POLE - good posture, pole desend and assend
• Abdominals – These muscles include the rectus abdominus, a large flat muscle running the length of the abdomen, and the external obliques, which run down the sides and front of the abdomen. Exercises such as standard crunches and curls target the rectus abdominus. Reverse curls and crunches (where the hips are lifted instead of the head and shoulders) target the lower portion of this muscle. Crunches involving a rotation or twist work the external obliques. POLE – high leg kick, spinning scissors
• Pectoralis major – Large fan shaped muscle that covers the front of the upper chest. Exercises include push-ups, pull-ups, regular and incline bench press, and the pec deck machine. POLE floor work, floor to standing
• Rhomboids – Muscles in the middle of the upper back between the shoulder blades. They’re worked during chin-ups, dumbbell bent rows, and other moves that bring the shoulder blades together. POLE – centre body on pole
• Trapezius – Upper portion of the back, sometimes referred to as ‘traps.’ The upper trapezius is the muscle running from the back of the neck to the shoulder. Exercises include upright rows, and shoulder shrugs with resistance. POLE – pole climb
• Latisimus dorsi – Large muscles of the mid-back. When properly trained they give the back a nice V shape, making the waist appear smaller. Exercises include pull-ups, chin-ups, one arm bent rows, dips on parallel bars, and the lat pull-down machine. POLE – Pole climb
• Deltoids – The cap of the shoulder. This muscle has three parts, anterior deltoid (the front), medial deltoid (the middle), and posterior deltoid (the rear). Different movements target the different heads. The anterior deltoid is worked with push-ups, bench press, and front dumbbell raises. Standing lateral (side) dumbbell raises target the medial deltoid. Rear dumbbell raises (done while seated and bent at the waist, or lying face down on a flat bench) target the posterior deltoid. POLE - spins
• Biceps – The front of the upper arm. The best moves are biceps curls. They can be done with a barbell, dumbbells, or a machine. Other pulling movements like chin-ups and upright rows also involve the biceps. POLE – back bend pose, pole climb
• Triceps – The back of the upper arm. Exercises include pushing movements like push-ups, dips, triceps extensions, triceps kick-backs, and overhead (French) presses. The triceps also come into play during the bench press and military press. POLE – Caterpillar Flag Flatline Scorpio
For world class training and more information about Pole fitness courses for students and instructors visit our website
www.polepassion.com
Leaders in Pole Fitness training - Empowerment Confidence Fitness & FUN!
