Addicted to POLE DANCING

For sale!!!

2011-07-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

Felix Cane flexibility books are for sale. It is a 4x6 laminated flip book with pictures and detailed directions for every move including helpful hints. $30 per book - I'm not out to make a profit for this book and the price is entirely the cost of the printing, laminating, and putting it into a flip book. Let me know you are interested or have any questions through email, phone, or Facebook and I'll get them copied :)

Felix Cane

2011-07-04T11:22:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to give a quick little update...

A while back Felix Cane came to Utah!! We went to a meet and greet with her on Friday night where she answered any question we had and performed for us. I absolutely loved how personable and funny she was. She answered any question we had with complete honesty. One of my favorite moments was when a girl said that she looked up to her so much and even more so knowing that she never worked in a strip club. To that, Felix said, "Well..... about that...." She had worked in a strip club, but it's not what you think. She came up to the owner and said she wanted to perform there and would perform for one night for free and every night after that he would invite her back and pay her. He did, and when he told her how much he would pay she said, no you won't, you will pay me THIS much. And he did. "I was cocky when I was young..." but she never took her clothes off.

She was answering questions while she stretched out and then performed so beautifully in front of us! I absolutely loved it :) I watch the video I took of her over and over because I just can't believe that she did it within 15 feet of me and how fluid and amazing she did everything like it wasn't a big deal at all. I absolutely loved it. :)

She also taught workshops and private classes which I spent more than I would have spent on a weekend in Vegas on. But it was sooooo worth it!

Me, Tiffany and McKell took a semi-private with her on Saturday and had a blast! I also took a tricks and combos class and a flexibility workshop. I learned sooo much! It was an amazing weekend! We printed off 8x10 pictures of the pictures we took individually with Felix Cane and one of the pictures I created with two of hers I found online and had her sign them. I also had her sign my revolver stripper shoes.

It was an AWESOME weekend and I'm so so so glad I was around to be able to join in :)

Also, I took a picture of every move Felix Cane showed us in her regular stretching routine from the flexibility workshop. I was going to print them all off with explanations of every move as well as just about everything she said in the workshop and wondered if anybody else would be interested in buying one... I don't know how much they would be but I would just charge you what the pictures cost me to print off. Let me know either at the studio, via facebook, or email britneyrose87@yahoo.com

♥ you all!!!

Back after so long...

2011-06-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many people are actually following our blog still, but I figured because of a few things that have been going on that I would update :)

First of all, I was the pole cleaner for the last competition, which is something I have wanted to be ever since I watched the first competition (you know, when I thought climbing to the top was a big deal haha). At the end of the night my foot was literally bloody and both feet were bruised, but it was...fun.

Secondly, I finally found my motivation again. Those of you at the studio have noticed that I haven't been to the studio as regularly as I did before but recently I found that motivation to kick ass again and guess what? I'm doing just that!! I'm coming up with a routine and while I don't have any reason to come up with a routine it's been SO much fun! I have three other songs on hold that I want to do a routine to as well... I'll record them and have FOUR routines to use for anything! I'm pretty proud of myself actually.

Thirdly, I am broken and bruised because I went to the workshop that Jennifer Wilkins came to our studio to help teach us a few moves. I was so excited to do it and absolutely exhausted when we were done! At first we started out learning a few work-out exercises from the JW Method and WOW! I was beat! Exercises like: legs out and circling hips, squats on one leg to 90 degree hip pops to squats on the other leg, curtsy kicks/squats, and from the floor we used the pole as a balance to push up to the air and then again for pulses. Sorry if none of that made sense, but it was mostly for me to remember what we did...

Also, we learned a few of her moves that she did in the competition that she didn't have names for, but as soon as I get them I'll look into getting a video of them or something ;) One of them involved a shoulder mount up and then a shoulder dismount, and I had been practicing shoulder mounts from the floor not even a couple hours earlier that day, so my shoulder/collar bone is KILLING me! I'm pretty sure it's about to go on strike haha.

She stayed after and talked to her about little exercises to do to gain flexibility and strength. One of the main things I was so glad I was there for is when she talked about gaining strength in your forearm because many moves in pole use the tendon a lot and if there isn't the muscle there to help it, the tendon is pulling it all on it's lonesome. So I do that a lot and I type a lot at work (and now) so carpal-tunnel and arthritis are sure to get the best of me if I don't do my best to prevent it. She said that the best way to prevent it is any move that incorporates holding yourself up with your arms together and your elbows down so that your hands are closer to your chest/shoulders when you hold (sorry if that didn't make sense, ask me later and I'll explain it). From that point you can do anything to strengthen other body parts (legs, abs, etc), as long as your arms are engaged.

I had such a good time tonight... but let me tell you one thing... I CAN'T WAIT for next weekend because somebody (ME) is going to see FELIX CANE and she is going to teach me some tricks and flexibility tips. I'm psyched!!!

I'll try to be better with this I promise.. :)

Such a tease

2011-02-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

I had a dream last night that only made me sad in the morning.

I dreamed that I was at a house (I have NO idea whose house it was), but there was a lot of people there because I think there was a party going on. And there were a couple poles near the ceiling almost horizontal and I was teaching them moves on the pole. Because the poles were horizontal I wasn't able to do much, but in my dream I was actually able to teach them really cool stuff, even though I really wasn't teaching them anything.

Later, I went to walmart and decided to set up my X POLE with a STAGE. Now, I didn't order the one with the stage, but I DID order the titanium gold standard size pole that won't be here until MARCH. Yeah, I'll get back to that in a minute.

I was AWESOME at good ol' walmart. Seriously, I was doing crazy things all over the place, including some I can't do in real life. My pole was set up between the stores like the banks and the check-out stands, and people started gathering to watch me pole. It was awesome because I felt like I could do anything (and in dream-land, I COULD do anything).

I woke up and was SO sad that I didn't actually have the pole and I couldn't just run downstairs and play. Then, I was even MORE sad when I realized that not only did I not have a pole on me, I wouldn't have my pole for over a month.

The X Pole I ordered is out of stock and wouldn't be in stock until about the middle of March, which means that I wouldn't have it in my possession until almost the end of March. That's really unfortunate to me... But I guess that's ok because there are a few things I'm working on outside of pole that I need to be focused on instead (I know, I just said there was something outside of pole *gasp*).

No Legs!

2011-02-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

Does pole and silks really have an impact on fitness? Are our claims of increased strength and tone legitimate?

You tell me...

Mac

PS: I've never been able to do a pull up in my life ;)

Successful Tuesday

2011-02-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

I'm SO excited!!!

Guess who ALMOST got her twisted grip???

ME.

I can't wait to practice it more!! I got the closest I've ever gotten before because of hints from Lindsay, Shay, and Tiffany. I'd never been able to twist my stomach/pelvis around so that my belly button was facing the pole... UNTIL NOW.

It wasn't pretty, at all, but my feet both finally caught at the top of the pole!!! I'm so proud of myself. I was so excited that I finally got it that I was shaking too much to do it again that night... But I'll be trying it again real soon. I CAN'T WAIT to finally start getting moves that I've been having a really hard time with lately.

We also had a little photo shoot moment where Shayli came in and asked us to do belly up supermans... on ONE pole. So all six of us jumped on my pole, and I'll tell you what, me and Shay were looking at each other in fear of our lives because we thought that baby was coming down it was shaking so bad with everyone climbing up there!! Shayli gave me permission to steal the picture and put it up here - I'm pretty excited with how it turned out! Great idea Shayli!!!!

We call it: Totem Pole

By the way, I decided that I most definitely AM getting the pole. I'll be ordering it this week... I'm leaning towards the standard size, especially after tonight. I thought it would help me be able to grip it and be able to do certain moves that I wasn't able to do otherwise, but finally being able to get so close on the twisted grip makes me think I'll be able to do it overall.

I'll keep you posted ;)

I made it!

2011-02-14T15:29:00.001-08:00

So Saturday was the day of auditions for the new studio performance group Aerialistic. Each person had to do two routines on two different apparatuses. I did four minute performance on silks and a three minutes routine on pole. Luckily I was able to space them out a bit, otherwise I would have DIED.

Auditioning was fun. I did really well with my silks performance and so so on my pole performance. I made the team and will be on the chair/dance, silks, and pole groups. I also snagged the lead soloist position for the silks group! I'm very excited and proud! I hope I represent the group well :) I was definitely thrilled with the reaction I got from the judges after my routine. It just felt so GOOD!

So now we are trying to get our group established. I'm excited to start getting it all put together. Right now we are building our Facebook page. So everyone go on there and "Like" it! The more support the better.

Also, we are looking for some business sponsors. We are only looking for $100 from businesses (local preferred) and we'd include their logo on our website once it is up. So if anyone has ideas for companies we could contact then let me know!

Peter Piper Picked... A Gold Pole

2011-02-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

Britney is saving up her money...

For this:

The Titanium Gold X-Pole that is both stationary and a spinner pole all in one.

I've been at Alex's house a lot lately and when he's busy playing a game or watching a show, sometimes I wish there was something other than stretches that I could do... So I got thinking... How nice would it be to just throw that pole up and play for an hour (or even just a half hour)? I got formal permission from him to put up a pole occasionally so I can start saving up... NOW.

I've been talking to Shayli about her pole and trying to decide whether or not I want to get the standard 2" pole or the petite size 1.75" pole. I figure this will be the pole I stick with for a really long time, which means I need to figure if I want to practice on something the same as the studio or if having something a tad bit smaller wouldn't be a big deal...

What do you think? I want opinions :)

Goals to make me sore

2011-02-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

I admittedly haven't been the best Saturday morning vertical strength attendee, so when Megan worked me out this morning I just about died. I didn't realize how much strength I HAD and now don't have just because I haven't been showing up a whole lot lately.

And I'm SORE. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it because we didn't even do anything too dramatically vigorous!! I guess it's just because I haven't been doing much of anything lately so my body decided that it wasn't on board with the whole jumping right back into it thing...

Because I am so sore after just a vertical strength class, I have decided that I need to make some goals and deadlines for those goals so I keep working hard like I was a couple months ago.

Here are my goals for the near future:

Handspring
Twisted Grip
Ayesha
Shoulder Mount
Controlled Shoulder Mount
Hold moves such as the chopper and pencil in shoulder mount
Worm to Caterpillar

I haven't decided when I want them done by, but I'm excited about working on them again. I've been purposely slacking off because of the auditions. I knew I wouldn't be able to get the moves in time, and if I was working for them I would only hurt myself in the process, so I guess I just took it easy for a bit so I can work on them at my own pace. I don't regret it because I still have my back and everything else, but I am sad I hadn't worked on it for months before and been at least semi-ready before the announcement for the auditions came out...

Also, as a side note, I'm really sorry if you missed the groupon sale for the studio - the deal was a 10 class punch pass for $29... That's RIDICULOUS!!! I convinced my mom and my sister to get one, as well as my friend, Denver, who has already tried pole with me. If you have been reading since the beginning, Denver is also the friend who's bachelorette party starting this whole pole dancing shenanigans ;)

Circo Aereo

2011-02-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

On the side I correct papers for a professor up at Weber State. So about two or three times a semester I will have to run up there for one thing or another. Yesterday was one of those days. I had to park in the A2 lot and go to the Union Building. Naturally, I cut through Elizabeth Hall so that I wouldn't have to walk outside in the cold. While walking through the building I saw a poster that caught my attention:

A Fraco-Finnish circus is coming to town to perform cabaret and aerial! How is this not a good idea? This upcoming Friday is the Burlesque performance (which I am very excited about), but there is a Saturday matinee at 2:00pm and an evening show at 7:30pm. Tickets are only $10 :) Who wants to go with me??? I think it will be a great way to get ideas for future performances.

Besides, then we can say we are cultured and support local university programs :) Weber State's Cultural Affairs program had information on the show as well as a video. To check it out click here.

Mac

Harry Potter Pole Dance

2011-02-09T15:40:00.001-08:00

So a friend of mine posted this video on my Facebook page and I had to share. It's just fun and reading the comments on youtube were pretty much hilarious. People get so heated over pole dancing... in more ways than one ;)

I need more friends with video editing skills!

Mac

Hip Hop in suit pants

2011-02-08T13:43:00.001-08:00

So I've got a few pictures for you that I took on Monday at Devon's trap and hoop classes. I had SO much fun!! We learned a lot of things that I thought would TERRIFY me but they ended up being really cool.

On the hoop, we did things like the chandelier, angel something-or-other, and a few other ones that were really cool. The last move we did was mounting with our chopper, doing our upsidedown spits, and then our fang. Obviously this was one of my favorites (I have NO idea why...). Check it out:

After that, we tried a few new tricks on the trap like the mermaid (I loved that one), the candlestick, the pencil (probably won't be doing that one...ever), and some fallen angels as well as the umbrella. Check out a few pictures of both me and Davina:

I was going to do open pole after the trap and hoop class but got convinced to take Devon's hip hop class too. Oh my heavens, it was a work-out!! Aside from me looking like a silly white girl trying to dance, they did a move where we slid on our knee, so I put my work pants back on, so not only was I dancing in the most ridiculous way, I looked ridiculous because I was wearing suit pants. It was definitely a site to see that's for sure ;)

Who wants to go camping?!?!?!?!

2011-02-05T15:24:00.001-08:00

Ok, I know that there are various levels of camping.

(1) Roughing it - no tent, just a pack on your back and the wilderness
(2) Outdoorsing it - tents, campgrounds, possibly some restroom facilities
(3) Motorhoming it - driving a mini house on wheels into the wilderness

I bring to you a whole new level of camping:

Pole Camp!!!

I want to go so bad! Shayli was telling me about it and we decided that it would be so much fun to get a bunch of girls from the studio to road trip it out to Calgary. Who doesn't want to spend some time in Canada eh? For more details on registration click here.

Who wants to go?!

September 15-18

The camp is only $350, but that doesn't include lodging or travel; HOWEVER, that does include day activities, meals, and night events. To register requires a $100 deposit and I'm not sure if that goes toward the $350, I would think that it does.

Sooooooo.....

WHO WANTS TO GO POLE CAMPING?!

Back and ready for more

2011-02-03T09:51:00.000-08:00

GOOD NEWS!!

I'm excited about pole again!! I went to Shayli's combo class and instead of doing a routine like usual, we combined a few moves and played around with moves we'd never learned before :) It was SOOOO much fun!!

I learned how to tentatively do the one-foot hold (which freaked Alex out when I told him what it was). I want to eventually be able to do the one-legged-hold/crescent moon.

So it would look like this:

Except that my hands would be above my head and holding on the pole as I would in a regular superman/crescent moon like this:

So basically I would just merge the two moves into one huge, big crescent moon starting at my foot and ending at my hands. That would be cool right? I tried to find a picture of it but couldn't, so either I'm making up a move or I'm calling it the wrong thing in my google searches. ;)

Anyway... Back to Shayli's class... We did things that I'd done before, like the superman, crescent moon, suicide hold into my fang, but I LOVED it!! I tried to to the Superman where you just jump onto the pole and the one-legged hold as well as tried to get from a regular superman into a gemini and flight attendant. Once we perfect those moves I'll get a video and post it :) But those are thanks to Shayli's creativeness...

It was a REALLY fun class and I can't wait to keep learning and continue with what I've already got. I guess I just needed to learn some intermediate advanced moves rather than focusing on the top of the advanced moves all the time :)

It was pretty funny though after the class both me and McKell were in pain and covered in bruises and we both agreed that we had had a really great time and felt accomplished because as of yet I haven't been able to... So, apparently, pain = accomplishment. Wow, pole dancers have a real twisted way of feeling success ;)

Half Star

2011-02-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

I like this drop :) It's fun and can be done in the Ogden Studio even with the low ceilings! During an intermediate class we got to practice.

Me doing mine... My silk really hit the mat hard! It sort of scared me while I was doing the move :)

Steph practicing hers for the upcoming auditions

The good, the bad, and the ugly

2011-02-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

My Dad LOVES westerns, and I decided that the best way to write this post was to feature one of them... If anybody has seen "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," you'll know what I'm talking about :)

The Good:

Sadly, I can't really think of a good other than the fact that I'm hanging in there and still coming to class... I was talking to Alex last night and he was telling me that I was in the hard part now and when I started pole dancing and was so pumped about everything I made him promise me to make sure I always went even when it was hard. Well, it's hard, and he's making me go... And not that I'm not appreciative of it, it's just so frustrating when I don't want to go because I used to want to live at the studio. I guess I've just got a few roadbumps to get through and I'll feel better.

