elcome back! I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing Christmas and New Year’s break! Honestly, after the first few days of lay-ins and lazy brunches, I was getting restless and wanted to get back into the studio for some upside-down time.

Apologies for the belated post, it’s been all stations go here at X-POLE to bring you guys the best in pole and aerial, we’ve got some really exciting ideas for 2020, stay tuned to our blog and social media for updates throughout the year. If you aren’t already signed up to our emailing list, follow this link to register, we always share all the best news, offers and promotions via our newsletters.

Week Seven – Pole

After nearly mastering Hannah’s warm up in 2019 after six weeks, I felt confident I could easily slip back into it in the first session of 2020, until I realised she had changed it up a bit for 2020! Thanks for keeping me on my toes Hannah!

The first thing we worked on in this session was Outside Leg hang from Straddle Invert. I’d been fairly happy with the progress I’d made on Straddle Invert at the back end of last year, so I was looking forward to adding something to this. I practiced this on the ground a few times first of all on both sides, to make sure I was comfortable with it before trying it on the pole. Hannah then spotted me as I tried it out on the pole. As per usual, I had a preferred side (left in this case felt most comfortable, if such a word can be applied to this!). The squeeze on the backside of your knee to be able to hold in position was very uncomfortable, but after the first few times, you kind of forget about the discomfort. We did also look at the transition from Outside to Inside, but I didn’t feel 100% confident about this on the pole, so practiced a few more times on the floor.

We then revisited Forearm Climbs. Now, climbs in general for me aren’t my strongest suit, the initial lift is fairy smooth and strong (especially Forearm), it’s stringing together the co-ordinated movements to progress up the pole smoothly that stump me right now, however, I think the more I practice, muscle memory will eventually kick in.

Hannah then started showing us a flow sequence consisting of Step Around, Back Step and Step Around Pirouette.

The Step Around and Back Step flowed nicely pretty much from the get-go for me, the Step Around Pirouette was another matter! I think being conscious of myself and my hand placement will fix this up.

All in all, it felt amazing to be back in the studio and working again, I never thought at the beginning of this journey that I would crave it so much, but it really is part of my life now!

Week Seven – Aerial Hoop

I’d also been looking forward to Aerial Hoop over the break, so when Wednesday night rolled around, I was raring to go!

Ellie started us out with some ‘Skin The Cat’ shoulder conditioning to warm us up for Poisson.

We revisited Mermaid, but this time added a transition to split variation. This was fairly difficult for me, as my flexibility isn’t quite up there yet, but I got some semblance of the move, so it’s a base to move forwards with.

After that, a Top Bar Hox Hang was next on the agenda. This was a lot easier than I thought it would be, but after the Leg Hangs from Monday’s pole session, it was a little uncomfortable to start with.

Then came the Poisson. This was a hell of a lot of fun and felt amazing to nail! I was really pleased with this and below you can see a pic!

Before moving to a final warm down and stretch, we also had a go at Elbow Hangs and some variations (think tear drop shapes). This proved a little too much for me on either arm so I gave it up for a bad job, but I’m determined to get it in the next session.

It’s so good to be back in the Aerial Attic, I can’t wait for this week’s sessions and I’m keen to see how far I can progress in 2020.

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