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

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

Strength is obviously a key component in making a break through in pole, however teaching the body the mechanics and how to engage muscles in a proper order also contribute to moving off a plateau. The point of the selected moves in this article are for total body engagement and working on feeling connected to the entire body, or employing complete muscle groups during pole. The goal is to not only connect to the dominant muscles, such as the upper back, but to start uniting

When I started with pole nine years ago, it was the dark ages, but we still had killer moves. To this day, I still teach beginning moves that I learned when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The foundation moves of pole, the dance, the spins, lifts are often shoved out of the spotlight by bigger flashier moves. Without basics many of us could not have built the strength or learned the movement of pole. Beginning students needs the basics to get strong, train muscle memory and movem

As an instructor for pole, I am always looking for fresh ways to incorporate core work into class. Obviously, students want core work and need core work, but being creative and making core moves part of a routine or choreo helps keep class exciting. Traditionally, the way of teaching exercise class was to insert core work at the end of class, but when core is treated like an after thought, it becomes an after thought. For pole, the core work is crucial for progression and st

I am a no nonsense personal trainer and I like effective equipment. I tend to be unimpressed with kettlebells for a few reasons. One: thanks to Crossfit, people think kettlebells are a new invention, ancient Greek athletes used kettlebells and then somehow the Russians got them in the 1700s. Ever since, Eastern Bloc track and field and weight lifting stars have been tossing them around in utilitarian compounds for Mother Russia. And I love Russians, don't get me wrong, it's j

The shoulder mount is one of the coolest moves in the pole universe. It’s gymnastic, magical and definitely on every polers tic list for goal moves. It can also be a move that torments, makes people cry and eludes on the journey with pole. Important factors in the Shoulder Mount 1. Strength and Engagement 2. Mechanics. We will get to this piece of the equation in How to Get the Shoulder Mount PART 2 3. Controlled Momentum. We will get to this in another blog post. The Set-up

There is this phenomenon that happens in every city or town, aerial studios, pole studios, yoga studios and fitness studios are racing each other for the lowest price, matching competitors and giving services away for low prices or even free. As a studio owner I understand how hard pricing can be, you need to be competitive and make a profit. As humans we get very caught up in what the other studios are doing and how they are pricing. We end up battling them to the bottom. Th

One of the most common imbalances that happens in the human body is overdeveloped front, underdeveloped back. We are going to focus on the lower half of the body and look at a few exercises that can help you build muscle in the hamstrings and glutes. Call it Bubble butt, J-Lo Booty, or just a lift, these hammock based exercises can give you some backside. Three Exercises with the aerial yoga hammock for working the backside. Reverse Ankle Trap Lunge Get into the hammock from

The push-up and the plank are en vogue in training at the moment. It makes perfect sense; these two moves work with your bodyweight to build strength. Trainers and fitness instructors love both moves because they effectively train the core. The push-up also works the Pecs, triceps and shoulder girdle muscles as well. Now I know I have said, “don’t do push-ups” in past blogs, but that is for the people who are training all the time and get their pectoral, core and shoulder wor