I'm still so proud of the pictures I've taken recently, and am definitely using them as motivation to keep going and learn more moves like that :)

The Bad:

We lost a follower :( Now, I understand we aren't as exciting as we were when we were first starting, but I'll explain more as to WHY that has come to be in "The Ugly."

And The Ugly:

When we started, we were conquering moves like nobody's business. We mastered moves over and over, gaining confidence, strength, and skill. We would do moves that are now "easy" like inverting (and letting go!! gasp!!) and thought we were rockstars.

Well, advanced is advanced for a reason. It's advanced because we do moves that are significantly harder than a reverse showgirl and a baby superman. I'm talking about the ayesha, controlled shoulder mount, twisted grip, handspring, worm/caterpillar, etc...

I'm not getting on my high horse or anything of the like because I'm so frustrated with the fact that it is all so significantly harder than the stuff I've been doing previous to this and I'm struggling with the fact that I can't do any of it. While in the advanced class last night I even considered just dropping back down to intermediate and staying there for the rest of my life because I can actually perform the moves and do them at least decent...

Ugh - wish me luck to keep at it and not hide in my shell with only moves that I'm already comfortable with...

Plateau

2011-01-26T13:17:00.001-08:00

First, I'm really sorry my presence on the blog has been minimal at best. As a co-author I am failing miserably. I've only had one legitimate post in the past month. I love this blog and pole, but I haven't had much to say. I've just been feeling so... mediocre.

In the beginning I was at the studio four or five nights a week. I was taking as many intro and beginning classes as humanly possible. I was learning a ton of new moves every week. I felt like a million dollars with the speed of my progression! By November I did my first advanced class with Tiffany.

December was super busy with the holidays, I was only able to squeeze in classes one to two times a week. I missed the studio dearly and was excited for the new year to jump back in with renewed fervor! The new year held a small problem though:

Only one advanced class a week!

This has been sort of difficult for me. I haven't missed one single advanced class in weeks; however, I haven't mastered a single move that I have learned. Each week I come to class, but it has been so long since I've had class that it's like my body has forgotten everything it learned the week before. I still come to the studio three times a week and take at least two classes each time. I'm still in great shape, but I can't get the moves in class.

I've plateaued.

I'm struggling because after we warm up and stretch, which are absolutely essential, class is generally a third over... sometimes almost half over. We need to be working on developing the muscles and flexibility we need for moves, but there doesn't seem to be enough time for my body to do it all. By the time I hit the pole to do moves my body only has thirty/forty minutes to try and master them. If I don't get it, then I don't get to really try again until the next week.

My body is too used to taking two or three pole classes a week to get a move. Thirty minutes a week to try and accomplish three or four advanced moves is starting to get frustrating! Not to mention disheartening... I've been advanced since November and I don't think there is one advanced move that I would dare put in a routine yet.

Plea for help....

Last week there was a ton of girls in advanced pole. Each pole had two girls on it, one even had three. The class was huge! Someone mentioned that we needed another class. PLEASE! Like, PRETTY PLEASE!!! Then it was stipulated that if the classes were this full for a month, then they would think about adding another one. Any advanced girls that read this, can we please pack those classes every Tuesday? I'm dying for another class. I don't even care if it is just as packed as the other class! Full classes are fun!

Truth is, I don't think my body can retain the moves by going once a week. I'm hoping in my heart of hearts that if another advanced class is added, that I'll be able to start getting better at the moves. I'm hoping that I haven't reached my peak in pole already. It's part of why I hardly post anymore pictures or videos. I want to be good, but right not I just can't get it. I'm trying so hard every class, but I just can't master the moves. I know the moves are harder and will take more time, but I think that makes having another class that much more important!

I don't want to stop learning and progressing. Come on ladies! Let's get another class :)

My favorite move and a picture testimonial

2011-01-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

I finally got a picture taken of me doing one of my favorite moves that I'm proud of. I LOVE this move - the fang while in the suicide hold - because I can actually use my bendy back and make it look pretty cool. I don't stick this move very often because I slide out of it almost every time before my feet get a chance to touch my face. When I do get it though, I love it :) What do you think?
On another note, I've said a time or two that I am getting more and more muscle tone, and I just thought I would prove it... I took a picture of my developing abs when I first noticed there were changes happening a month or so after I started classes at the studio with the intention of comparing myself later on in my advancement. Well, I decided to take another picture to show how far I've gotten in just over six months. I don't know how much you can tell, so I took a side picture so you could tell there was actually a line (I'm pretty vain and proud of that aspect) because I most definitely DIDN'T have that six months ago. Keep in mind I'm flexing those abs just as much in one picture as the others, which really proves that I am progressing and gaining muscle tone :) I'll be taking more pictures later on the road with hopefully even BETTER muscle tone. That's the goal anyway ;)

Picture taken 8-19-2010:

Pictures taken 1-12-2011:

Burlesque Workshop

2011-01-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

So tonight the studio had a Burlesque workshop to learn a three minute routine from the show. Now, this is a very similar number to the one I'll be performing on the 29th this month and the 18th next month. So I went to get some added practice and I'm so glad that I did!

The room had twinkle lights all over and there was a garter on every girls chair to wear while learning the number. It was so cute! It was nice to take a moment, feel sexy and have some fun with the girls. Here are some pictures that we took after the intensely cardio, but amazingly fun workshop.

Amber (the instructor), Chantal, and myself

Amber and I

There is a part of the song where you have to do a "trick" and this is a picture of my break-dancing-esque trick.

Chantal's sexy little trick

Chantal and I

The whole gang!

Special thanks to Chantal for taking all of the lovely photos!

Mac

Claustrophobic

2011-01-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

I finally FINALLY went to class last night... It's sadly something I feel like I haven't done in a while... I was sick most of last week and then my family carted me off to St. George last weekend up till Monday night, so I honestly wasn't the most active person at Studio Blue the last couple weeks.

But it seemed like everybody else had the same idea last night. Either they were regulars or they were like me and hadn't been in a while so they thought they'd stop by. We literally had about 12 girls packed into the little room upstairs (I'm guessing because I didn't ever actually count but I think I'm right). I know Lindsay took a picture so I'll post it on here as soon as she does... But 12 girls?!

Everybody was sharing a pole. Everybody. Lindsay had to teach from my pole and we all had to take turns.

Now, I'm not necessarily complaining about the amount of girls that were there - I actually thought that was pretty cool that there are that many advanced students at the studio... I'm just trying to give you a visual. 12 girls all trying to not kick each other while doing controlled shoulder mounts, cupids, cupid dismounts and the like. It was a little bit... claustrophobic.

Because it was so busy we got talking about another advanced class, to which Shayli said if it stays busy like this for a month, they'll think about putting in another class. (Hint, hint)

I did get the cupid a few times really well, which made me happy because usually the cupid is my nemesis. I realized that my problem is that for some reason I don't get it as far into my knee as I have to to start out the move; therefore, I can't FINISH the move.

I worked on my shoulder mounts and my ayesha's a little bit too. By the way, when I finally get my ayesha there will be celebration throughout the land. Shayli wants to be able to belly roll while upside-down in that move. I, on the other hand, would just be happy to let go with my legs. I need to double-check with Shayli and Tiffany on the work-out moves I need to be doing to get my straight arm strong enough.

I think the reason I'm so scared of it is because I got it a few times but then ONE time, I fell out of it and it scared me because I realized that I'd be falling head-first to the ground. Maybe next time I'll bring up a crash mat with me to class. ;)

One last thing. Did you know that if you eat carbs directly after you work out it's better for you? And you are supposed to eat your protein about an hour after you work out so that it goes to muscle and not sugar? I had no idea - I had those completely reversed!! Oh, the little things you learn in class...

Just a little story...

2011-01-12T08:42:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to post this because it's just plain amusing (and I'm a little proud).

I've been dating Alex for a while now, and throughout the entire time we've always wrestled. It's not completely fun and games though - the wrestling is taken seriously and I've lost it every single time because he never goes easy on me. One time we were wrestling at the house and Fabian, McKell and Jake were there and the wrestling got so intense that eventually everybody figured out what was going on because of my yells of pain. Alex loudly said (mostly for the audience because they were chiming in) that all I had to do was tap out and he would stop. Of course, because I REALLY wanted to win, I didn't tap out until he had clamped down on my stomach so tightly that I couldn't breathe. So... I tapped out, and made it loud enough for the house to hear it. Haha.

He says it's because if I ever won it should be because I actually won and not because he let me win. Every single time he tells me if I could have lasted longer doing on thing or another I might have won. Every. Single. Time.

We wrestled again last nigt (of course started by me because I talk big) and guess what?????

I WON!!!

I had him in a choke hold with his head between my legs. He even laughed at me saying that was a "stupid move" to get both of my legs up there like that, but I was able to hold his neck and with the core in my stomach I've been working on, I was able to pull him down to the ground and pull my hands out of his grip and take the dominant position until he tapped out.

Thanks to pole and my newly-found thigh stength I won for the first time by holding him down just like I would in a Superman move ;)

The Teddy Bear

2011-01-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

Alright alright here's a picture. I look like I'm completely ready to kill over in pain... but maybe that's because I'm ready to do so. This was at the very end of my Advanced Pole yesterday when I was completely exhausted so I'm proud of myself for merely being able to do it (it took a couple tries a couple different times to get this picture because I was so tired)...

When I was starting to learn how to do this move we basically had to pull our shorts right up to be able to use "butt skin," and I'm really excited about this picture because I'm not using that skin at all, which is what the end result should be. I'm pretty proud of it actually, even though it looks like the epitome of pain.

I want to go through and just take a bunch of pictures of moves I'm getting and moves I know how to do... It seems like I take pictures the first, second, or third time getting them and I generally don't look good at ALL while doing them. I guess I want to look a little bit more "graceful" while doing some moves ;)

Also, I just wanted to mention that my EVERYTHING hurts because I'm so exhausted. Not only am I tired from the advanced pole last night, I decided to drag myself to take Shayli's Pole Combo and while we didn't do anything "hard," it was definitely a great cardio work-out... Which was SO bad on my already sore, bruised, and tired body.

What a work-out!!!

2011-01-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, you're probably sick of me posting without pictures, but I don't have my laptop with me to put the pictures on yet... But I will later :)

Last night I went to Advanced Pole and Lindsay Marsh was teaching... I'd never taken a class from her and was super excited about it - and it was SO much fun! I wish I hadn't taken such a break during the holidays because I would have been able to keep up more, but that's alright I guess.

We did all kinds of things, most of which dealt with armpit and elbow holds, which, by the way, aren't exactly the most comfortable things in the world. We started with the pike, then did the teddy bear (which I will upload a picture of me doing), then did wonder woman. At this point I was absolutely EXHAUSTED!! A two- to three-week break from pole and eating over the holidays really killed me!

I was excited that I got the teddy bear though - by the end of class I didn't even have to use "butt skin" to hold on!! :) I kind of cheated on the wonder woman though because I got the elbow hold and then took my other arm and held it there (if that makes ANY sense whatsoever), but I DID IT!!

I also found out that my "drunk side," which is usually my left because I am right-handed, is my "sober side" for armpit and elbow holds. I was telling Alex about it and he figures it is because it is my driving hand and therefore my muscles have been taught to be able to hold up and whatnot. Maybe that's a good point, maybe it isn't, but I was surprised regardless that my left was better than my right! ...by the way, you should see the bruise I got from the armpit hold - it's MASSIVE!!!

We worked on the cupid to fallen cupid to shoulder dismount... I tried to do the cupid with my calf and couldn't do it for the life of me. I'll have to try it with my stripper shoes to see if that helps :)

We then moved to the yogini, which we transitioned to the half or full rocketman. I did a private party a little while back in which I did the yogini and because I wasn't very high off of the ground, when I FELL out of it, I didn't have time to swing my legs around and catch myself. I fell straight on my knees and stomach and elbows. One knee was bruised so badly that I struggled walking for a week!! So needless to say, when Lindsay had us do the yogini, I did NOT participate... I'm still a little bit too nervous to do it again.

While I was standing around absolutely exhausted and not able to practice anything the rest of the class worked on the Becca Butcher fan-kick move...

I was SO tired by the end of class, but I enjoyed it! I can't wait to whip myself back into shape to be able to do this stuff again!! (and not be so desperately tired!!) :)

Circus Performer!

2011-01-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

For the record, I'm really excited to tell you this even though it's not really Studio-related... I'm learning how to do a CARTWHEEL!! Like I've mentioned before, I didn't do any gymnastics or sports or dance or ANYTHING when I was a kid, and therefore, never learned how to do the basic things that most kids knew how to do. Like a cartwheel.

One day when it was REALLY slow at work, my co-worker taught me how to do a cartwheel. I'm still really bad but I'm to the point where I don't completely crumple in a little ball and fall on the ground. I just need to keep my legs straight and I may have gotten it :) I'm super excited about it too :) I'll take a video and post it when I can do a really good one :)

In other news, I finally officially took a hoop and trapeze class from Devon!! The studio got a bunch of new classes when the schedule was re-done and I LOVE that they are including an intro to both of these classes! :)

We learned a few different ways to get onto the hoop and trapeze, as well as the "tire" for hoop and the "moon" or something like that for the trapeze. It was a BLAST!! I definitely enjoyed it...

Right after that, me, Shayli, and Tiffany went to a hip hop class again taught by Devon and I got WORKED. For the first little while that seemed like an hour we worked on abs. And not gently either! I got home and it hurt to laugh because I was so worked. Tiffany was doing her crunches and whatnot while lifting her legs and because she was doing it so effortlessly I decided to try... OH MY HEAVENS!! By merely lifting your legs your lower abs are being worked out as well. I hurt SO bad!

But the dance was cute and I looked like a major white girl trying to dance.. but it was fun regardless. Jazz will be next week and then I'll get to try to dance like a white girl again (jazz and hip hop switch every other week).

By the way, a shout-out to Shayli's sister Shelbi Buttars! She taught her first Zumba class yesterday and from what I saw before class, it looked like those girls had FUN!! :)

Time to Start Taking Classes Again...

2010-12-27T20:46:00.000-08:00

So I haven't said anything about it, but I'm officially not a teacher anymore. I can sub classes and do private parties, but I'm not on the schedule every week anymore... I would say I'm sad about it but that gives me a little bit of time to work on the things I want to master really bad. I have so many things that I want to work on that will help me get better but it seems like I just don't have the time for it.

I'll be the first to say I'll be really excited when the holidays are over with... I have been so busy with everything else that diet, practicing pole, and general core exercise have gone out the window. I signed up for a few classes this week and a lot next week so hopefully I'll be back in shape to start aggressively learning next week. Even my boyfriend, Alex, is worried that I have fallen off the band wagon with pole and thinks I'm not doing it enough anymore... Considering I usually do something pole-related five out of seven days a week and I'm down to one or two he does have a point. But I'm getting back on there...

On that note though, for Christmas Alex got me a shake weight! Now, I really can't do it with a straight face yet, but even though the motion of the exercise is...different... it's actually a really good workout for my arms!! He got me the "man" version because I'm a buff pole dancer, but I'm not quite there yet, so I went and got the "woman" version to use until I worked myself up to using the "man" version... I'm pretty excited about it though - I'm going to be BUFF!!!

Anyway, I just thought I'd drop in because I haven't posted anything lately...

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

I hope all of our readers had wonderful holidays! I am truly amazed at how quickly this year has gone by. There is less than a week left in 2010 and I just can't believe where the time went! This year has been full of changes and trials, but I think it's one of the most defining years of my adult life. Hard to believe that I have now been doing pole for five months now!

One of the girls at the studio is setting up a performance that I'm in at the Fifth in Bountiful on February 18th. We'll be doing a fun chair number and then we'll be on silks/pole all night. My kind of night! So, to prepare for the performance I indulged and bought my first ever Christmas gift for MYSELF :)

I was told to wear a corset and bustled skirt. How cute is this?! I got it at Baby Girl Boutique and they have so many cute things there. They have flapper costumes that I cannot wait to buy! Everything on the site is 30% of if you enter in the code YEAR-END at check out.

