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Disclaimer: This post is brought to you by x-pole, who sent this stainless steel exercise pole for me to try out. While YBC was compensated for the post, all opinions - as always - are our own. Thanks for supporting the companies that support YBC!
Have you ever seen the pole dancers on instagram? Their strength is incredible and their movement is so beautiful. When I'd watch them, it'd almost seem like they were practicing yoga but on a different surface. I thought, "I'm strong. I can do that."
What. A. Joke. Here's the best thing I got:
So I left the actual pole dancing up to the experts, but there were a few things I did like the pole for as a complement to the yoga practice:
Pin it- L-sit flutter kicks
For the l-sit flutter kicks, I'd hold myself up and extend my legs. If you're a beginner, this is probably enough of an ab exercise for you. If you are ready to take it to the next level, begin to scissor the legs open ever so slightly and then close. Continue doing that for a good burn.
These are excellent for developing core strength if you're working on arm balances like headstand or even funky transitions like this one.
Pin it! Build upper body strength with pole climbs
Another thing I liked to do was climb to the top of the pole. There's a very specific way you're supposed to climb and once you get the technique down, you're good to go. This was really, really challenging, but felt great to build upper body strength that I knew would help me in my yoga practice.
When I was posting some of my pole vids on instagram some of you guys said that you did it as a complement to your yoga practice! I'd love to know how often you practice and how in the world you don't get sick? I've never been able to spot (it's why I quit ice skating when I was younger - I could skate so well but my spins were awful because I couldn't, for the life of me spot). Any tricks? And for those of you who haven't tried pole dancing, would you ever consider it?!