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The Hot Project Pole and Aerial Dancing Studio Windhoek shared PoleSafe Federation's video.

3 days ago

Inverts! A good read. Control, control,control!

PoleSafe Federation
Are you being taught or teaching inverts correctly??

The PoleSafe Team has come together to highlight the importance of correct form and technique for inversions...

Thank you to Dan Rosen, Lorna Walker and Tracey Simmonds and the entire PoleSafe team for what we hope you will agree is a post on a very important topic!

Drumroll please...

We get asked a lot about the safest way to invert onto a pole and whether there is a “correct” way to do it. The truth is there are lots of different ways you can invert onto a pole but for today we just want to talk about basic inversions into Crucifix or Chopper/Inverted V for pupils who are learning how to invert for the first time.

Often we are asked whether the movement should be deadlifted or whether students are allowed to kick and it’s a good question because the term “kick” can be very misinterpreted and so can the term “deadlift”.

When someone kicks into an invert can it be safe? The answer is YES it can. If the correct shoulder engagement, core engagement, arm engagement, posture, positioning and stepping pattern is applied to the invert it can be safe. Also consider progressions leading up to even learning the invert such as Arm Holds, Tucks, Windmills, floor invert prep, learning how to do controlled lowering from any move.

Sometimes people confuse kick with “throwing your weight uncontrolled into an invert”. Most polers use a kick. See the below video for reference. This kick is a controlled kick and Dan is using correct form and muscle engagement to ensure he doesn’t cause himself an injury. The reason teachers will cue or say “don't kick” is because if we kick with no control we are putting ourselves at greater risk of injury.

There is a big difference between a controlled and uncontrolled kick. If you start with your hip in front of the pole you can’t “swing” into it and it’s that swing which can cause damage to shoulders and back muscles as gravity will pull you back down quickly without engagement in your biceps, potentially injuring rhomboids in the back. The swing could also cause damage to the ribcage and side body as your pupils may bash into the pole.

Now…deadlifting. So we can hear you ask “If kicking is safe when using controlled technique why would you need to deadlift?” and the answer is that deadlifting is 100% more effective in terms of strength building but NOT for beginner level inverting. If you are just starting out on the invert journey…deadlifting and particularly with straight legs will no doubt for most be impossible but can potentially lead to injury.

Deadlifting is a progression and if you want to invert up the pole you need to focus on lifting without kicking from the floor as this will condition your core to be able to handle an aerial invert. When you are up the pole, there is no floor to step and kick from. It’s also good conditioning for the whole body for the more experienced poler as deadlifts are super hard and require a whole other level of muscle engagement.

PoleSafe Ambassador, Dan, who wrote the majority of this post, says “If I were to tell all my students who were just starting to learn the art of inverting that they can’t kick into an invert I would have no students. Most of these pupils have no fitness background when they start and have never even been upside down let alone deadlifted their body weight into an inversion. It would be the equivalent of someone starting their first yoga class and being expected to deadlift and hold a free handstand. So let’s not invert shame people. We are all on different journeys because our bodies are all different. The main concern must be and always should be safety. Can you knowledgably say you know all the required elements to teach a safe invert…if so then GREAT! Pole love People”

A full list of invert progressions will be available for all PoleSafe members on our website within the week. ... See MoreSee Less

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