I've never been in drama or anything like that, so these "performances" are kind of new and thrilling to me. I hope that I can build up quite the little costume collection for it! Should be fun :)

Merry Christmas everyone! While I don't particularly like giving to myself, just make sure if you do that you give to others. This time of year is perfect for taking time for one another and helping those in need. Even if it is just a few dollars in the Salvation Army buckets.

Mac

Handspring

2010-12-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

So the next advanced move that I'd like to be able to get is the handspring. It's basically a way to invert on the pole directly into a power grab. To be honest, it sort of reminds me of doing a cartwheel. This is a video of me doing it:

Now I know it's not very good, but that is just what I have so far. So now I'm going to work on holding it longer, poses while I'm in it, and a more graceful dismount. We'll see how quickly I can get it!

Mac

Good Enough

2010-12-16T09:05:00.000-08:00

So I've told you for over a week now how embarrassed I am about the competition and what happened, but I'll do a quick recap... I put a routine together and practiced it for a good couple weeks for the competition and had moves in there that I was nervous to perform, but when the competition finally came, I slid all over the pole because a product was used that I wasn't used to using. I couldn't even hold a knee hook! I was so frustrated because I was getting all the moves I was going to be doing in the "dressing room" upstairs without a problem. I was just so upset because the performance I gave was NOT the performance I was capable of, and that made me VERY upset. Please keep in mind I was upset about my unfortunate luck in performing, NOT that I didn't win. I actually went into the competition knowing I had some pretty cool moves in the routine, but I also knew that the other girls were very good too so I didn't expect to win. At all.

So... Embarrassingly enough, here is the video of my performance at the competition. If you watch close enough you can really see me sliding out of every move I try to do. I did the superman fairly well and attempted to do the lady, in which I slid so much I landed in an elbow stand on the floor. Oh well... All I can do is laugh about it now right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzWfCHkKQXI

Now, after that AMAZING performance, I wanted to fix my pride and do it again to show people (mostly myself) that I really was a pretty good pole dancer.

So I tried.

And while I'm not trying to make excuses, it's not the performance it could have been either. I hadn't practiced in over a week because I was boycotting pole for a minute, I was exhausted because I'd gone through it already a few times so my timing was off, and mentally I was just done with that routine and that song and I wanted to just get it over with.

I also found out that I am CAMERA SHY. Not camera PICTURE shy, because I'll pose for pictures all day... but camera VIDEO shy. Seriously, I never ONCE looked at the camera and I was NERVOUS. Guess who my audience was? ALEX. That's it. My boyfriend of whom I should be completely comfortable around. Had he been taking pictures of me the entire time rather than a video I could probably have done it, but unfortunately it was a video so I was literally shaking I was so nervous.

For the next competition, I'm going to practice recording myself until I get used to the idea and completely comfortable with being recorded.

Anyway, here's the new {better} version of the performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vivjipbwycc

Now I can officially move on and do something else, work on my advanced moves, and be a better pole dancer for having competed. ...or something like that...

{last picture taken by Christopher Marsh}

Dear Anonymous

2010-12-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

Recently a reader of the blog left this inquiring comment on one of our posts:

Hi--thanks so much for sharing your experience with the more meek of us out here! I'm intrigued by the idea of classes, but I was wondering if you could say whether they have a legit affect on your body--as in, is there a big difference between when you started and now (you look great throughout in the pics, so it's hard to gauge the "before"). I recently started taking barre classes, which I really enjoy--but wondering if something like this might take it up a notch.

First, thank you so much for reading the blog and for posting such a valid question. I'm sure a lot of people wonder if it's truly a "fitness" class, or if that is just silly facade for people to pole dance without being judged. Now on to the question...

The Ginger put together a comment to your original comment about her experience, this is what she had to say:

The benefits are completely legit!! I may have been "skinny" before, but I wasn't in shape in any way... I dabbled in running a little bit but I in no way had any muscles to speak of. I now have muscles in places I had no idea they were there. My back has muscles, my abs are starting to show, my thighs and calves are toning up as well as my arms and shoulders. Seriously, pole classes are incredible for fitness - I would recommend it to ANYONE!!

I can only support the Ginger's claim. Ever since I was a teenager I have weighed about the same amount, which is usually somewhere between 118-123. Once I got into college I got to be extremely active. I've done a lot of different kinds of sports, all of which were good workouts. I have dabbled in martial arts, rock climbing, snow boarding, wake boarding, swing dancing, salsa dancing, running, aerobics, and yoga. I've always been an active person that has been more attracted to non-traditional forms of working out. Going to the gym to do sets of machines or with weights just never appealed to me.

So I've always been active and I've for the most part been rather slender throughout my adult life. I consider that a true blessing! In all of my dabblings in the various "sports" I've been involved with, I can say with 100% surety that I have never gotten the results that I have with pole/silks. I haven't lost any weight, but my muscle tone has gone through the roof!

All my life I have struggled to gain any upper body strength, but this work out has developed this entire part of my body almost beyond my awareness. I have bicep/tricep definition like never before. My shoulders and back are more defined, but best of all... my stomach has NEVER been flatter or more firm. My entire body has "tightened up" in a way that I could have never imagined.

The difference is hard to notice because I'm still the same size, but the impact is real. Even the owner of the studio commented in a class about how I looked good before, but my definition is looking amazing now. So I can assure that I'm not the only one that has noticed, others have commented on the difference in my body. I only mention what others have said so that you can know that I'm not delusional and seeing what I want to see from my new hobby.

With any workout, it takes time and effort. I go to pole/silks classes at least four days a week for a minimum of one hour, usually for two hours. The thing is: I LOVE GOING! It takes no effort to convince me to sign up for classes each week because I enjoy what I am doing. So it makes it very easy for me to make a habit of it. If you put in the time and effort into learning pole, you will notice results. Pole is naturally a muscular workout, so you have to train your cardio still. I generally do this by signing up for routines and performances because that is an incredible cardio workout!

Try pole and see if you like it. I think it's wonderful and hope the whole world would do it, but I realize it's not for everyone. Try a class and if it's something you find yourself enjoying, then it might be a match made in heaven! If not, keep looking for something that will truly get you excited to go out and do.

Bottom line: I'm in the best shape of my life and it's all due to the classes I take at the studio every week.

I hope this answered your question! Thanks again for reading!

Mac

What is Jersey Shore?

2010-12-12T15:48:00.000-08:00

A few days ago on the Studio Blog, Meagan announced that Adult Dance and Fitness had been asked to perform as openers for the Very Jersey Christmas. Even though I have never seen an episode of Jersey Shore, I do love performing these days. I'm sure a lot of people would have been thrilled to see Paulie D, but I had no idea who he was.

Part of the fun was that we had to dress up in costumes. I had to go get myself a full nude unitard (not hot), some thigh high fish nets (super hot), and a green little Santa dress (really cute). It was fun to get dressed up and have a little role to play. I wish that we would have gotten paid for the performance, but maybe next time. Just to reimburse for the costume mostly ;)

Here are all of us in our cute little costumes!

Some aerial splits

The Gemini

My silk burn under my armpit from doing a butterfly descent without a long sleeved shirt. I even tried to do it REALLY slow so as to not get burned... no such luck!

There were a ton of photographers at the event, but the company site has hardly any pictures of the aerialists. Not even all the pictures they took of us off stage. I've tried to contact the company to ask about it, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully I can get even more awesome photos up.

Here is one picture of me from the performance: click here!

While the event wasn't my favorite, the performance was really a ton of fun! I adore the girls I do silks with!

Mac

VIDEOS

2010-12-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

The competition on Friday went a little something like this:

Beginner Division
1. Amanda Counter
2. Chantal Fain
3. Angie Gessell
4. Amber Clarke (Division winner!!)
5. Sarah Tran

Intermediate Division
1. Katie Love
2. Sundyn Woolf
3. Mckell Barnett
4. Shyloh Sturm
5. Ashley Hunter
6. Ali Monjar (Division winner!!)

Advanced Division
1. Sara McGinnis
2. Tiffany Tremaine
3. Lorinda Coombs (Division winner!!)
4. Nicole McRae
5. Britney Breitweiser

My boyfriend, Alex, had his phone with him and promised to record my performance, but he thought he would record everybody in Intermediate and Advanced as well (just in case those girls wanted a copy of it). I'm really sorry to the girls in the Beginners division - he didn't think of recording everybody's performance until later.

Intermediate Division:

Katie Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yn5x9-TUSI

Sundyn Woolf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUfYzmDI4b4

Mckell Barnett

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro4IROEO7Tg

Shyloh Sturm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCkU6znX3so

Ashley Hunter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn9ky8-M4Wc

Ali Monjar (Division winner!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynrqm70ViQw

Advanced Division:

Sara McGinnis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fosqoAK0mA

Tiffany Tremaine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJN6jDLlcXU

Lorinda Coombs (Division winner!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj1dfXhFgxs

Nicole McRae

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBwHz5KKcoc

Britney Breitweiser
Like I said in the post from yesterday, I'm not going to post my video until I have proof that I can do the moves better than I did. I'll re-record the routine and post both the new video and the one that actually happened as well... :)

GOOD JOB GIRLS!!!

Such a tease...

2010-12-09T16:20:00.001-08:00

I know most people are anxiously awaiting the post with the videos. Rest assured, it will come. I'm sure every new post we make just teases you to come and see what we have posted only to be disappointed that it's not the VIDEOS!!!

I figured in the mean time we could at lease include some pictures for you. Here are my three favorites from my routine:

BIG THANKS to Christopher Marsh! Lindsay was a judge and her sweet husband was kind enough to take pictures of the entire competition. I'm so lucky he did because not a soul I know got any pictures. Thanks Chris!!!

Mac

Official

2010-12-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

I would just like to say that I'm officially a TEACHER!!!

I just got back from teaching for my very first official time from Midvale... I taught a Black Light, Intermediate Pole, Intro to Pole, and Beginning Pole class.

For the Black Light class, I started out a little nervous (I don't know why, but it could be because I didn't know the girls very well), but we got through the routine I had come up with and still had plenty of time to learn more! So I ad-libbed a little bit more, we went through it a few times, and then we all added a little bit more on there. It ended up being pretty fun, and now I know I need to make a much longer routine to teach in an hour (they picked it up so fast!!!).

My pole classes were a LOT of fun :) It made me so happy when someone got something they were scared of because that's exactly where I was. Some of the girls in the lower classes couldn't believe I had a hard time inverting but I definitely did. I mean, just take a look in the very beginning of this blog - I was stuck on inverting for a good month or so because I was so terrified! Look at me now!! ;)

One thing I will make sure to do for the next time I teach is to cool down with the girls - I kept stretching before class thinking that would be enough, but without a cool-down between every class as well I was dying by the end of the night. The next day my back was screaming at me because I don't think I stretched it well enough at the end of the night. Welp - moral of the story: Stretch!!

P.S. I've got all the videos uploaded to my laptop - I just have to upload them to blogger :) I need wifi at work really bad... :(

I've got competition experience

2010-12-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

I owe everybody a huge apology because they've all been waiting on me to upload videos from the competition, but I pinky promise those will be up either tonight or tomorrow! It was just a little bit of a hectic week so I haven't had a chance to get them, and when I DID have a chance to I couldn't because every video was recorded by Alex on his phone, which he has with him, and therefore I couldn't upload. Oh the dilemma. But I'll have my laptop, his phone, and a USB chord to upload those tonight!

As for my competition... I'm going to go to the studio with Alex one of these nights and record what was supposed to happen to post with what actually HAPPENED to save my pride a little bit because the two videos will be nothing like each other.

I feel so much better about the whole situation now, but let's just say Friday night I may or may not have been a crying mess... And it's definitely NOT because I didn't win - I actually went to the competition thinking it would be only about the experience and because it was my first competition I wouldn't win. Really - I wasn't going to flat out win and I knew it.

It was just that because I wasn't used to the product that was used to clean the pole, I was sliding all over it. I got up there and I couldn't even hold my lady or even get a good knee hold for that matter. It was rough. The main reason I was upset was because I'd been practicing for weeks and had my routine all ready and was so excited to show everybody. I was so excited because I was proud of it - and then I didn't even get to show it :( At least the girls upstairs knew I could do it (because I was going through most of my moves upstairs without a problem).

I uploaded a facebook status Saturday morning that I'm now a little bit embarrassed, but it's the comments that made me feel better - thanks everybody! It really made a difference in getting me to realize that it wasn't the best night for me but it's OK! I'll be able to compete again and life will go on. Plus, it was only my first competition so it had to go wrong, right?

McKell: Oh honey I'm sorry! Just think of all the advanced moves you've mastered in the process. You are leagues ahead of me now!
Shay: I don't know what happened but no way you should be disappointed. You had the balls to challenge yourself and do something 98% of other students didn't - perform! Tho it didn't go as planned, be proud. It's a good learning experience and next time you'll be even stronger!
Megan: You are a wonderful performer! Damn those slippery poles :( you are amazing! Don't let yourself down girl! You did so good, you hade no control over how slippery it was... its like in classes sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't! But you are so good! You know way more than me! I look up to you :)
Amber: Britney.....STOP beating yourself up, lovie!! You had absolutely NO control over that dumb pole last night. You are an incredible artist, my friend. Hey, come with us to see Burlesque today at noon. We'll make ya feel better!! Please come with us!!
Hailey: I'm sorry it didn't go as planned. Unfortunately I wasn't able to be there, but anyone who knows you knows that you are great!
Shayli: I was proud of you! you got up there! and you've come so far hun. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger! so get back on the pole show it whose boss and don't let it get you down!
Meagan: nobody thought you were a bad pole dancer. it was very obvious to everyone that it was very slippery. there was nothing you could do and the audience saw that.

Here's to realizing that a competition is a competition and while I didn't win (or do very well) I kept going!! I guess I get points for that right? I competed in the advanced division while I've only been advanced a very little time... I'm proud of myself. Even though I did nothing that was in my routine, I'm still proud that I did it.

I also learned that I need to ask and make sure that the pole was cleaned with the stuff I've been practicing with because everybody is busy and can't remember the request of one person out of so many competitors. I learned that I'm not so nervous about the crowd or the judges as much as I'm nervous I won't be able to do the routine. Had I had more confidence in myself about my routine I'd been working on I wouldn't have been nervous at all! Don't you worry - I'll get there :)

Anyway, I'll have everybody's video's uploaded hopefully tonight and I'll get mine recorded so I can save my pride a little bit to prove that I can do more than a scorpio ;)

My First Competition

2010-12-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

Last night was the Miss Blue December Competition. It was a wonderful experience and I'm really thrilled that I was able to be a part of it. I didn't win or place, but then again, I didn't really deserve to. I had written up my routine ages ago, but wasn't able to start actually practicing it until the last two weeks. I had pulled a muscle in my back and then I've been sick this whole week. I didn't iron out the details of my routine until the day of the competition.... Yeah, I super fail on that.

HOWEVER!!! All I wanted was to make it through the routine and I did. I made it through my routine and did all my moves at the right spots and didn't have to add lib anything in really. All in all I did better than I should have given my terrible planning and lack of practice on it all. Don't get me wrong, I put a lot of thought into it and worked very hard, but I learned one big thing from this competition:

There is a big difference between having a good routine and a winning routine.

The effort that I put into it got me what I deserved, a good routine. I hope it was a performance that everyone that watch truly enjoyed. Of course I would have liked to win ;) I cannot say enough how pleased I am that Ali won! She kept her routine true to the intermediate category, she was so creative, and I have learned a lot from her in the process!

One of the things I love about doing routines is how much I push myself. I wasn't nearly as tired from doing a 3:33 minute routine as I was for my Halloween one. So I do feel like I am progressing. I really need to work on learning how to transition between different types of moves. The area that I really need to work on is creativity. I need to get more into my costumes and themes, coordinating my moves with character I'm playing. There were so many girls performances that I absolutely loved because of their costumes and presentation. Being in the dressing room with all of hair spray, glitter, and make up was so much fun!

