When Can I Go Upside Down?
Oh boy. If I had a dollar for every student that asked me this!
I know pole dancing is very exciting and I know inverts (moves where the dancer is upside down on the pole) look very impressive. I know you are painfully eager to “get to the cool stuff”.
And while your enthusiasm is admirable, I beg of you – please wait!
Some students take to pole dancing quite easily. For me, I struggled for months to get the basic fireman and front hook spins, and even longer to do just one simple climb! But others, especially those with dance or sport in their backgrounds, pick up the basics much faster. And it is these people who I find are the most ardent on progressing NOW NOW NOW!
But whether or not you find spins or climbs easy, you need to acknowledge that an invert is a very serious move!
Fleur, Miss USPDF West Coast 2009 said it best: “I caution you, unless you have already been participating in some kind of physical activity that uses your abs and upper body intensely, you probably do not have the strength to pull your body upside down in a safe and controlled manner right off the bat!”
Key Things to Remember
- You need a great deal of core, upper body, back and shoulder strength for this move.
- If pole dancing is a new form (or your only form) of exercise then it’s likely to take months, or even years for some, until you are strong enough to invert safely.
- Incorrect technique and unsafe inverting can lead to dislocated shoulders and ribs, straining, pulling or tearing muscles, especially in the shoulders and back, and even cracked or broken ribs. Plus if you get up there and then fall, you can permanently damage your back. And yes, there have been cases of these things happening to students who were trying too soon, or were not taught properly. You have been warned!
How To Tell If You Are Ready:
- Can you climb to the top of the pole? (Or at least climb up two or three times from the ground)
- Can you do a pole tuck? (Standing next to the pole, holding on with both hands roughly head height, and then lifting your knees up to your chest – without jumping)
- Can you do a layback, or cross knee release, and pull back up to a pole sit?
- Can you do intermediate spins, such as the chair or carousel, with proper form?
- Can you do a ‘monkey hang’? (A pole tuck, then lean or tip backwards so your hips are close to the pole and shins facing the ceiling)
If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, you might be ready. But to be really sure, let’s look at some ways to diagnose a premature inverter:
You’re probably NOT ready to invert if:
- You feel pain or twinges in your upper back (between your shoulder blades). This is an indication that you are not ready, or not properly warmed up.
- You bruise on your rib cage when you try (this indicates you were kicking or jumping, thus bumping your torso into the pole, instead of doing a controlled lift).
- You can only just hook your ankle on, and then struggle to move your legs and hips up the pole.
I hope this article hasn’t put you off entirely. It might be a long, hard journey but it’s also a beautiful and incredibly rewarding one.
Trust me… the view from the top is AMAZING, and you do not want to ruin your chances of getting there!
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Great article! I just wanted to add one more thing that i say to my students when they ask me about inverting. I explain to them that it’s not even only a matter of having the proper strength. Even in the rare case where a student actually IS strong enough to invert early in their pole course, they still need the experience of having mastered many other moves beforehand, in order to have built up the appropriate reflexes needed for the risks of inverting.
In other words, a premature inverter, no matter how strong, will not have the reflexes to be able to save herself should something go wrong after inverting! These reflexes build up while spending a sufficient amount of time on the pole learning spins, climbs, & upright poses. And even then, new reflexes must be acquired with inverts, but at least by then they have some sort of basis.
This explanation, along with the strength issue, usually works well in helping my students understand the risks of inverting too soon!
Excellent point about the reflexes antigone!
My students are often disappointed when they learn that they might have to wait a while until I’ll let them go upside down. So I like to give them some milestones to achieve in the meantime (like the ones in the ‘How to Tell If You’re Ready’ section above. I find this helps them recognise they are making progress, whilst also giving them enough time to develop the strength (and reflexes) they need for inverting.
Im 13, and i was able to do all the things on the list in the first few months i had my pole and im now able to invert , all in the space of a year. improud of myslef cos i learnt entirely off internet videos and is amazing for your strength, i love pole dancing! i’d reccomend it for everyone looking for the most effective unusual sport:) Great article!
That’s fanastic Arianne. It took me about 10 months to be able to invert, and I was SO proud I can hardly describe it! Congratulations on your achievement xxx
Another very interesting article!