gotta work on my pullups

wednesday, june 7, 2010
11am beginners climb & spin w/Brynlyn

class with Natasha, Marina and Lauren


started off the routine with a narrow-grip pullup, which I still have a very difficult time really doing using my arm strength and not jumping up to get that "look". from there we went into a squatted pirouette into a modified body spiral. that is a move that I have not worked on a lot, but Brynlyn was great and had us work on it from standing position first, then stand in front of the pole and work our hips, drilling it into our heads exactly what our hips should be doing. that drill really helped me figure out how my hips were supposed to swing in front of the pole and it helped a lot! making sure to get that hip around the front of the pole is key. you have to swing that outside leg around to get that hip around and into your body spiral... positioning your legs into a double attitude. THAT was hard. my legs know what position they are supposed to be in, but didn't want to do it. my legs looks a mess, but I got that hip around! we did a lot of floorwork that included straddles, a fan kick and a shoulder roll (I didn't crash into anything). climbing was MUCH better today. we went into our climb from a stationary position, but extended that other leg to swing around the pole (running climb) then went into a bow, climbed twice more and descended. we could have either descended with an inside hook or a reverse inside hook, which I attempted over and over again. you really need to make sure that you extend that outside leg in a way to swing your body backwards, looking over your outside shoulder at your leg, while pushing off the pole with your inside/climbing leg. I did push off a few times, but still working on getting that momentum to spin backwards into that hook. gotta practice on that one!


I felt really good about my climbing today b/c I was sticking. both yesterday and this morning I took showers, didn't lotion up. it is hot in nyc, but the only thing I can think of is that I shaved this morning and perhaps that had an effect on my leg grip on the pole. next class I may try some Mighty Grip just to see if it can help me grasp the pole a little better since my body sweats so much in the studio heat.


tomorrow is my birthday (it's about 50minutes away) and unfortunately there are no pole classes in the am and I have dinner plans, so I won't be poling on my birthday! did purchase the newsletter special, 10 open poles, as well as a membership, so they won't expire on me AND I get a locker, so I am planning on keeping my stilettos and some extra clothes there for classes :)

nyc heat wave takes it's toll

tuesday, june 6, 2010
10am beginners climb & spin w/Anna

11am booty camp w/Anna

song: "Pony" by Far

this was a hard day. the nyc heat wave started today and even with the ac on in the dance studio, it was warm. I kept sliding down the pole, not getting a good grip between my knees and sitting back, away from the pole. nevermind descending the pole doing body waves! I slid down sooo fast! so frustrating! we worked on a reverse double attitude as well. met Natasha and Marina.

following up that class with booty camp was killer. definitely ate and drank my fair share while in Texas for a week and I could feel those extra pounds doing their damage on my body. worked a few exercises beginning with a plank, and I could feel the muscle behind my legs during one particular exercise tightedn up, like in a Charlie Horse. did not feel good. thankfully we did our exercises and started stretching right away. we took plenty of water breaks and wiped down the poles.

it was hot, but it was great to work on some a new routine.
oh! and I wore my brand new green Ellie stilettos to class today and unfortunately b/c of the floorwork, the green color has already started to get scraped off. guess I'll have to pick and choose whose class I wear these too... definately NOT Lauren's!