Here is a rundown of the scorecard I got from the judges:
(Highest score in each category is 10, except for deductions)

Artistry and Presence
Costume 6
Stage Presence 8
Originality/Creativity 10
Audience Connection 6
Total = 30

Choreography
Dance style fits music 9
Originality 8
Variations of speed 9
Rhythm 8
Musical accents marked with movement accents 8
Total = 42

Tricks and Execution
Execution of Tricks 8
Athleticism 9
Transitions 8
Difficulty 9
Control 9
Total = 43

Deductions
Unpointed Toes -3
Bent Knees -2
Unfinished Lines -1
Jump/Run to do trick -1
Total = -7

Total Score Minus Deductions = 108

Fabulous? Not really, but I'm ok with having room to improve. Pole is not something that is mastered easily. I think I've done well with advancing like I have, but it was a truly humbling experience to meet and see all the girls that participated. Sometimes in class we get caught up too much in our own progression. I felt like I was awesome, but it's good to see the talent around you and learn from it.

I think everyone did great! The bravery it takes to put yourself out there and perform is extremely commendable. I feel very privileged to have spent the evening with so many brave pole souls :)

Mac

PS: We'll post pictures/videos as soon as we get some.

Three Days Away

2010-12-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

So this week has been ALL about the routine. Putting it together, timing it all out, deciding what floorwork to do where, oh it's been ridiculous. But I'm finally over 80% completely ready. Life. Is. Grand.

Alex came to the studio last night with me to spot me because I didn't think anybody would be in the room with me... It was cool to show him the moves I've bee working on :)

Tiffany was also there and showed me two NEW moves!! I got the Yogini (I had done it before but not very well - she showed me a trick to help me get over the mental block I have with it) as well as how to re-grab from the suicide hold and do the bow and arrow.

Also, I sat up from the lady for the first time EVER!! I just used my foot hold with both feet, squeezed with everything I had in me, and sat up! Just like that!! I was so proud of myself, and even more glad that I brought Alex with me because he was there to witness me doing some pretty cool stuff!

Anyway, competition is on Friday and I think I'm finally ready! I'm going to go through it a billion times, but as for the moves that I was scared of, I'm not so scared anymore and I really think I can do it!!! Meagan said that I need to be able to do my routine 10 times to really REALLY be ready so that's what I'll be doing tonight and tomorrow. Because what's the day after that? The competition. BRING IT ON!!

And by the way, thanks for following Shayli!!! :) :) :)

Let's play picture catch-up

2010-11-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

Shayli and I went to Becca's second workshop in Midvale on Thursday last week and we did a lot of strength moves and because I was already sore and tired from Tuesday, I looked more like a limp noodle trying to do things than anything. It was fun though and I'm glad I went because I learned HOW to do a lot of moves I wouldn't know how to otherwise...

I haven't uploaded any pictures lately, so I figured I would do them all at once (they have been piling up a little bit...)

I have no idea what this is from because it's so old, but this one was a brutal looking one on the back of my knee:

And here is from when I performed a couple weeks ago. I don't remember it, but I must have hit my collar bone/shoulder really hard when I was doing my reverse shoulder dismount. This was actually taken a while after I got it so the bruise doesn't look near as bad as it did. It definitely looked like a couple hickeys right on my neck (even though nobody in the pole industry would have thought they were - they were pole hickeys!!).

At Becca Butcher's workshop on Tuesday I hit my ankle on something and it STILL hurts. It's still so bruised and in pain.. I have no idea how I hit it or what I did but I hope I never do it again!! If you can't see it, the bruise is right above where the arch of my foot is on the bone right there. OUCH!

Here's all the bruising I got from my many attempts at the knee holds:

And here's the one I got on my arm while trying (and failing) at the wonder woman move:

Here are my legs after both workshops last week - they weren't very happy with me to say the least ;)

Now let's talk about some not so injury-stricken events shall we? I have been working on a few moves and have yet to put these pictures up, but I got these moves a little while ago and am really proud of them.

I'm not sure what the name difference between one or the other is, but here's the crescent moon top and bottom... I really like the bottom one because I go from the lady to the crescent moon and I think it's really pretty.

Also, I don't know if you can even tell, but I'm going to post it anyway because I'm a slight bit vain (hey, at least I can admit it right?). I have been noticing lately that I actually have thigh and calf muscles!! I couldn't believe it!! :) I am so proud of them I really am... Just another reason why pole fitness is phenomenal ;)

Anyway, that about sums up my pictures for now... I've been working on my routine like crazy and can't wait to perform - it's going to be so much fun!! :)

Rebecca Butcher

2010-11-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

Check this out:

Or how about this one:

Phenomenal right? Her name is Rebecca Butcher and she is one of the world's top pole dancers. I was actually sad when I looked back at the Studio Blue's blog to find the video that I saw of her first from back in February, but it had been removed from Youtube due to copyright infringement or something like that. I had never met her before but was fascinated with her incredible skills.

Well, she held a workshop at Studio Blue tonight and I did things I didn't think I was able to do!!

My first major accomplishment of the night was that I did a handstand. I have NEVER been able to do a hand-stand. Remember how I haven't done any dance or gymnastics EVER? Well, that's true with hand-stands, too. I never played hands-up, stands-up as a kid or anything like that. So I was proud that I even got that far. Also, getting up controlled is HARD!!! That will definitely be something I'll work on.

After that, we worked on the Allegra. I don't think I've ever even tried it before, and it was awkward. I got it a few times, but it was definitely harder than I thought it would be.

We moved on to doing other things, like the cupid, to the fallen cupid, to the DISMOUNT from the cupid. Yeah. We did that. It's a complete mind game thing that I instantly LOVED! I had a hard time figuring out where my head went (even though it shouldn't be that hard.. You just put it between your leg and the pole - easy right?), but it was FUN! I will definitely be doing that again :)

We worked on twisted grip stuff that I didn't do so great at, but that was cool learning where my hands will eventually go. We also learned one she made up herself - a fan kick in the air on the pole while twisting your body and eventually doing a move that I swear on my life my jaw hit the ground. It was COOL!!

I also got my knee hold - and I got it well!! I got it to the point that I arched my back and stretched my arms out and tilted to the ground. I've NEVER been brave enough to try that. I actually did that on the Cupid too (but that one I pushed a little farther than my limits should have allowed and almost fell). I was SO proud of this one because it had always hurt so much that I would try here and there but never really commit to doing anything with it so I never got to the point where I could let go of both hands. :)

We talked about moves we could combine together to look awesome as well as got tips for our routines we were putting together for the upcoming competition.

I'm SO SO SO glad I went and can't wait for the next time she comes - it was so much fun - even if my body doesn't understand what it did wrong to deserve such punishment (lol). Thanks Becca!!!!

My first performance

2010-11-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

This weekend I performed for the FIRST TIME in front of a large party at the studio. I had never done any kind of performance before, so I wasn't sure how the performance would go. I know I had that deer in the headlights look on my face most of the day once I got the call to come perform because I was just so nervous. I didn't know if my hands would sweat so much that I wouldn't be able to hold onto the pole at all, or if I would have stage fright, or if I would be able to do the moves I wanted to do in the routine I put together.

I got there and soon realized that there was about 100 people there to watch just me. AHH!! I had imagined more of a small party but I was so very wrong! I got there and started stretching out by my pole because there was nowhere else to be, so there I was stretching for everybody to see, feeling a tad bit awkward.

I was then told the itinerary of the night and I really started to get nervous. I practiced a couple moves to make sure I could do them and I was up!!

Guess what?

I did good.

I did have Dry Hands and Dew Point on, but I was able to hold onto the pole and stick my moves. I did the Lady the best I've ever done it - up till this point, I'd always just walked myself down the pole, but that night I let go of my hands and watched them all the way down. I don't know if that made much sense, but I was really proud.

The only time I got nervous was when I realized the camera man was taking pictures of me and I may have repeated a move or two to keep the routine going because I spaced my routine completely. But apparently he thought I was "incredible" - my boyfriend came with me and was standing back and had to get out of the camera man's way so that he could take pictures. According to Alex, he was psyched to get those pictures of me! Hopefully my face isn't doing anything ridiculous!

I was proud though - and SO glad I did it. I feel just a little bit more ready for that competition on December 3, 2010.

For those of you deciding whether or not you want to compete, I just want to say DO IT. Even if it is just for the experience of knowing how performing a routine you prepared in front of an audience, DO IT. Hopefully I'll be able to watch a lot of you compete! ...but if not, hopefully I'll see a lot of you at the competition to help cheer me and the rest of the competitors on :)

PS - I may have pictures of my performance later, I'm trying to contact the camera man to get a few copies of them. :)

Injuries waste time

2010-11-11T16:08:00.001-08:00

So my leg is just barely getting to the point where I trust it enough to do things on the pole, which is AWESOME - don't get me wrong, but that also means that I need to do some major catching up.

I have a routine to put together for the competition on December 3rd that I thought I would be putting together all of last week as well as this week. So far all I have is a song and a couple combo's I want to do... Eeek!

Wish me luck - I'm getting a little bit nervous that I won't have time to put together a routine that will look semi-decent!!

Student of the Month

2010-11-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

Our Ginger is student of the month! Check out the sweet things that were said about her in the studio's blog :)

Confined to my BED

2010-11-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

Here it is, my first REAL injury from pole dancing and it was ALL MY FAULT.

I pulled something in my inner thigh on my left leg, making it difficult to walk, impossible to run, and even more impossible to do most moves on the pole.

If you saw my last post, you saw how busy of a week I've had. I did something EVERY DAY this week and not just little somethings, I did something fairly strenuous every day of the week.

Monday: Advanced pole
Tuesday: Intermediate pole
Wednesday: Dance combo
Thursday: Yoga pole, Intermediate pole, and Beginners pole
Friday: Private party
Saturday: Taught vertical strength, beginner pole and intermediate pole

All I have to say is that no matter how exciting classes sound or how much you want to take them, if you love your body even a little bit, TAKE A BREAK!! Taking a break from classes at the studio is hard because of how awesome they are, but it is necessary so that your body can catch up to what you are making it do!

Because I didn't, I was bedridden most of Saturday because it hurt so bad from trying to do moves in the intermediate class earlier that day that I REALLY shouldn't have done and I have to take it easy today as well as Monday too just in case to make sure it doesn't pull and cause permanent damage.

Pulling muscles and/or tendons is serious business. If you feel discomfort at all, tread lightly!! There is a point where you can push yourself too far and not be able to do it ever again.

Here's the helpful advice that I received from friends to help my leg heal:

Change back and forth between using an ice pack and a heating pad
Take an Epsom Salts bath (promise it helps)
Eat protein and bananas (they help break up the lactic acid)
Drink a lot of water
Ibuprofen
And most importantly: Stay off of it as much as possible!!!

Bottom line: Have fun with your pole dancing, but make sure to stretch both before and after you work out and listen to your body by not pushing it farther than it can handle.

PICTURES!

2010-11-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

We haven't posted any in a lot time so here are some! These were from intermediate silks class today. Liz is a wonderful teacher and I think we all had a good time. I really couldn't be more thankful this holiday season for all of the wonderful girls I've met at the studio. Times can get rather lonely lately, but the girls at the studio always bring a smile to my face.

Mac

Stuck! Help!

2010-11-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

So I had an interesting experience this morning that I thought I should share. Not only is this experience rather amusing, it also testifies to the awesomeness of pole/silks.

It all started this morning around 6:15 am. You see, I'm supposed to be to work by 6:30 am and it take about ten minutes to get there and about five minutes to walk in. So I needed to be leaving like right.that.minute! I was close, oh so super close! All I needed to do was get dressed and head out the door.

I have a short sleeved pink button up shirt that I wanted to layer under a brown sweater that I have. Pair that with skinny jeans and some brown boots and I was ready to head out the door. Little did I know what I was in for. I threw on the pink button up shirt and sweater, but when I looked in the mirror I hated it.

Back to the drawing board.

I stripped off the sweater and unbuttoned my shirt, but that is about as far as I could go. You see I ran into a terrible problem: I COULDN'T GET THE PINK SHIRT OFF! The cute cuffed sleeves had successfully gone up my arm, but now they would not go back down. The sleeves were too tight to fit back over my nicely developed arms from pole and silks.

So here I am standing in my bedroom in skinny jean, boots, with my shirt unbuttoned and off my shoulders. My arms were pretty much behind my back and I was STUCK. Seriously. I tried tugging at the bottom of the shirt to see if the sleeves would come down. No luck. They weren't going ANYWHERE. With all of the flapping and struggling I seriously looked like a turkey trying to fly.

In the end I had to pull the shirt back up on to my shoulders and stick a finger under the cuff and shimmy the cuff down my arm. This may sound easy, but when you are not pulling down the cuffs at the same time it can be a little tricky.

Needless to say, I didn't make it to work until about 6:45. I'm not going to say how long the whole ordeal took, but I'm sure you can all do the math. So next time anyone says pole doesn't seem like a workout, they clearly haven't ever become captive to one of their articles of clothing.

Just give a try and you'll probably look like this....

I can honestly say that I have never started my morning quite like that!

Mac

The first week of November

2010-11-05T08:10:00.000-07:00

Ok so I don't have a pictures or videos YET, but I promise I'll go crazy taking them because I've been doing some pretty cool stuff this past week:

1) I attended my first advanced class on Monday with Shayli this week! A-d-v-a-n-c-e-d. That's right. So I wasn't the best and I definitely couldn't do everything the first time I tried it, but I still did it. I was so tired after the class that I'm pretty positive that I went home and fell asleep haha.

2) On Tuesday, I headed up to Midvale to take Shayli's Intermediate class, where I got my Starfish by the headstand invert (I believe that's what it's called anyway). I also got the suicide a few times - not gracefully... at all - but I did get it :)

3) I attended the Pole Combinations on Wednesday from Meagan which KICKED MY BUTT!! She had us doing the headstand invert without any momentum to the starfish (you know, the move I learned the DAY BEFORE...) as well as shoulder mounts FROM THE FLOOR!! I was so sore after that class it was ridiculous. Admittedly, it was a great workout though...

4) I attended Yoga Pole on Thursday, which was so awesome! I absolutely LOVED it! Also, because of Yoga Pole, I got a Beginner Pole move that I'd never been able to get: The headstand where you rest all of your body weight on your forearms and your head doesn't touch the ground. Seriously, I've never done it so I was ecstatic!! I went into my fang and because of my bendy back I basically made a full circle by putting my feet on my face on the floor :) That's one thing I love about my back being bendy - I can make bendy moves look REALLY cool :)

5) I went to Intermediate Pole from Megan right after Yoga Pole and I felt like I'd been hit by a truck!! I was so exhausted, but I did everything anyway. I was proud of myself because I did all my climbing on my non-dominant foot, which hurt but at the same time, I was just about the same pace as everybody else climbing. :D

Also, I was able to do a very controlled shoulder dismount while doing the splits! I mean, even I was super proud because I did really good!! I'd never been able to really do a controlled shoulder dismount, let alone one while doing the splits all the way down. I'll get a video of it and put it up here later :) I want to try getting almost to the bottom and coming back up, but that's a lot of core stength that I don't know if I have ;)

This was the first class I'd ever FALLEN on my HEAD too. I was getting out of the some move and was thinking much too hard about what I was doing and slipped and bonked my head and because it scared me that I hit my head I immediately pushed myself over so I landed on my side really hard. Later that class I hit my head again doing something else. I'll tell you what, I apparently just didn't like my head that day!! :( For the record, I'm completely fine, no need to worry even a little bit :)

6) My friend came for Beginners Pole that I stayed for as well, and she did AWESOME... She's strong because she rock climbs and she's bendy because she teaches gymnastics, so she was able to pick up the moves even faster than I did! But that was fun. There were so many girls that me and McKell shared a pole and when they went into the pilates sit, I climbed to the top and Kell was on bottom and we both did the sit and then went into the splits superman... that was fun because I'd never done anything like that with two people on the same pole!

End of the week: My shoulders, arms, back, abs, butt, legs (I've got so much bruising on my thighs and my calves are so sore walking hurts!!), and feet KILL. And I have vertical strength and a pole class on Saturday!! Please wish me luck that I don't die!!!

Very Anti-Foolish Looking

2010-10-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

Ok... So October 20th was the three month anniversary for my membership. I cannotbelieve how much of a different it has made in how in shape I am. I'm seriously in the best shape of my life.

