Devon Hunter

Hello everyone! Wow. I took an entire week off from posting - a few of you have emailed to make sure I’m okay. Yes, all is well - I was on the road alot last week, and wasn’t able to post in that time. But I’m back now, and I have a few ideas up my sleeve.

Tomorrow I will have a posting about Swinging Richards (a good one, don’t worry!), but before I address it, I want to go through the process of explaining better how I got to this point (in terms of what I will tell you later about Swinging Richards).

People remark with some frequency about the level of fitness I have, and sometimes they will even acknowledge how difficult it is to achieve/maintain; however, for the most part I find that people think there is some magic/science that gives me some advantage that they will never have. This is simply not true: For people without metabolic disorders and other health scenarios that preclude fitness, I would venture to say that the lion’s share of people can achieve their goals to whatever measure they are willing to invest in doing so.

I have been working out (not necessarily properly) since I was 15 years old. To quote “Hamlet 2:” “It doesn’t matter how much talent we lack, as long as we have enthusiasm!” I was spinning my wheels for the most part. What you simply must embrace in your fitness adventure is that DIET IS 70% OF SUCCESS. Exercise is 20% and rest is 10% of success. If you do not eat properly, you simply will not achieve visible (and in some cases, practical) gains. While I was anorexic I was doing nothing but putting myself at risk of injury.

So, the results I have achieved are not only recent, but lately they are also sudden. This has been a very long journey (with no end in sight just yet), so what I want this entry to do is bring attention to a fact that most patrons don’t always appreciate, but which most adult entertainers struggle with constantly: Achieving and/or maintaining the look demanded by our profession requires us to have a job to have a job. Fitness, and the various means people use to attain it (or the semblance of it), is an enormous undertaking. When people use the metaphor “carved in stone,” they are right: It is a slow, painstaking process. The rock evolves slowly into the statue, the landscape erodes over eons.

I’m not going to go back to when I was 15. For one, I don’t have digital copies of the pics to do so, and for two, I have experienced enough changes since 2005 to make the point that even three years is sometimes only just barely enough time to get results. I say this not to discourage people on their fitness journey, but to emphasize that patience, consistency, and discipline are the means by which you gain advanced results.

In November, 2006 I was still at the beginning of my total recovery from anorexia. I still weighed only 125 pounds or so, but I wasn’t obsessed with mirrors and calories anymore. I was very lean and cut, but I just couldn’t add any mass. I was still working out too frequently with the same body parts, and not eating anywhere near enough (though more than I had been). This is a picture (click to enlarge) from a theater production I was involved in at the time. You can see that I’m thin and strong, but rather shapeless and out of proportion in some ways. This is a very honest look at how Dysmorphic Disorder (there, I finally said it!) brings a warped sense of priority to some parts of the body, while ignoring others.

By February, 2007 I was trying to gain weight. The problem is that I was doing the workouts by Cathe Freidrich, which (in the series of workouts I was using for the most part) focus on very, very high numbers of reps. You cannot gain muscle if you do high reps with high weight for a long period of time (the muscles don’t get enough of a chance to heal and build). Tone = high reps, low weight. Mass = low weight, high reps. Athletic training = a wide VARIETY of challenges. Match this with the fact that I was living off of protein bars and shakes, and you have a recipe for disaster. I went to the hospital four times in 2007 because of exhaustion, malnutrition, dehydration, and infections. I have never been sick so much or so often as when I was living off of whey protein products. You must have a balanced diet. In addition to illness, I gained fat, not just muscle. By November, 2007 I was up to 165 pounds, but I was sick, lethargic, and hurting. My body frame does not comfortably support that much non-lean weight.

In 2008 I finally started getting on track with what would become the various programs that helped me begin to achieve my fitness goals. January-March, 2008 I improved my diet (with immediate improvements to my health) and went to see a personal trainer. She helped me bring balance to my workouts, and her sessions were so demanding that I had no choice but to eat properly. However, I was still eating too much sugar (in the form of fruit), and although I was getting stronger, I wasn’t getting leaner. The lighting in this picture is flattering - but if you look closely around my abdomen, you will see that I still have a girdle of sorts around my lower abs.

April-June, 2008 I did P90X religiously. It is a fantastic program for those who are already at an intermediate level or higher, in terms of fitness. I saw all sorts of incredible gains in strength and definition. I leaned back down, and I went from doing 10 sets of 20 push-ups and 7 pull-ups to 10 sets of 30-32 push-ups and 18-22 pull-ups. However, there is something you need to know about P90X: Its philosophy is that you need constant variety. That means you also need variety away from P90X. July-September, 2008 I did P90X again, but only sporadically. It was beginning to hurt me. All the calisthenics was creating repetitive injuries. Remember, you need rest, so that you can rebuild. I hit a plateau around September, and that’s when I finally had to go to the gym (something I had always, up to that point, loathed and feared, because of the over-machismo horseshit I’ve always experienced in them).

The new variety of exercises immediately began paying off. October-December, 2008 I was able to allow my body to heal from the P90X, which although amazing, is far, far too intense to maintain without variety for more than 90 days. If you are going to do P90X I would suggest doing it for a rotation, then going away from it for a rotation. By taking a break from the calisthenics and moving to heavier freeweights and machines, I was able to work muscles from angles new to my body. I had never used gyms before with any consistency, because I find them dirty and intimidating places where rude people socialize too much and workout too little. I also was always afraid that people looking at me were thinking, “Who is that little turd, and why is he bothering?” What I find now is that when people watch me, I get the impression it’s because they’re interested in what I’m doing. Switching to the gym allowed me to fill out some more, and to continue improving my body composition (lean mass to fat ratio).

January, 2009 has been pretty low-key. I’ve needed to rest, and I’ve not been allowing guilt to bother me (too much) about taking my time getting back to it after the holidays. However, I’m about to start going back to my trainer again. I’ve done a rotation at the gym by myself, but the exercises weren’t as complicated as what I need to shock my system. I’ll go see Carrie again, because she’s brilliant at plyometric training. When I saw her last year, I was working out only with her. This time I’ll see her, but still go to the gym as well. What has surprised me is that recently, although my working out and caloric intake are both DOWN, I have had a growth spurt and filled out anyway. That’s the power of rest. The pic to the left was taken January 23, 2009. The one on the right was taken January 25, 2009. I hope you will understand now why I said in various posts recently that my pics on this site no longer look like me.

Going forward I think I can finally say that after well over 10 years of working out, I am getting to the point where I am looking the way I’ve always wanted to. I eat what I want, when I want: The anorexia is completely gone. I don’t even have the inkling anymore of thinking that not eating is okay. I’m proud that I’ve done all of this without steroids. I’m still working through the process of being able to look at myself and see me as I am, but I do feel more confident and relaxed in the presence of the Swinging Richards gods. Which brings me back around to why I wrote this long entry: I have some good news to share with you tomorrow.

(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.