Pole Tips
Good posture in standing position

Another one of the pole tips you should learn and practice from the start is good posture. Good posture is important in everyday life to avoid unnecessary tension in your whole body. So, I wanted to include it as one of my first pole tips because having a good body posture is like having a strong foundation for your house.

You can only build a healthy, strong body on a strong foundation!

Basic, good body posture

When pole dancing, since you are putting your body in more challenging situations , the repercussions of bad a body posture can be more damaging than if you were not active.

Sometimes these repercussions will only be felt after a certain period of time practicing.

These pole tips on good posture will make sure that you are consciously working on staying healthy while you are moving.

Keys points to monitor for good posture

• Standing on the balls of your feet
• Ankles together
• Ankles well alined
• Legs completely straight
• Hips opened
• Lower abdomen tightened
• Long body

That's the basic standing position. Naturally, as you walk around the pole, perform spins or other pole dancing moves your body will move out of this position. But it is still good for you to always go back to this basic position before and after a sequence to make an habit out of it.

As time goes by, this will become second nature and your body will slowly, but surely become stronger and more stable.

Now let's look at each key point separately

Standing on the balls of your feet

It is not necessary to do this all the time because it doesn't allow for natural, fluid and powerful movement as you are dancing. But try to do it as much as possible. You could do it when you are getting mentally ready before a sequence or when you are listening the feedbacks from your intructor. But do it! This is a good workout for your legs and it will also strengthen you ankles.

In this position, your center is higher than usual. This height will give you a bit more vertical space to gain momentum for your spins. So basically, this height helps you acheive better spins.

On the balls of your feet, your body lines look better. A bit like when you are wearing high heels; you look longer, leaner and your calves muscles pops out since they are engaged in keeping your body up. It is just more pleasing for the eyes, but, this time, in a healthy, working out kinda way.

Look at how the vertical line of
my body is cut when your eyes
reaches my ankles down to my feet

When I stand on the balls of my feet,
my body looks longer, leaner and more toned.

Ankles together

In this position, since your base is more narrow, there are a lot more of the stabilizing muscles in your feet, legs and abdomen working to keep your body in equilibrium. So it's another opportunity for you to deeply strengthen your body. Take advantage of it.

This position maybe more stable,
but it's not the best workout.

There's still a bit of space there. Try harder.

Now we got it! This is how you'll get the best workout in this position.

Ankles well aligned

It is always important to maintain good body alignment because your body is stronger when it is well aligned. The same thing goes for just a part of your body. In this case, we are talking about your ankles. So keep them well aligned because it's a way to protect them from injury.

Can you see how this position could be dangerous for my ankles?

A well aligned ankle follows a straight line from the leg to the ankle.

Legs completely straight

As you move your legs will bend. Obviously! But as a starting point, try to have them completely straight. As this habit becomes more natural, you will see that it will also be easier to do all the other pole dancing moves with your legs straight (when they need to be straight). You won't have to think about it so much anymore.

Sometimes we THINK
our legs are straight...

And sometimes our legs
really ARE straight ;)

Hips opened

Opening your hips requires you to contract your rear muscles and your lower abdominal muscles. These muscles are really important to keep good body alinement and to protect your back from injury. They are also the muscles that will help to give you more strength when lifting your legs.

It's a bit difficult to notice at first,
but can you see the angle I have at the hips?

When the hips are opened,
this little angle is not there anymore.

Lower abdomen tightened

The lower part of your abdomen is the seat of your body. If this is strong your whole body is strong. This concept is well known in dance, singing, martial arts and a lot of other disciplines. This should be the strongest part of your body. If this part is strong, your whole body will be stronger, more relaxed and more agile.

With pole dancing, you have the opportunity to make an habit out of strengthening this part of your body so make the best out of this opportunity. You will be forever grateful for it.

I know I don't have much of a tummy,
but it can still be relaxed.
We don't want that.

You need to tighten
that lower part of your abdomen.

Long body

Lengthening your body from its center is like taking charge of your body . It's you saying: " This is my body! I am strong in it! I am here!". Since you are taking charge, the other parts of your body will be able to let go and relax more easily.

Ok, all this might sound a little bit "out there", but just try it and you'll eventually get what I'm saying... Well, I hope.

Again, this more relaxed state of your limbs will give more fluidity to your movements which is perfect for pole dancing :)

When I am not making my torso longer,
my shoulders tend to droop to the front.

When I make myself longer,
my shoulders naturally want to stay in that
healthy down and back position.

One last thing

When you lean out to start walking around the pole, keep your body straight. Do not bend to the side at the hips. This is still part of maintaining a good body posture, but I will go into more details about this in a future Pole Tips article about walking around the pole.

Make sure you subscribe to the Expression Blog to know when I update the site with more pole tips.

Until then just try these pole tips and practice!

PS: In case you missed it, go to Pole Tips- Proper pole hold.

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