To put my skills to the test, I decided to do two performances at the Studio Halloween party last night. Routines are a lot more difficult than going to a one hour class. It's so different doing everything to the beat of a song and it requires a lot more cardio. Here is a description with some thoughts on my performances:

1st routine - Pole Dancing

There is a song called Hell by the Squirrel Nut Zippers that I have always really liked. They are a big band, swing style song so for being about Hell it's still really upbeat and fun. I decided to do a pole routine as Satan to the song Hell. I felt like the theme fit pretty well together.

I had made up my routine and went to practice it on Tuesday at Open Pole. I quickly discovered that the routine I made up was not long enough. So I had to rewrite it. I was practicing at my house as much as I could because I was terrified of looking stupid. The song is just over three minutes long and I could not put enough moves together to fill the time. Frustrated and discourage, I made the decision to add in some "audience interaction time" to help eat up some precious seconds. I just made sure I knew the timing of when to do the last move.

Even though I hadn't made it through the routine before last night, I seriously did better than I ever expected myself to do. Everything felt fluid and I really think I hit the timing great. The filler audience time even seemed really good. So in the end... I think I did well and I felt really good about it.

2nd Routine - Silks

The Hush Sounds is a band that I ABSOLUTELY love. I love Gretchen's voice and find it to be beautifully haunting. They have a song called Lighthouse that has a haunting piano medley with a dark ending to it. I love the song so I decided to use it for my silks routine.

Silks I had exactly the opposite problem with. When I went to go practice my routine, I soon discovered I had too MUCH. I really had to cut out quite a bit. I did two drops and three other really basic moves. That is all I could fit. The song was exactly three minutes long. Silks comes more natural to me, so I was less worried. My problem was that I ran out of time and energy to practice it all the way to the end. So I had never gone through the performance all the way for silks either.

The silks routine went really well. I did mess up a few times and it wasn't quite as smooth, but I think I did well. I wasn't near as stylized as the other girls routines. I sort of just climbed up there a did moves. I'll have to work on that. I ended up having a little extra time in the end so I had to wait for my drop. It was pretty good.

Moral of the story:

Never do two routines for one show. I was exhausted. Also, having every moved planned down each second of the song is kind of hard. Including time to freestyle in a routine is actually what saved my chops in pole. Don't wait as long as I did before really practicing everything "full out". I've been a nervous wreck for days over it. I'm really lucky that it turned out so well.

Currently I have no pictures of my performances. I SUPER fail. So if anyone else got any, please let me know because I would love to post some!

Thanks again to everyone who supports us at the studio and on this blog. We both really appreciate it!

McKell

Story with a moral at the end

2010-10-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

I figured I hadn't uploaded any bruise pictures lately, so I took on that has a pretty funny story with it...

So one day while trying to get into my house, I was carrying this mound of everything I could possibly hold from my car, and it was making it REALLY hard to grasp the door handle and turn it so I could get in.

My stripper shoes were on top of that stack and of course after struggling with the door handle they moved ever so slightly to the point that one of them fell. On my foot. My pinky toe to be exact. It got all swollen and bruised :(

You can't really tell, so I've circled the cute little bruise for you...

It hurt SO bad!! I can't even begin to tell you how much it hurt to walk... I should have taken it when my whole toe looked huge and the bruise was really dark, but I didn't think about taking a picture until now...

Moral of the story: Don't EVER drop your stripper shoes! They might land on your toe and cause you pain. In fact, make sure that your shoes have no chance of falling however you carry them - putting them in a bag is probably the best way of avoiding toe injuries.

On a better note, Diana took this picture of me last night so I figured I may as well put it up here. Shayli is spotting me (as well as helping my hands find the pole behind me because I was struggling) and I was doing the suicide. I got it once the whole time we tried, but I was proud of myself for getting it at all! :)

I learned how to do the upside down ball as well as the monkey splits on the pole. Last night was a rather successful night if you ask me :)

By the way - don't forget to get your tickets for the Halloween concert!!! McKell is performing and you won't want to miss it!!!

She dubbed me advanced!

2010-10-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

So today I decided to try out Tiffany's advanced class. It was a lot of fun and I liked that the moves were so challenging. One thing that we worked on at the end of class was shoulder mounts.

Now I have attempted this maneuver one other time at Hailey's house. Needless to say, I went upside down and fell. I got a pole burn down my right boob and my left thigh. Luckily Hailey's house has carpet, so I didn't hurt myself. After this failed attempt I never tried it again.

One thing that did mentally help me was the Studio Blog entry with the Tip of the Week. In that entry it describes shoulder mounts like trying to throw a 200 lb man over your shoulder. So today when I thought of that it really made a lot of sense.

Here is a video of my attempt at the end of class.

I had talked to Tiffany on a few different occasions about whether or not I was ready to attend the advanced class. With me being able to get a shoulder mount on my first attempt in class (with a spotter, safety first!) she said that I was an advanced student. To shoulder mount is to be advanced :D I was pretty excited! So I'll be trying to attend more advanced classes, but I'll still go to intermediate as well for the next little bit.

This move is very painful... I already have a mark on my shoulder. Plus I lost a little skin with it. I still need to get a picture of my foot injury up. Looks like I know what the next post will be!

PS: I'm terrified for my routine on Friday! Eek!

Mac

Some fun and determination

2010-10-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

For the record... I LOVE teaching. I don't know if I'm all that good at it yet, but I LOVE it. It gives me such a rush because it makes me realize that I'm getting better. Spins like the Showgirl aren't hard for me anymore, which is REALLY awesome :)

I did a private party last night which was SO much fun. The girls were a blast :) I taught the vertical strength class in Midvale this morning and played receptionist all day and will be doing another private party this afternoon. I LOVE IT!!!

I've been working on a few moves that I'm pretty proud of myself for getting down... I was telling the girls last night about how I was proud that I finally got the Lady down, and so what did they do? They had me do it for them. And I did good too!!! I have finally got the Lady as well as the Cupid, which was another one that was difficult for me.

I'm trying to be able to progress, but I almost feel like I've stayed at the same level for a little while now... I have been in California and this whole week I've either been just plain exhausted because of the trip or not feeling well at all, so I haven't really been to class this week, which could be why I'm feeling like I'm not progressing at all.

I'm getting there girls - I'm more determined than ever to finally get into the advanced classes :)

I'm BACK!!!

2010-10-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

I have missed the studio soooo much!!! I went to California for a wedding/my birthday weekend (I'm 23 now - but definitely still young!!) and haven't touched a pole since classes on Wednesday because we left Thursday...

Or have I?

There was a night where I wasn't going to have anything to do in a city I didn't know. So what did I do? I researched pole studio's in the San Jose, CA area and selected one to take a class from. They didn't have any lessons going on that night but offered to do a private class for me for an hour and a half for much more than Studio Blue but I assumed it was a California rate and that was going to be higher anyway so I just bit the bill and signed up.

I was SO disappointed.

Studio Blue has ruined other studio's for me because of how amazing everybody is. I was already thankful for them, but now I am even more thankful because of this experience.

First off, I was a half hour early because I figured I would get lost because I get lost EVERYWHERE I go but let the record stand that I DIDN'T get lost once ;) The private instructor showed up and asked if she could grab dinner or something because she had planned on it. Me, being early, said that wasn't a problem. She invited me into the studio to sit and chat while she was eating her PIZZA AND SODA. She was going to teach me an intermediate pole lesson and lap dancing with a stomach full of PIZZA AND SODA.

Now, I realize I haven't been taking pole lessons for very long, but like any other exercise program, I would assume that I can't fill my stomach on things like that before I work out. As she is eating, she says "I hope I can do this after eating this much pizza." I was SHOCKED.

Later, while going over a few moves (by the way, I think I would have made a few instructors proud), I asked her to show me one of the moves she was trying to do. Now, there were 8 poles, so she could have jumped on any one of them to show me, but she HAD to use the same one I was using, which was a little frustrating to me. She also said various times throughout the class that she hoped she could be able to invert and do that move that night because she didn't think she'd be able to.

We also had a lap dancing portion, where I gained tremendous amounts of respect for Meagan and the other girls who have taught lap dancing. The lady pulled out a couch, had me sit on it, and proceeded to show me a few moves I could do AS IF I WERE THE ONE GETTING THE LAP DANCE. I was completely uncomfortable and immediately got up and started talking about learning a routine, in which she said she usually just "wings it" and doesn't have a routine she goes by (even though the website said I would get to learn a full routine).

So we went to more pole and I cut the class early because I was so upset.

Thank you Studio Blue for several things:
-Meagan, thank you for being an amazing owner who handles both studios with a great management style. Thank you also for treating the clients with upmost respect.
-Studio Blue has an owner who hires teachers and private dance instructors who know what they are doing, are good at what they do, and look like they can do it.
-Those teachers and dance instructors treat their students with respect.
-They also know what they can and cannot do in order to be able to teach the class. They take care of their bodies and inspire their students to do the same.
-They are respectful with teaching potentially sensitive subjects like lap dancing. I have NEVER seen an instructor give someone a lap dance without permission (I have seen a lap dance request though haha).
-Regardless of what class they are teaching, I have NEVER come to a class where the instructor didn't come prepared in both body and mind. Teaching means that you can't eat pizza and soda and expect to be able to teach a work-out class and throw your body upside down several times and be able to do it to the best of your ability.

I can't express how thankful I am to be a part of this studio enough. Thanks for everything Studio Blue!! :)

Busy Tuesday!

2010-10-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

So today was a busy day for me at the studio. I for sure had signed up for three classes, which I normally never do.

1-Open Pole
2-Beginner Silks
3-Intermediate Pole

I had a coworker approach me about a membership and trying pole dancing out. So I told her if she wanted, then she could come to open pole with me and I'd teach her and intro class. She came with me and did SO good! She really wants to lose weight, have fun, and get fit. I think the studio is the perfect solution for her :)

After my intro class she was so excited that she signed up immediately. I was stoked!

Silks was super fun. I think I might be about ready to move to intermediate. Not sure because there are still a bunch of moves I feel I need to learn. Maybe I just should just start doing both. Tiffany was a doll and started taking pictures of everyone. Here is the one she took of me. I'm a cross back inverted split.

Pole was also a lot of fun. Tiffany was the teacher for pole and she likes to make me invert on my weak side. It's good that I do it, but I totally suck at it so I always feel like a fool! We went through a lot of moves and I felt I did pretty well. I might try an advanced class next week to see if I can keep up :)

One thing I loved about Tiff's class was that she went around and had all the students tell her their names. Now I recognize a lot of the girls at the studio, but I didn't know any of their names. I'm excited to actually know their names and want to start using them as often as I can so that I will remember.

Mac

Maybe I should be a Leopard for Halloween

2010-10-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

All I would need is leopard heels (which would be amazing), little kitty ears, and I leopard shirt... the black spots would totally match the ones on my legs! This picture, sadly, hardly does the look of my legs any justice. They basically look like a horror show.

Many of you might be wondering: How does one get so many bruises?

Excessive time spent around poles!

My boyfriend and I of a year and a half parted ways three weeks ago and I realized my entire life was spent in his world. With him, his activities, his friends... so needless to say, I suddenly have a ton of time of my hands. That means I've been giving myself more bruises than I ever thought humanly possible. Thank goodness for the studio to distract me through this rough transition!

Is it healthy to bruise this much?

I'm not sure, but I have decided to take a few steps to help with my bruising. I bought some arnica gel to put on them to help the healing. This was upon the suggestion of a wonderful girl I had vertical strength with. We paired up for the reverse back crunches. I also picked up a women's multivitamin. Hopefully the extra B-vitamins and iron will make it so I bruise less :)

Seriously Studio Blue, thank you so much. You've been a wonderful sanctuary for the past three weeks.

Mac

Routines are HARD!

2010-10-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

Ok... so I've signed up to perform a few routines in the next few months:

1-Silks performance at the Studio Halloween party
2-Pole performance at the Studio Halloween party
3-Pole performance for the December Competition

So I've been really excited and have written down a the routines I'm doing for all three. All three routines include moves that I have done and can do; HOWEVER, pairing them all together is fetching hard!

I went through my Halloween pole routine this morning and I have a whole new respect for the routines that I have seen. It's one thing to hop of a pole in class and do the move the teacher is asking you to do, but getting on there and doing a whole chain of moves.... Yeah, it's going to be a lot more work than I was expecting.

I have time and the ability, but I seriously misjudged the effort it was going to take. I hope I can get them all down so that they are amazing ;)

Mac

Intermediate Pole

2010-10-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

So the studio changed it's curriculum and I think it's wonderful! Instead of the Pole 1-4 now it's intro, beginning, intermediate, and advanced. That puts the ginger and I in intermediate pole. However, we know almost all of the moves, so we could be moving on to advanced soon ;)

This is a Scorpio with a leg grab

The ginger performing the same move as mentioned above

This is my new favorite move! It's called the starfish :) Don't mind all the bruises that you can see down my legs! That's totally normal.

My three month pole anniversary is on October 20th. It would be so crazy if we were in advanced by then! I'd be pretty proud of the two of us. We've worked really hard and attended a lot of classes. The work is definitely paying off though! We going to be doing some performances and competitions in the next few months. I'm pretty freakin' excited!

Parties and Distractions

2010-10-10T16:17:00.001-07:00

Last night was my first private party and we had a blast!!! McKell was at the Midvale studio already because of the drop workshop so we decided to stay together rather than drive home by myself in the middle of the night...

It was SO much fun!! We went through a few of the basic pole spins and then taught them a lap dancing routine. I can't wait to do more of them :)

At the end we did a little demo of the things they could do if they start coming to the studio and learning more. Merely going upside down made their jaws drop, so when we were throwing out cupids, split supermans, fallen angels and the like they were going crazy they thought we were so awesome. It was a really good feeling to know that I used to be in their spot looking at the instructors thinking I could never do what they were doing... and look!! I am!!!

One of the girls asked me if I could show her how to do the splits superman, which I tried to do, until I realized that there were steps involved in getting to the point that I could be able to do it. I had to be able to do the thigh sit and not slide all over the place, I had to be able to do the V-sit, and finally get to the point where I could do the baby superman. From there, I had to be able to do the belly up superman and finally the box superman to get me to the point that I could do the splits superman. Who knew so many steps were involved in one simple move??

On a side note, I went to the doctor's yesterday morning (nothing to be worried about) and I had my stripper shoes in my purse and I couldn't figure out for the life of me why the nurse kept getting distracted by my purse while she was checking my vitals and such. I thought it was pretty funny when I realized WHY she kept looking at my purse!! :)

Letting Go

2010-10-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

This Saturday the studio offered a Drop Workshop for silk class. Sorry if the blog lately has been too much silks and not enough pole. We're working on it ;) However, the workshop was absolutely incredible and so much fun! Liz was the teacher and she is seriously amazing. She's adorable! I'm learning that I should have taken notes, because remembering all the steps of what to do with the silks can be pretty tricky.

Here are two videos of the drops that I learned:

Being up so high and falling was kind of terrifying, but it was also kind of liberating. My body was so sore after it was over! Such a wonderful workout. Thanks to everyone that was there to cheer me on ;)

Next post will be about pole... I promise!

Mac

A Beginner Attempt

2010-09-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

I'm a beginning silks soul, but I wanted to do a little video of all of the things I've been learning. It's not perfect, I made a lot of mistakes, but I was exhausted and am a total newb!

Enjoy!

Mac

I finally got it!

2010-09-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

So we went to our friend Hailey's house to play on her pole the other night and had a BLAST!! We spent two hours on it and didn't even realize it! My body sure realized it later though - I'm bruised everywhere and everything is sore - but it was worth it!

I told McKell that one of my main goals was to do the cupid and would have been really sad if she got it before me. Welp... She did. But I did the very next time after her... (I was a little sad but overall I'm just impressed that both of us did it - multiple times.)

She snapped a picture of me doing it - check it out!!

The key to this move is throwing your hips forward and just COMMITTING to the move. Not letting go prevents the knee hold from catching like it should, so your knee hook doesn't do it's job until you just let go. It was really crazy how it all fell into place when I finally just committed to the move and DID IT!!

We also did a few other moves... But one I liked a lot was the splits superman (or something like that) because I have a REALLY flexible back, so I was able to spin all the way around. I'm wondering if I could have touched my head to my toe had I known where my feet were... We'll see if that even looks good. But McKell got a good shot of me doing it :)

Exhausted

2010-09-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Can I just say how much I love the girls at the studio???

