Fitness Trainer | Totally Stoked Fitness

History of Pole Comps

Though pole competitions are not the end goal for many of us who pole dance, we need to acknowledge that competitions can help a sport develop. In the world of pole, comps have assisted in legitimizing pole as a real sport, structured how pole should be judged (such as on a stationary pole and spin pole in competition), made participants take a hard look at the different sides of the sport (dance versus aerial) and pushed competitors to try trickier moves and more sophisticat

Ten Years of Bad Kitty®: Pole Clothing In 2008

Looking back at pole over the last ten years, the sport has grown in a million different directions and thankfully, so has pole clothing. As Bad Kitty® celebrates ten years in the business of making pole and aerial clothing, a quick glimpse at the pole clothing options in 2008 shows just how far pole attire has come. Poling in 2008 involved a lot of unexplored frontiers. First, we had no clue where pole was going except that Felix Cane’s 2008 Miss Pole Dance Australia YouTub

Mental Health, Pole and Narcissism

Our current culture tosses around the term narcissist flippantly, pointing out self-absorbed or selfish behaviors and then quickly labeling them as narcissistic. With the rise of social media we are frequently barraged by a deplorable amount of Instagram selfies, Facebook statuses and pole videos. There needs to be further exploration into what is healthy behavior on social media and what is not. This is particularly important for pole, which has both grown and thrived as a c

Climb Over a Pole Plateau

New Post with Bad Kitty USA! The human body is a marvelous creation. No matter how challenging the workout, eventually the body adapts. Each week, we have a routine: we attend the same pole classes and for the most part work on the same moves or related moves. Of course this depends on the level, but once past the beginner realm it’s easy to get stuck. Perhaps class has gotten more difficult and you aren’t getting new moves as quickly as you once did. You feel like you are st

Creating a Positive Studio Environment

New Article with Bad Kitty USA. If you visit different pole studios around the world, it’s apparent that different combinations are taught in those studios, diverse teaching methods are employed and there is a distinctive vibe in each studio. From a business perspective, this is all well and good, but the real art behind a pole studio is having a positive classroom environment and fulfilling classes where students not only learn pole but feel like they are a part of somethin

Shoulder Imbalances Part 3: Corrective Exercises

As discussed in previous articles in this series, the body is an integrated system and when one muscle group becomes imbalanced another muscle group will often react to the disparity. The upper back muscles of the aerialist and poler get substantial use and creating lopsided muscle groups is completely plausible and probable. Our previous posts on shoulder imbalances have focused on the origins of the most common inequalities and examined brief postural fixes. At this point,

How to Correct Shoulder Imbalances From Pole. New Article with Bad Kitty!

Pole and aerial are sports in their infancy, but have movement patterns related to mature sports such as gymnastics and dance. Yet the injuries and imbalances of pole and aerial are still collectively undocumented. Around the studio most of us know from observation that there are common injuries and imbalances amongst polers and aerialists. One of the principal issues is overdeveloped muscle groups versus underdeveloped muscle groups. This usually appears from improper techni

Three Burlesque Dance Moves that Every Poler Should Know with Bad Kitty USA

New Post with Bad Kitty USA! Learn three classic burlesque moves that you can incorporate into pole routines and choreo. http://www.badkitty.com/news/classic-burlesque-dance-moves-pole/ Video of Classic Burlesque Moves! Pole’s heritage comes from diverse sports and dance mediums and shares a common history with burlesque dance. The Burlesque dance in the United States began with hurly-burly girls of the 1860s, dancers and performers who provided entertaining social commentary

Floor Work for Strength

Lately I have been re-obsessed with floor work and there certainly has been resurgence in the pole industry for coming back to floor work. Competition pole even requires some floor work and that's awesome. The trainer in me is always looking for ways to give students a workout. The dancer is me wants the workout to feel flowing and beautiful. I put together a few floor moves that accomplish both ideals. These floor moves are great additions to classes and provide a total body

Thrower's Ten Part 3

The Thrower's Ten is a PT exercise series commonly used to strengthen and stretch the shoulder girdle. This set of movement is often used with athletes of throwing sports, but it can work great for aerialists and pole dancers to aid in injury prevention. I use many of the exercises from the Thrower's Ten in my weekly workout routine. However some of the exercises are more effective then others, for pole and aerial. I promise to put out a post that takes the best of the Throwe

Learning the Pull-up for Pole

We all know pull-ups are difficult. The move requires hauling your entire body upward. It’s a complex movement, requiring several muscle groups to fire in a controlled pattern, while adding movement from the major joints. In aerial arts and pole we add the bonus of trying to do this with pointed toes and pretty form. Pull-up Breakdown The major muscle groups that fire are the lats and pecs and it is easy to rely on these two groups. And yes, smaller shoulder muscles will be a

Time Effective Stretches for the Front Splits

Let’s keep it simple when it comes to the splits. I see it it all the time where people hop into their splits without stretching. Stretching the involved muscles in a splits first is going get you more bang for your buck then hopping in cold. Even if you have your splits, you still need to stretch and why not stretch smarter instead of harder. Getting your splits or even if you have your splits still means you need to stretch. The most effective time to stretch your splits is

I am the writer at Totally Stoked Fitness. I am a licensed clinical mental health therapist and certified personal trainer. I wrote for Bad Kitty USA and I am a partner with 123Poling.com

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