Devon Hunter

(Edit: The link to the pics below will show you some amazing female pole artists, but here’s a video as well of an amazing male pole artist. Courtesy of Jennifer – thanks for the link!)

There are a wide variety of pole tricks you can do, depending on the strength of your arms and legs, and the diameter of the pole. A female pole is generally about 1.5-2 inches in diameter, and a male pole is usually more like 3-4 inches. Both have their advantages and challenges: I have small hands, which means on a male pole I can’t do most upper body tricks that require a hand grip, but the thicker pole is more stable and can support more than one person at a time (for more complicated shapes/tricks involving more than one dancer). I can do more upper body work on a female pole, but i often wonder whether i’m going to damage the pole (and several of the lower body shapes feel precarious, but perhaps that’s because I’m accustomed to having a thicker pole between my thighs?).

Why does this entry suddenly feel far more salacious than I’d originally intended?

Anyway, a female patron (a matron?) asked me last night how I perform the trick you see in the picture here (click to enlarge). First, it’s harder on the tree, because it was even thicker than a male pole, but it’s also rough and uneven. Suffice it to say I wouldn’t have done this picture with a pine tree – OW! I don’t know whether there are proper names for the shapes I do, so when I talk about pole tricks, I’ll just call them what they are. This is a crossed ankle pike with no hands.

First make sure the pole isn’t slippery. Ideally you should wipe the pole down with isopropyl alcohol, which will sterilize the surface and then evaporate quickly without leaving behind a residue. Stripping the oils off the pole will enhance your grip by increasing the friction between the metal and your skin. This is great for shapes that require holding or squeezing, but you’ll need to be careful if you intend to do any sliding or spinning, because the friction could give you an abrasion. NOTE: If you get an open sore on your skin at the club I strongly suggest using a sterilizing hand gel immediately, so as to avoid MRSA infections (I had one in April 2007, and I almost lost my right leg at the knee).

Alright, so first you have to mount the pole. Ahem.

This is easiest by putting your arms around the pole and interlacing your fingers. Stand a tad less than arm’s length from the pole, so your palms touch the pole while still being able to slightly bend your elbows. Be sure you weave your fingers together so that the base of the fingers on one hand are touching the base of the fingers on the other hand. You should be able to press the pads of your fingers firmly on the backs of your hands – this is how you control the strength of your grip. This will also create a bowl between your palms that you can meld around the pole. Place your palms on the pole at about the level of your forehead or higher (having your hands above your weight will create the friction you will need when your feet leave the ground).

Pull through your palms as you clamp your fingers down. Simultaneously bend your elbows. If you coordinate this properly you will be pulled forward and up towards your hands. The moment your feet leave the floor you should bring your legs up, one on each side of the pole. Your forearms will probably touch the pole – use them to brace and control your weight. Once your legs are parallel to the floor cross your ankles and squeeze them together as firmly as you can. You will feel pressure in your feet as you attempt pull them away from each other. The more you can pull your feet into each other, the tighter the grip in your thighs will be.

There is a little trick you need to know: Lift your thighs a tad higher than you think is level to the floor. Your skin will grip the pole (provided you’re not one of those annoying oily strippers I’ve blogged about), and you will settle an inch or so. This quick settling process will pull the skin up against the pole and lock you into place. This locking is actually more important than the gripping in your ankles and thighs.

Once your skin has gripped the pole and your ankles are locked, squeeze your inner thighs and let go with your hands. Be sure you are sitting up straight through your torso, so that you make an “L” on the pole. This “L” is what is called a pike. Between the tension in your ankles, thighs, and skin you should be able to appear to levitate on the pole.

Now to dismount the pole… AHEM!

Grip your fingers together again, so that you cup the pole in your palms. Pull yourself up slightly to unlock your skin. Once your hands are supporting you, uncross your ankles, lower your feet, and lower yourself down with control.

You will need to develop a good amount of strength in your biceps/triceps brachii, anterior/medial/posterior heads of the deltoids, pectoralis majors, latissimus dorsi, and the adductors of the thighs. I suggest a variety of pushups and pullups. Once you can do 5-8 sets of 20-30 pushups and 5-8 sets of 12-20 pullups you should have the upper body strength necessary to control the mounting and dismounting of this shape safely. You should be able, on a cable machine, to do the adductor exercise with at least 50-75% of your body weight in each leg. Your goal is 3-5 sets of 8-10 reps. P90X is an amazing home workout regimen that I have done at least 2 or 3 times now.

Note: This trick becomes even more impressive if you have the strength to uncross your ankles. I like playing with individuals watching. I make eye contact, they show that they’re impressed, I give them a coy eyebrow, and then uncross my ankles. It often takes them a second or two to digest why this subtle difference is so impressive, but when people understand it’s like watching a lightbulb turn on.