As you know, I've been struggling with those dismounts... and I finally tried the splits dismount and ALMOST landed it (just on my feet though) - my only problem was that when I landed my feet bounced a couple times rather than sticking the land, but I was super close! The whole room applauded me!!

I love the girls at the studio because not only are they amazing girls, but we get to know each other in class and know what moves some are good at as well as the moves some girls may be terrified of. It's not a secret that dismounts terrify me because when I try them I end up psyching myself out and just standing there upside down unable to do anything because I'm so scared. So for me to finally try the splits and DO IT was a huge deal - and everybody in the room knew it.

Thanks for the applause girls!

Also, I learned a new trick - the dislocator plus the ballerina move at the end of it. I LOVE IT!! I'm not so great at it right now, but I'm psyched to get good at it because it looks so pretty.

The other move I've been working on is the Cupid and when McKell pushed my leg to tighten up my knee hook and I knew she was there, I LET GO!! It was a cheater version of doing it, but I DID IT!!! At least now I know how it feels and how I need to do it without the extra help ;)

We took the combined 2.0 and 2.5 class last night and I'm still so exhausted. Me and McKell most definitely gave every move we tried our all and it showed. She did great and I was even able to get some of the moves better than I had before... I even got creative at one point and started doing my inverts on my left side (I usually invert on my right) and did a couple moves including the Fallen Angel on the opposite side than I am used to. That was really fun :)

Back in the groove...

2010-09-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

So while I have completed all of the Pole 1.5 tricks, due to my traveling for work, I had not been able to actually attend a Pole 2.0 class. Tonight was my first one and I was kind of nervous! With the Ginger by my side, I felt motivated to do every single move. Mostly because she can do them and I for sure don't like to be shown up.

For the record, I did REALLY well! I did almost every move with relative ease except for the Mast. The part that made me the most proud is that I was able to do all of the moves on my first try :D

The video is for sure me going from a Gemini to a Scorpio with no hands. I know it isn't perfect, but hey, it was my first day learning it. I super wish this class was offered more than once a week! The advanced stuff is so much fun!!

Mac

Parties

2010-09-25T19:01:00.001-07:00

Back in May, I put together a bachelorette party for my friend and we decided it would be fun to go to Studio Blue for their one-hour party. We didn't tell my friend because going pole dancing is not something she would have volunteered to do, but ended up having a great time once we got there.

Shayli happened to be the one to host the party and it was because of that party that I decided to get a membership. (It only took me over a month, but I got it - doesn't that count for something?)

Well, now for the good news:

I am in training to become on of the party hostesses for Studio Blue and/or Pearl... and I'm pretty excited about it. It should be a good time! One thing is for sure, I will never forget some of the basic spins like I keep hearing some of the girls in the advanced classes have done, considering I'll be teaching them on a regular basis :)

I still got it!

2010-09-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

So for the past three months I have been traveling for work. The last 4 weeks I have been gone every single week and one weekend. Needless to say, my per diem and lack of the studio was adding to my waistline.

Today was my first day at the studio in two weeks and it kicked my freakin butt! I'm so sad that Shayli is teaching down in Midvale :( I will really miss her. The other teachers are very good and I know I'm in the best of hands. We may have to go visit her down there though. Her going away vertical strength class was a killer though. It made me realize how rusty i was!

Silks I was able to reassure myself that I haven't lost my skills entirely. Haylie was subbing for Liz and showed me a lot of fun stuff. This is me doing an inverted air split!

Mac

Cocoons and dismounts

2010-09-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to the Intro to Aerial Silks with Shayli, and we learned how to fall in a little ball and let go of the silks with your hand and how bad that hurts. It was cool though to know that I could let go and I wouldn't die... I also learned how to get into the cocoon by starting with a figure eight lock (by the way, did you know cocoon was spelled like that? Might just be me, but it looks so wrong!!). I'm sure "the cocoon" is not the right name for it, but I can't remember what it's called for sure... All I know is, that it doesn't hurt as bad as I thought it would and I was super excited to be able to do it!

This is the first time I'd ever seen anybody do the cocoon move! Here's Shayli at Zombie Prom back in August.

Later that night, I went to the 1.5 class with Megan and happened to be the only one in the class... So she gave me free reign to decide what I wanted to work on.

I didn't even have to think about it...

Dismounts.

Anybody who has ever been in the class with me knows that I'm a CHICKEN when it comes to the dismounts. The shoulder summersault one I can do easy... But then I try to do the cartwheel, the splits, and the push up one and I freak out. I seriously psych myself out so much that I'll be upside down and just frozen because I'm scared to do ANYTHING.

Well, we worked on them... And Megan was so patient with me and my freaking out, but I got the idea of what I'm SUPPOSED to be doing, and even figured out the push up one... Which means I'm 50% there!! All I've got to do is figure out the cartwheel and the splits. I can do it!!!

Also, in other news... I figured out what song I'm going to be using for the competition in December and I'm so psyched. I seriously spent days trying to figure it out - listening to the radio (every genre) and writing down songs that could potentially be the song I wanted to use... But I finally found it. And NO, I'm not telling you! You'll just have to come see me!!! :)

Fallen Ginger Angel

2010-09-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

Yeah, she's pretty awesome. She totally has this move way better than I do. I can't wait until I'm home more to be able to practice!

Mac

New Moves

2010-09-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

So I've been trying to master a few new moves that are all HANDLESS!!

1 - The basic Cupid

2 - The Scorpio

3 - From the Scorpio I change legs and it becomes a Gemini

It's been a lot of hard work and I have yet to really do well on any one of those moves, but it's been a lot of fun too!

Here's a picture of how bruised up my knees got in only one day of working on the Cupid...

In other news, I finally told my mom about how I pole dance - GASP - and she didn't freak out like I thought she would. I even invited her to the competition coming up on December 3rd because I want her to come see me compete! :)

Just Dance!

2010-09-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

For the Labor Day sale that was going on, membership purchases included a free t-shirt. The Ginger and I needed no convincing to extend our memberships. Oh Studio Blue membership, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

1-The staff is welcoming and supportive every time we walk in
2-The work outs are amazing, leaving me sore for days
3-I'm learning to appreciate a little sensuality in life
4-I've stumbled on some creative self-expression
5-I feel challenged, but capable at the same time
6-FUN, FUN, FUN!

For anyone that is looking for a passion to help them live life, I'd recommend mine to anyone ;) Pole and silks (as well as any other classes the studio offers) are really something I look forward to during the week.

Mac

Letting go

2010-09-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

I'm so psyched because at our Pole 1.5 class with Megan I learned a 2.0 move: The Dislocater.

Dun, dun, dun...

I LOVED it... It's definitely my new favorite thing to jump into. Unfortunately I don't have a video of me doing it, but here is a youtube video of somebody doing the dislocater. She does it only once but plays it over and over so really you only need to watch the first couple seconds...

I have been trying to find a video of the move I combined it with with absolutely no luck, but I started with the flower and let go of my bottom hand to finish the move with the dislocater.

Alex, McKell and I played on the pole for a good hour last night and it was so much fun to work on moves that both me and McKell needed to work on as well as teach Alex some of the moves too. I was almost sad when I realized that when "Bring your man to class week" roles around, Alex will be one man who doesn't give up and watch by the end of class because he'll be right up there with the rest of us girls. He was REALLY good :)

McKell had found a move called the "Peter Pan" online so we tried it because we were basically doing that move anyway, and that ended up being really fun. The Peter Pan consists of starting out with a flower, then letting go with the bottom hand while bringing both legs up to a forward pike, and ending with your legs hooked around the pole in a fairy position. It was REALLY fun!!

I overheard Alex talking to a friend later that night and admitted that pole was MUCH harder than he would have expected and that he was so sore because of working out on the pole. :)

I can't wait for my pole class tonight - learning new things is so much fun! I seem to be terrified of the different kinds of dismounts though... I just sit there upside down pep talking myself to do anything other than the summersalt dismount. We'll get there. (Did you notice that I am finally ok with the inverts, by the way??? Yeah I'm proud.)

Also, I got my article posted on Studio Blue's blog as well :)

Click HERE for McKell's article if you haven't read it yet and HERE for mine :)

Articles and Advancing

2010-09-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

This will be a relatively quick post...

1st:

The wonderful owner of the studio asked us to write some articles for her blog. I sent her one last week and she posted it! Feel free to read my guest blog for the studio by clicking here.

2nd:

The Ginger and I took a Pole 1.5 class last night (which we have only participated in one other time) and did almost everything with relative ease. We were told by the instructor that we were good to move on. What does this mean?!?

We have advanced to level 2.0!

I am just a few days away from having my membership for 2 months. So if I keep pace and increase a full level every month, I should be rather advanced before the end of the year.

E.X.C.I.T.I.N.G!

Mac

Awestruck

2010-09-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

There are really no words to describe how absolutely amazing the competition was on Friday night. I'm SO SORRY if you missed it and highly recommend that you make it at the top of your priority list to make it to the next one because it was OUTSTANDING!!

Everybody who competed was absolutely amazing! I loved going mostly because I saw what I could do eventually if I work hard enough, and trust me, the way they all looked so great I would definitely be willing to put the hours into getting that good... even if I only looked a fraction of how amazing they all did!

Shayli asked us at our vertical strength class who we liked best and honestly I couldn't tell her because they all did so great in their own way. I liked how each girl had their own style and their own way of making a routine look amazing. There were girls who made it look sensual and might have made me blush, there were girls who were good at the power pole moves - holding moves outside of the pole that proved that they had incredible core strength, and everybody did moves that made me drop my jaw.

Literally.

Apparently every time McKell looked over at me I was looking at the girl(s) with my jaw dropped. I just couldn't believe I was actually seeing some of the moves live - I mean, I've seen a lot of them on youtube videos and such, but that is nothing close as seeing it in person. I was so fascinated with everything.

Plus, they had guest performances in between just about every competitor, which showed the audience what you could learn at Studio Blue. We saw performances on aerial silks, hoop, trapeze, as well as some dance numbers.

I brought my boyfriend, Alex, and because he would have been alone at the house, Fabian came as well, and needless to say, for as much as they both hated on us for going to our "stripper school," they were impressed with everything they saw too. Alex was especially impressed with Justin and Devon when they performed their dance numbers. It made me laugh as Alex would get wide-eyes while saying, "Did you see that???" Yes, honey, I'm sitting right next to you. :)

I was impressed with everything that happened last night and I'm so excited for next year - apparently we're going to be doing more competitions monthly starting next year. Looks like I've got my deadline to work for. Who knows? Maybe I'll have a "Miss {insert month here} Blue 2011" if I get advanced enough to win in one of these competitions!!

Want to have splits like Felix Cane?

2010-09-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

Felix Cane is the current International Pole Champion. If you have never seen her perform then go look her up on youtube. Go. NOW! You must see her amazingness. For those of you that do know who she is, you know she is insanely flexible.

I like to look at any other websites about pole and found an absolutely fabulous one called Candy & Chrome. Let's be honest, Candy & Chrome is the most adorable name for a pole site ever. Plus the site is based in the UK, so the writers are cheeky and fun.

One of the writers did an interview with Felix Cane on how to stretch for the splits. The ginger and I have done this together once and it was amazing! Don't be fooled... it looks easier than it is, after the stretches we were tired and panting. None of the following content is mine. All of the instructions and pictures were from their site, which is leaps and bounds above ours. I just hope one day we can have a set up like theirs :)
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Splits Training Exercises – Felix Cane Style!
Posted by Tiny in Pole Dance Mag on May 7th, 2010 | no responses

These stretches were advised specifically upon the request of Candy & Chrome by Felix Cane, world Champion Pole Dancer.

Candy & Chrome believe that stretching before and after pole dancing is essential, especially if you are hoping to achieve the splits. That’s why we asked World Champion pole dancer, and winner of Miss Pole Dance Australia 2006 & 2008 how she got her amazing flexibility and what specific splits training exercises we can do to improve.

Basic rules of the stretches

Start by holding each stretch for 30 seconds at a time, then repeat two more times. Complete the stretches three times a day, it’s a good idea to do this whilst watching T.V or whilst on the phone etc… so you are distracted from the pull.

Once mastered, increase your holding time to 1 minute each time, then a minute and a half etc.

Ideally, it’s a good idea to stretch the WHOLE body too, as the more flexible you become as a whole, the better your leg flexibility will be too.

Stretches

1. Sit on the floor with your legs stretched in front of you. Close your legs together. Flex your feet and lean as far forward as you can comfortably. It is not necessary to push until it hurts, just until your muscles feel tight, and never bounce. Hold for 30 seconds, then release. Repeat 2 more times.

2. Position yourself into a forward ‘lunge’, only with the top of your back foot along the floor. Lower yourself down until you feel a pulling in your hip muscle. Twist your upper body inwards towards the bent knee just a smidge to strengthen the stretch. Hold for 30 seconds, then release. Progress to Stretch 3.

3. From your above lunge position, push yourself backwards so that your ‘back leg’ is now bent underneath you and you are sitting on it. Your ‘bent knee’ should straighten in the process. Really straighten that front leg now and flex your foot. Hold for 30 seconds, then release. Go back to strectch 2 and repeat stretch 2 and 3 another two times on the right leg, then repeat the whole process on the left leg.

4. Lie on your side with your legs straight, bodyweight resting on your bent arm. Raise the upper leg as high as you can comfortable, and hold it with your outside arm (not the one you are resting your weight on!). Hold for 30 seconds, then release. Repeat another 2 times. Repeat the process again on the other side.

5. Lie flat on your back, legs straight. Raise one leg as high as you can and hold it back with both hands, keeping it as straight as possible, flexing your foot. Hold for 30 seconds, then release. Repeat another two more times. Repeat the process on the other leg.

6. Sit on the floor with your legs in front of you as wide as you can. Gently lean forwards until you feel it pull. Hold for 30 seconds, then release. Repeat another two more times. You can utilise this stretch to incorporate arm stretches at the same time if you like.

We will be offering demonstrations of these stretches at all Candy & Chrome venues, Chester, Frodsham, Queensferry, and Buckley as part of your pole dancing lessons.

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Thanks so much to Candy & Chrome for loving pole enough to write wonderful articles to help us all improve and master the skill!

Mac

When everything is upside down

2010-09-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

I forgot to upload a picture from a LONG time ago... I had been playing around on the aerial silks with Mallory and had her take a picture of me inverted on them because I was so proud of merely being able to invert... I'm excited for aerial tonight - it's been way too long since I've played on those silks!!

Got Pole?

2010-09-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

First of all... Can I say how psyched I am for the competition on Friday?!?! I'm SO PSYCHED!!! I have been counting down since I very first heard about it! If you haven't seen the contestants, Meagan just posted the line-up on Studio Blue's blog.

Should be a really good time - good luck everybody who is competing!!

Anyway... New favorite room in the house: THE GARAGE!! I've been having SO MUCH FUN with the pole McKell got at the house! I didn't realize how much fun it would be... Last Sunday, a few of our friends came over for dinner and the girls went out and played on the pole, which only created the addiction of pole fitness for our friend who had come over.

Pole fitness is instantly addicting once you've learned a few spins. I couldn't believe how quick both me and McKell were addicted to the classes, but I guess I almost thought we were abnormally excited about the whole thing. Boy was I wrong... The more I talk to other people about it the more I find out that it is equally addicting to anybody who tries it.

Our friend was a PRO, too! She jumped on that pole, only having had an intro pole class once a long time ago and hit every spin we taught her the very first time! I was impressed! Sorry we don't have any pictures from that night, but we'll be doing pole nights more often considering the boyfriends/husbands like to do poker nights - it's a win/win, right?

The other night, me and Alex were in the garage playing on the pole, when Fabian and Jake came in and joined us. It was pretty funny watching the guys attempt to pole dance. One thing they have going for them is that they have upper body and core strength so they were able to throw themselves wherever they wanted their bodies to go, whereas I'm not the most strong so I can't {YET}.

To awesome adventures with a pole in our garage...

Cheaters

2010-09-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

So while I was gone for work this last week, the pole arrived. This was wonderful, because my last class at the studio was last Thursday. That is over a week ago and to make matters worse, this weekend the studio is closed for Labor Day. What could be worse than that??? How about leaving for work, AGAIN, on Monday... So really, my next class at the studio won't be until next SATURDAY :(

Keeping this in mind, the arrival of the pole from Lil' Minx couldn't have made my heart sing more than it did! It arrived in a totally discrete 8' cardboard box.... I wonder what is in there!!! Since I was gone, Alex graciously signed for it. Once I got home, it was time to get her installed. (Apparently while writing this, I determined the pole's gender. Feel free to comment with name suggestions)

The fun thing about the pole is that it can be stationary or rotating. We practice all of our stuff with it being stationary, but then we do like to cheat and use the rotating feature. It's really a good time! It's way easier than a stationary pole, but we're not going to learn new moves with it so as to not get dependent on the spinning feature. So really, we are only kind of cheating ;)

Here are some videos that we took today:

Brit the Ginger doing an inside martini into a cheerleader

Now she's doing a forward showgirl into a reverse showgirl.

Brit's boyfriend, Alex, wanted to take part in the fun. He was pretty good! All that upper body strength really made it easy for him. However, he didn't do as well with the stationary pole. He may have racked himself and crawled into the kitchen in pain. And we may have heard him calling it an "evil pole" over and over.

This is me trying to put as many moves as I could into one go with the spinning pole. If only it were always this easy :)

Our next set of pictures and videos won't be of us cheating, promise!

Mac

Lap Dancing Workshop

2010-08-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

We went to our first Lap Dancing Workshop on Friday, which was such a great time!!We learned a trick or two, which never hurts in the art of lap dancing - I mean it's not the easiest thing to have immediate confidence with (maybe that's just me though). We got a routine down and had a blast doing it! I certainly hope there is another one sometime soon because me and Kell had so much fun :)

It's always nice to feel sexy, regardless of why you are taking the workshop. That's one thing I enjoy about the studio, whether it be taking a pole class, an aerial class, a work-out class, or a workshop like this, you just feel good afterward. You feel like you accomplished something, like you did something AWESOME. Even though the most awesome trick I can do without a massive amount of help is merely inverting on the pole, I still feel sexy and confident because I CAN DO IT!!

This workshop was nothing different. Even if I never plan on actually performing a lap dance, it was something that made me feel sexy, confident, and an amazing woman!!

No, our garage is NOT a Strip Club...

2010-08-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

However we did buy a pole today! I can't wait until it arrives :) The pole is a Lil' Mynx, stainless, stationary and rotating pole. Now we can practice at home! Hopefully this will help us become better and move up the ranks faster.

The picture below is not of our pole... Ours won't have a stage, but it will be a nice stainless steel one. I've heard they are kind of slippery, but Lil' Mynx doesn't sell brass ones. I heard their site was the best and I'm so glad the guys cleaned out the garage this last week!

Girls night anyone?

Mac

mo-Mo-mO-MO-MONSTER BRUISE!!!!!

2010-08-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

So... after three classes of spinning and inverting I did some damage to my leg. Now we have posted bruises on here before; however, this is the mother of all bruises. Maybe not for all time, but at least for this blog.

Check out my poor leg:

So do you think it's ok for me to wear shorts/capris? Or is this tempting society to turn my boyfriend in for abuse?

Let me know!

Mac

PS: We have a new follower! When we saw this, we got super stoked. You should comment how you found us and why you follow.

My Limit

2010-08-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

Up until approximately 7:36 yesterday I thought there was no way I could be sick of pole, or even tired of pole and want to take a break.

That was before I signed up for three classes in a row:

From 6-7: Open Pole. Shayli happened to be there and we may have asked her what we could work on. She had us do the Fallen Angel, which we were able to do (you may applaud), but for sure got worked in the process. My thighs and knees were so bruised and tender from doing that move I could hardly do regular spins after that. By the way... The Fallen Angel is a level 2.5 move. Yes. Please applaud.

I like to think I did better than this because the second picture she took was blurry and didn't take very well... but it is quite possible that my first attempt at the Falling Angel really did look this awkward...

From 7-8: Pole 1... Usually this would have been more of a break and just mastering spins, but this time we put on our almost six inch shoes the entire time. They are a little hard to get used to at first, that's for sure.

From 8-9: Pole 1.5... We did inverts, dismounts, and other moves that just drained me. I hadn't had dinner though so that's probably why I was so out of it, but still... McKell did really good with what we were learning that night though. :)

All in all, I'm just excited I can invert without pep talking myself for 15 minutes beforehand... I still need to be able to jump straight rather than having to completely fight for it all the way up the pole, but I'm getting there.

Oh, and by the way, after doing pole for under two months, I have noticeably more toned arms, abs, and thighs. Best workout ever - and it's FUN!!! So glad I signed up for the membership! :)

Elbow Handstands

2010-08-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

Today Mac and I went to our weekly Vertical Strength class, which was taught by Megan today... My arms are actually screaming at me while I'm typing this because we did so much. We focused on arms, abs, butt and legs.

I'm used to not being able to breathe and looking like I just got out of the shower because I'm sweating so much, but when we focused on each muscle area and stayed there for a long amount of time, I was worked!! I think it's the butt muscle work-outs that got me because I was shaking so bad! The only reason I kept going was because everybody in the class was doing it and Megan was doing it like it was no big deal... So I should be able to do it too, right??

I definitely struggled. I keep going though because SOMEDAY I'm going to rock it and be strong and flexible and be able to do everything because my core strength will be through the roof. Ok, ok, so that may be exaggerating, but it's a nice dream to work up to...

We stayed for Pole 1 as well, which was actually not too bad. Ever since I discovered the awesomeness of Dry Hands ($8 at the studio), I've been able to hold on better. Now, I hold on really well without Dry Hands, but after a Vertical Strength class where I'm sweaty beyond comprehension and can't hold onto the pole at ALL, Dry Hands come in handy.

We went over all the spins from the Pole 1 curriculum, which included: Fireman, Martini, Showgirl, Reverse Showgirl, Forward to Reverse Showgirl, Pirouette (both regular, with a swoop, and reverse showgirl at the end), Chair, Cheerleader, Sundial, and Elbow Handstands.

I was royally struggling with some of them that I had done well at the week before... Just goes to show that just because you hit it great once doesn't mean you're going to hit it great every single time!

The only time I have EVER done an Elbow Handstand was against a wall about a month ago at the house because McKell convinced me to, claiming it was easy. Well... It was easier than I thought it would be...

We did the Elbow Handstands and every pose that went with it.. and to get off, we SAT UP. Yes, after doing all the poses, we had to squeeze our ankles as tight as possible (with Megan helping to "Bear Hug" us so we didn't fall) and just sit up to get down.

McKell and I did it twice and the second time, I ALMOST sat up without being "bear hugged" - I just didn't have enough abs strength to grab the top of the pole!! I was pretty proud with myself. I was proud right up to the point that I went to do the headstand again, missed the pole, and landed flat on my side. Ouch. First "injury" in pole though - and it wasn't even too bad!

We've been looking into getting a pole, and learned today that stainless steel is more slippery than brass poles, which will be more frustrating to do advanced moves on. When we make a purchase, even though I think the stainless LOOKS better, I think we're going to have to get a brass one because we're going to get to the advanced level eventually, right?

We took some videos and pictures again today... Check them out!!

McKell is doing the Baby Superman... and if you notice, I am inverting WITHOUT HANDS!! I was a rockstar today... Not to be arrogant or anything like that ;)

Also, remember when I spent the day trying to get the invert on Wednesday? Here is the nice bruise on my ribcage. It's actually better than it was before... Oh the things we go through to learn a new trick...

McKell is doing the Reverse Showgirl and I'm doing the Martini...

Scrapes, Shorts, & Shoes

2010-08-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

So I'm back from my little work trip and was very excited to be home. One of the things awaiting me was my new pair of shoes! The Ginger and I took the plunge and bought some "stripper" platform heels from the studio. I got one pair and she got two. Now, I know platforms generally are pointless, but these do make pole dancing easier.

How on earth do 6 inch heels help?

(1) Being taller can help you get higher on the pole for spins and thus result in more rotations. More rotations = better pole dancing.

(2) There is clear plastic on the front of the shoes that make it a lot easier to climb the pole. Climbing the pole is required for more advanced moves.

Here are the new shoes we got :)

The all clear heel sported by Brit. Look at the cute freckle on her ankle. She is such a ginger.

The all white, UV light platforms with clear straps donned by myself. I'm so excited to wear these to black light.

The cutest shoes in the house! Brit's pink UV platform stripped heels. They for sure glow RED in the black light class. Super Awesome!

The best part of these shoes is that we both wear size 7! That means that we can SHARE :) Sharing is caring and it's great to be able to get different kinds of shoes. So now we have three pairs of shoes to wear at our leisure.

Pole dancing with the shoes on is still really complicated. I basically felt like I was starting back at square one yesterday. One of the things that I do really well is the "swoop" to get into moves. With heels, I'm a lot more timid and so my swoop isn't as powerful. So I will need to learn to be brave.

If you notice the scrape above my knee, that is from my heel catching my leg during a spin. It hurt like you wouldn't believe! All the bruises are from inverting though and they look really nasty.

While I'm talking about shopping, here is our latest buy:

We go to pole at least 4 times a week! We try to do at least two classes four times a week; however, we both have only 1 pair of really good pole shorts. So we broke down and went to www.thepoledancingshop.com to snag these shorts for $11.95 a piece. We do not share shorts so we each ordered our own. We have a black, red and turquoise pair coming our way. Now the site let us pick color, but not size... so I'm curious to see how this turns out!

So we might be spending a small fortune on pole accessories, but just wait... we plan on buying a pole for the house so it's only going to get worse ;)

Mac

Doing the big "O"

2010-08-19T20:08:00.001-07:00

Classes today were awesome. Now, I was only signed up for one class, so why the plural, you ask?

Because I showed up early and just played around on the poles upstairs, which was SO MUCH FUN!! I can't wait to get a pole at the house because just doing spins, inverts, and other moves that I've been learning by myself with the music cranked up was so much fun (alright, I didn't put the music on too loud as to not compete with other classes music that was playing).

I inverted, I played on the pole that spun, I did spins on both sides... and I even tried inverting on the opposite side than I've been trying on. I'm getting there... slowly but surely I'm going to get that invert.

So I also went to an aerial class today too... We went over the two different climbs and wrist grabs... We also did cool leg hooks while inverted, learned how to do the fang, and how to get to the ground with control.

I touched my head backwards several times and the girls were saying how the studio has another Mallory (who is the girl I first met and has no fear - and also can touch her head). On one of the moves it just looks like I'm making a huge circle - or a big "O," which looks REALLY cool!!

I was excited about it - finally I can use the flexibility in my back for something that looks amazing!! With some of the moves we were doing if you flexed your back MORE you looked BETTER, which is why I ended up touching my head several times. I wish I had pulled out my camera... Next time for sure. :)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Studio Blue!!! I can't wait for my next class - it seems like my life now revolves around the next time I can take a class. Best. Addiction. Ever.

MILEY CYRUS IS NOT A POLE DANCER!!!

2010-08-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

So... since my introduction to the world of pole fitness, I have learned that perception is reality in a lot of people's minds. They think pole dancing is for strippers, so since I pole dance, then I MUST be a stripper. Or want to be a stripper, or really like strippers, or strip clubs, or provocative dancing, or pornography.

Strippers can do their own thing and I will not disrespect them. Mostly because I find it very rude to disrespect people. I may not choose that for me, but who am I to say that it isn't for someone else? Pole dancing and aerial silks is a wonderful workout and fun way to challenge my body. That is why I choose to do it and I would appreciate people accepting my choice, even if they do not agree with it.

One thing that I find incredibly hilarious was the Miley Cyrus pole dancing scandal last year. She is a Disney role model and the younger generation looks up to her. (I'm not sure why, but hey, it's their choice and they do.) I remember hearing that she had pole danced and thinking it was inappropriate. Last night I got curious as to what she did during this pole performance and this is what I found:

Feel free to fast-forward and only watch from 1:00 to 1:40. That is her pole dancing routine.

Personally, I do not care about Miley and her reputation. Like her, dislike her... whatever. She's a role model, kids look up to her, she needs to remember her fan base, etc. Yeah, yeah... I'm not here to disagree, but:

SHE FREAKING STOOD THERE!

So if she didn't do anything provocative, then the presence of the pole must have been why everyone got upset. It could have been an exact replica of Gandalf's staff or Harry Potter's wand and no one would have found it offensive. The fact that it was a simple, shiny, silver pole made it an insinuating act that children shouldn't watch.

Sorry for my rant, but I have three requests from everyone:

(1) Remember: Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. A pole is an inanimate object and really it's what you do with it that makes it appropriate or not.

(2) Please quit saying that Miley Cyrus pole danced during a performance. That makes the rest of us trying to learn a challenging skill look foolish.

(3) Don't accuse me of liking Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana or whatever else she may go by. I don't particularly care for her and I'm not here to try and defend her. I'm merely speaking out for the pole in her performance.

Thanks so much!

Mac

Basic Invert

2010-08-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ok... So I went to the Open Pole last night and while it was almost embarrassing to just be working on a BASIC INVERT while the rest of the girls there were doing moves that surpass mine by a LONG shot, I did it anyway.

GUESS WHO GOT THE INVERT?!?!

Me. In case you were wondering. ME.

I'm not GOOD at it by any means - I still have to push myself up a little bit, but I am getting better at it. I tried doing the invert on both the pole and the aerial silks... which probably helped so I didn't get burned out on one or the other.

Mallory got a picture of me in a basic invert on the silks, so I'll put that on here as soon as I get a copy of it.

I also was able to do the Gemini too :) I let go of one hand but the other one wasn't letting go as much as I wanted it to. Oh well - I'm slowly but surely getting there. (Keeping in mind I have only officially taken one class...)

Our shoes came in too!! I'll update this with pictures later tonight with pictures of them, but I got a clear pair and a UV pair and McKell got a UV pair... I was so excited to use them I put them on right away. Climbing the pole with the shoes is the most easy thing just about ever!! It didn't take much strength/energy at all with those shoes on.

At first I didn't understand how shoes that were 6 1/2 inches tall could help me climb up a pole or do ANYTHING for that matter, but I was so wrong! Shoes make it easier to get higher on the pole to be able to do more in a spin and they help you climb because of the plastic straps on the top of the shoes.

I HATE heels. If I can get away with wearing flip flops I will. Don't get me wrong - I've got a few pairs of shoes that look good, but I hate heels. So for me to say that getting heels that are 6 1/2 inches tall is a GOOD thing is a big deal. See, the shoes aren't set on as much of a steep incline as most heels because there is a platform on the toe part which decreases the incline to almost nothing. I walked across a room like it was no big deal :)

Last minute I decided to stay in the room I was in to go to black light because I had to try out my new UV shoes... By the way - they were AWESOME. They glow red. How absolutely AWESOME is that?! By the end of the night I was soooo exhausted though. I wanted to stay for Pole 1.5 but I could barely walk I was so tired!

My left ribcage got a nice 3-inch bruise from inverting (wrong) on the pole so many times and the routine we did at black light gave me an additional 6 bruises on one knee and 4 on the other. It was actually pretty funny because during open pole, a tour group came through and the girl said that every one of us has had her share of bruises and I showed her my newest on my ribs. She looked at me and asked, "Worth it?" "So much YES."

After a successful day of inverting and new shoes my bed did look great though...
Britney

Stuck in a rut

2010-08-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Ok... Without an invert I'm stuck! I'm going to head up to a couple pole classes tonight with one goal: STICK THE INVERT!!

I'm to the point where I can do some cool stuff but without the invert I can't really progress. I'll let you know how tonight goes... Until then I saw a pretty cool video of intermediate moves you can do on a pole and was excited with how much I could actually do!

Check it out!

Britney

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder...

2010-08-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

Right now for work it is required for me to travel. So this week I'm out in the middle of no where and I'm missing pole/silks SO MUCH! It's only Tuesday, but I will have to miss every weekday class. I do still get to take the Vertical Strength and Pole 1.0 class on Saturday, but I don't get to do any silks this week :( We are even getting in our shoes this week and I won't get to see them until I get back! So so sad...

I'll be spending my boring nights at the hotel blogging about how much I miss class and going to the hotel fitness center that doesn't have a pole. L A M E!

Mac

PS: the last post was by Britney, I just uploaded the pictures

Bruises

2010-08-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Did you think we were kidding when we said we got bruised with pole dancing?? Think again!! These pictures don't even do justice of how bad we were bruised either... The real deal looks SO much worse!

These are pictures after we had spent the day doing forward, reverse, and forward to reverse showgirl spins.

Britney

McKell
Was it worth it??? SO MUCH YES!!!

Zombie Prom part 2

2010-08-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday seemed like 3 days!! We did our Vertical Strength class (which is still killing my abs), Pole 1 class and graduation, spent some quality time with the boyfriend, did some laundry, cleaned my room (still work in progress), got ready for Zombie Prom, hung out with some of the girls from the studio afterward and went to see the boyfriends and friends from Outback playing cards.

It was an AWESOME day!!! Here's me and McKell after we finished ripping and tearing new shirts and bloody-ing them up and running them over with our cars... You know, basic zombification protocol. ;)

Here's some of the pictures I took of the performance at Zombie Prom...

Zombie Prom

2010-08-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

Wow yesterday ended up being such a long day. Don't think I'm complaining, because it was a great time! I just didn't realize all the things I could pack into a day. One of the highlights of day was going to the Zombie Prom fundraiser at the Union Station. Here are some pictures:

Britney and I after our Zombie makeover

Britney getting friendly with the dead guy

Don't tell my boyfriend about this picture. I don't want him to get jealous.

Our teacher Shayli playing hide and seek in the silks :)

My attempt at a basic Gemini... my form is a little off and it looks cooler when it's done higher up on the silk.

Brit being a monkey and climbing up to the top of the silk

I <3 this picture! Aerial silks is such a good time!

I will definitely be going to Zombie Prom next year! Hopefully I will be good enough that I will get to perform with the studio. Oh and I'm still extremely sore from Vertical Strength yesterday, btw. Just though you should know :)

Mac

Core Strength

2010-08-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

McKell already told you a lot about our Vertical Strength class already, but I had to put my two cents in as well...

I was absolutely exhausted after the class!! I mean it is a MAJOR work-out!! Shayli had us doing three different "stations" and made up exercises to do at each one and rotate. The whole time we were doing it she was coming up with other things to do and wishing we had a pull-up bar and so on and so forth. Needless to say, we weren't upset about the lack of pull-up bar at the time because we were already dying.

We did an invert on the silks and just did pilots reps (I think that's what they are called) and then later we just hung from the silks and did something like crunches for the legs where we pulled them up to our chest, straightened them out, and let them down over and over. It was KILLER!! I know I'm going to be feeling that more tomorrow...

I have a REALLY hard time with the inverts. I never did gymnastics, sports, or anything that would require me to get over the fear of just letting my body do what it knows it needs to do, so when I am trying to do an invert of any sort on pole, silks, or anything for that matter, I just can't do it. I have this mental block that won't allow me to let my head just be thrown back so that I can jump up and do the invert.

I'm going to be trying to do some exercises at home that will help me to feel what it is supposed to feel like so that when I try it on the pole or silks it won't be that bad. {hopefully}

There is now a Pole 1 class offered on Saturdays right after our class, which I didn't know about until we were driving there and because McKell drove I was somewhat signed up for it too... I'm glad we stayed though because we went over ALL the spins that we either hadn't done or had questions on. I now have about six more bruises on EACH knee. I'm not kidding. Because we stayed and hit all the spins we didn't know about we OFFICIALLY graduated Pole 1. Congratulations to us!!!

Like McKell said, we did goof around and take some pictures after class, but we also got some videos too... McKell is doing a Sundial spin and I am doing a Flower spin. SOOOO much fun :)

Heels Over Head

2010-08-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Saturdays are great! First they are great because I don't have to work at 6:30am; however, they are also great because of our Vertical Strength class with Shayli. Now there is an ever bigger Saturday bonus: the studio added a Pole 1.0 class right after!

Needless to say I am home and super exhausted from the rigorous vertical strength class. I was lucky the Pole 1.0 class was only thirty minutes because the studio had to prep for their performance for the Zombie Prom.

Vertical Strength combines a number of exercises to help build up your core and arms. We used yoga mats, weights, chairs, the pole, and the aerial silks. I think the exercises on the silks are what did me in! However, the entire class was such a work out. At the end of it, the thought of going through another class was disheartening. Until Shayli told us it was only a half class, then I could manage.

At the end of our classes we goofed around and took some videos and pictures. Here is the one of me:

I know this doesn't look incredible, but I'm doing a basic invert. I am excited because I'm doing it with NO HANDS! That's right, I'm hanging upside down with nothing but my thighs keeping me in place.

Tonight we'll be going to the Zombie Prom. This event is a fundraiser for children with Diabetes, but it's also like a Halloween party. Everyone dresses up like zombies, there is food, costume contests, haunted houses, etc. If you are interested in coming, it's tonight at 7pm at the Union Station in Ogden. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. I'm sure we'll be following up with a post and pictures about the event!

Mac

Pole & Silk Anonymous

2010-08-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

"Hi, my name is McKell and I'm addicted to pole and aerial silk."

"Hi McKell!"

Is there an organization that helps people get over their desire to practice pole and aerial silk 24/7? If so, I need the number. Many of you may think that I am joking, but I'm being completely honest. These "sports" or "hobbies" I have discovered are slowly taking over. If I am in need of an outlet to the world, I only need to stop by Studio Blue to work on my latest spins, lifts, or drops to feel better about the world.

Many may think this addiction is irrational. What many people may not know is that pole and aerial fitness is fun, challenging, interactive, different, and yields great results!

Don't believe me? Stop in sometime and I will SHOW you. Am I spectacular? Absolutely not! I am a novice of novices :) I only got a membership to start training on July 20th. So really, I haven't even been doing this a month. That little fact hasn't stopped me from noticing the results already.

My biceps and triceps are more defined, my stomach is flatter and abdominal muscles are beginning to show. I have better balance; I'm STRONGER. I've never achieve upper body strength like this. I drink more water. Most of all, my confidence is through the roof! It's a perfect recipe for addiction. Like two slices of --insert your favorite dessert here-- addicting!

Despite the drawbacks of bruises, soreness, and less time... this is the most healthy addiction I think I could have and I look forward to sharing it with you as the new co-author of this blog :)

Aerial Silks

2010-08-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

So... My irrational belief that silks would tear and break when I'm 14 feet up in the air was proved to be, well, irrational. Those things could hold anything and were as fun as hell!!!

I had so much fun with it... McKell finally got me to go even though I was scared at first. For sure learned how to climb up the silks two different ways, invert, and do a little leg move while inverted in my FIRST class!!

I was so impressed with myself and how it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. I'm way excited for next week because she said we were going to learn how to do an inverted scorpio with no hands and all kinds of new things. It's going to be such a good time :)

Welcome to my blog...

2010-08-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

NEW BLOG!!

I figured I talked about Studio Blue enough that I would be able to fit enough in to just have a blog all by itself. I put all the stuff I'd mentioned on my other blog on here because I'm a little OCD like that, but mostly I'll just be using this to track my own progress from here.

So excited about what I'm going to be able to do. Last night at my Pole 1 class, Meagan and Shayli got up and started doing advanced pole moves to show us what we will be able to do if we stick to it and keep coming. I CAN'T WAIT to be able to do even HALF of what they were doing. I'm SO excited.

I'm so addicted to pole dancing it's ridiculous. It really is a good thing I have a boyfriend who works most nights so I can leave and take as many classes as I want. The only downside is that I come home sore, bruised, and exhausted. It's so worth it though! Everytime I finish a class I can't wait till my NEXT class, which is usually within the next couple days... It's such a good time and SUCH a good workout!!

Pole 1 Graduate?

2010-08-12T11:43:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: This post is going to sound like I'm complaining... but I'm really REALLY not.

McKell and I went to our Pole class last night and it ended up being one of the biggest groups Meagan had seen in a while, which was really fun. The best part though was that because the class was so large, they had me, McKell, and Mallory be on one of the two poles up on the stage to be demo's because, and I quote, "you girls know what you're doing." Made. My. Day. I actually didn't think I did know what I was doing until we actually could do all of the spins really well while teaching the others. I loved being a demo person when both me and Shayli were doing the spins to teach the other girls in the class.

I figured out how to do the Show-girl better, which was a big accomplishment because up to tonight I have royally sucked at the Show-girl. It probably still is my least favorite spin because I just can't get it very well. Although I did figure out what my problem was... My right hand holds the pole with an iron-grip, so when I try to spin on it I have problems. My left hand allows a little bit more spin, which is what I needed to get the show-girl to work for me.

I also was able to actually climb with grace and form, which is something I hadn't been able to do yet. I have climbed up the pole, but I haven't looked good doing it... I was pretty proud of myself.

Then we started doing things I hadn't done before that included strengthening the inner thighs to be able to hold into the pole. OUCH. Shayli called those muscles the "house," which made me laugh. We would jump on the pole and stay there, then do baby superman's and other holds, and other things like that to strengthen the inner thighs. It was rough!!

We were invited to POLE ONE POINT FIVE!!! I was excited about that because I didn't know if I was going to be ready to advance yet until we spontaneously did last night. We had a good time! McKell inverted really well... and I struggled. I feel like I'm going to be in 1.5 for a while because I struggle with getting over the metality of just letting yourself flip upside-down and sideways and falling and such.

I never did dance, sports, gymnastics, anything as a kid, so this is totally new for me. For people who have gymnastics backgrounds, getting over the mentality of letting yourself go and inverting is easy, but for me, not so much. I'll be working on it though.

New bruises of the night: all across the tops of both of my feet from rails on Monday and climbing the pole tonight, my inner thighs are bruised all the way up and down, the inner-inner thighs (just barely away from the hoo-haw area) are absolutely killing me with massive bruises, a bruise on my left ribs from jumping up and hitting it while trying to invert, and my hands and wrists are all callused/blistered/pole burned. Worth it? So much yes.

OH!! And I also ordered shoes too!! I got a black light pair and a clear pair for regular use. SOOOO excited. McKell got a pair too, so it should be good times. I'm seriously so excited about my stripper shoes. The boys were hating and making fun of us, but I'm excited because the shoes seriously make it so much easier (that says a lot becuase I HATE heels). Plus, it'll make my butt look good ;)

One of the highlights of the night though was when Meagan asked me and McKell if we were twins. We were wearing the same type of shorts, a grey tank top folded up and our hair was pulled up... and we were looking at getting shoes together and were at about the same pole level as each other... Made me laugh, but it for sure made my day...

Aerial Silks on Thursday night... not going to lie - I'm TERRIFIED!! I'll let you know how it goes.

Rails

2010-08-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

For the record, Rails are HARD!! Me and McKell went to Studio Pearl in Midvale to go to a class only offered there called Rails. I actually tried to find a youtube video of what that is, but I couldn't find a thing... Basically, rails is just pole dancing but horizontal (if that makes any sense).

Now, after a pole class, while I may be tired and bruised like crazy, I am excited and want to jump back onto a pole and am excited for my next class.

Rails is a different story. It was HARD HARD HARD. I think I might try taking that class again later, but right now I think I'll focus on pole (and aeriel if I like it on Thursday). I did do a few cool moves on the rails, but overall I just don't have enough upper body strength to do much right now...

Vertical Strength

2010-08-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

McKell and I went to Studio Blue's VERTICAL STRENGTH class, which is meant to get the core muscles to be super strong and to help get some flexibility to be able to do cool moves on the pole.

OMG it was so hard!!! I seriously was about to die I was struggling so bad with it!! At one point, she had us do a move that made us look ridiculous while doing it, but she looked down and said, "Aww... You guys are so cute..." HAHA. We for sure didn't feel cute though UGH... The other girl in the class had been there a while and was a little bit stronger than us, so she was doing exercises like inverting upside down on the pole and basically doing sit ups.

We have a long way to go.

This week is going to be tough... I was so sore yesterday and even today my legs are killing me... This week I've got two classes tonight, a pole class Wednesday, Ariel silks on Thursday, and we're taking the vertical strength again on Saturday. AHH!! Please body, please don't hate me!!

Bruise Map

2010-08-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Saw this the other day and thought it was pretty funny... It's called the bruise map - all places you can get bruised by the pole. SO TRUE!! I've been so sad that I've been so sore that I couldn't get out to Studio Blue, but this Wednesday I'll finally go again :)

Black Light

2010-07-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

I finally went to a Black Light class with McKell and had a blast!! The owner, Meagan, was our instructor that night and we had so much fun.

I wore kneepads and looked like a complete nerd, but when we did the routine, which was mostly on the floor, my knees were very thankful for them :) I'm such a wimp when it comes to my knees and the floor. I remember the last time I took the Black Light class I had a good 6 bruises on BOTH knees just from doing the sexy crawl and stuff like that. It was pretty ridiculous. So to prevent such knee injury, I went to the local Sports Authority, got me a set of kneepads, and now look like a soccer player rather than a sexy pole dancer. Whatever... At least my knees will love me.

The boys made fun because we didn't dance to techno or anything like that - our routine song was to "it's a man's world" by Seal. It was perfect for the moves we were doing though because everything we did was to the song and looked AWESOME :)

Work-Out and a Testimonial

2010-07-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

If I came up to you and said, "Hey, do you want to go chair dancing?" and if you actually DID want to go chair dancing, would you have expected a full body, sweat dripping, work-out??

I wouldn't have.

In fact, my exact words before we left were, "I don't think it'll be that strenuous."

So.
Not.
True.

Me and McKell went and took a chair dancing lesson Tuesday night and I didn't wear major work-out clothes because I honestly didn't think it would be a major work-out. I was sooooo wrong.

For the first half hour, we merely used a chair to prove to myself how weak I am by working out every muscle possible. Then, I was shown how uncoordinated I am for the last half hour of quick chair dancing choreography. I mean, I knew I would realize that - I've never been a dancer and picking up and REMEMBERING choreographed moves was never my strong point, so I wasn't shocked when I wasn't exactly the fastest at picking up the dance. I was impressed with myself that I wasn't SO horrible though... I mean, I actually was able to go through the entire thing with everybody by the end of the class. Points for that, right?

Chair dancing is not NOT strenuous. Unless you count sweating so much you're dripping not strenuous, then sure, it's not strenuous.

It was a really good time though - I am REALLY loving these classes :)

Also, on the Studio Blue's blog, I got my testimonial published in a post that I didn't realize would be - so I was fairly excited about that. Check it out here!

Pole Climber

2010-07-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

So I went to my Pole class last night and I am soooo proud of myself. I climbed the pole all the way to the ceiling! I touched the ceiling as if I had just climbed a rock wall - mostly because I didn't know what to do from there once I had gotten to the top. I'm going to find out how tall those poles really are tonight because I was telling McKell, Jake and Alex about it and I couldn't gauge the height because they seemed sooooo tall when I was climbing it!!

I was the only girl who got to the very top in my class - including those who had been there longer than me!! I was more than psyched! It did take a couple tries to get used to where my feet went and how to hold on with my knees rather than what is natural to try to hold on with my thighs, but I got it! I also got a nice HORRIBLE looking bruise on the top of my left foot that I was told won't go away... Awesome.

...now I just have to learn how to do it gracefully and come up with some kind of cool move to do once I do get to the top ;)

Sore

2010-07-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

By the way, I had soooo much fun with Studio Blue classes last week...

I took my first class on my membership on Monday... It was a Black Light class, which was really awesome. I went and got knee pads just for that class actually because we do so much on our knees on hardwood floors, but I'm signed up for another Black Light class next week...

My second class was Pole Fitness I and I did so good! I spun better than some of the girls who had been there a while and I even went upside down on the pole a few times. I only did one really good upside down move out of about five, but for my first pole class I think that was pretty good right? I absolutely loved it. It also helps that I feel SO good about myself after these types of classes too. I mean my confidence just goes through the roof once I finish a class because I feel so good about myself and what I just learned.

I also took a Pilates class on Thursday, which just magnified my already sore muscles. All weekend my shoulders, arms, back, and stomach muscles were SO incredibly sore, but that could have just been because I hadn't worked out in so long that picking up three gym classes in a week was overkill for a little while... But it was soooooo worth it - I can't wait for my classes next week - I've got a chair dancing one and my regular pole fitness class.

I LOVE my life. :)