How to dance on the pole

Guide On How To Pole Dance Without A Pole?

(Last Updated On: February 4, 2022)

How to pole dance without a pole? Pole dancing without a pole may seem strange, but it works! Read more to know more on how to practice pole dancing without a pole.

Don’t fret if you don’t have a pole set up at home yet, or if pole dancing classes are not a possibility at this time. Is it really possible to pole dance without a dance pole? The answer is, yes, it is. Obviously lack of a pole will not give you the full experience and benefits of pole dancing but it is one great way to prepare yourself for the pole. Pole dancing might seem to be all about spinning or doing tricks on the pole but experienced pole dancers know there is a lot more to it.

How To Practice Pole Dancing At Home Without Pole

So the question you find yourself asking next, how to start pole dancing at home? Firstly, find out what pole dancing consists of (for your level) and give some thought to your own personal goals for what you plan to do on the pole. Once you know this, break down the different moves and tricks into smaller elements and work on them individually.

If you are a beginner pole dancer, you will typically be exposed to basic spins, learning different pole grips, basic climbs, inversions and simple leg hangs. The beauty of pole dancing is you will acquire the strength and correct engagement through regular practice during beginner pole dancing classes. However, you can start working on preparing your body for pole dancing following the tips in this article.

Can You Do Pole Dancing If You’re Not Flexible?

Yes you absolutely can! But of course, you will have good reason to work on your flexibility once you decide to learn pole dancing. A common misconception is that flexibility only serves to provide great lines and beautiful splits and backbends. How to learn to pole dance without a pole? The truth is, flexibility is a crucial element to train on for everyone in any type of sport. Flexibility training not only prevents injury, it improves your mobility and functionality in different range of motions.

Pole conditioning exercises without a pole are among best practices to improve flexibility.

There are many ways to go about training your flexibility, you can consider yoga, pilates, ballet, martial arts, or even better, an off-pole flexibility course from a pole dance instructor. This way, when you eventually dance on the pole, you can enjoy training using your off-pole flexibility gains.

What Is Similar To Pole Dancing?

1) Floor Work

As the name suggests, no pole is required for floor work. Yet floor work is inseparable from pole dancing. More on How to practice pole without a pole. After all, no pole dance is complete without at least some floor work transitions. Knowing this, it makes sense to train floor work as a preparation for pole dancing. Not only is it fun, it helps to strengthen the core, arms and whole body.

If you learn choreographies and dance out your floor-work, you will effectively be preparing yourself for dancing on the pole. Pole dancing is not all about doing complicated tricks on the pole. To be a great dancer, learning to flow seamlessly in your movements and other aspects such as musicality and quality of lines play a bigger role.

2) Chair Dancing

Similar to Floor Work, chair dancing also prepares your body for pole dancing as it keeps you fit while you practice different acro chair movements. The common movements involve balancing with different poses on the chair and you will progress to combining different poses to execute a choreography utilizing just a chair and the floor.

A simple chair which is light yet stable and balanced can be a great prop to practice different movements, splits, and get fit while learning low flows that will definitely benefit you in pole dancing! Find local chair dancing classes near you to find out more about chair dancing.

How Do Pole Dancers Get In Shape?

It’s all about conditioning and strengthening. There is no specific shape that is good for pole dancing. Being in great shape means having the physical means to do what you plan to do safely on the pole. Generally, the areas below can guide you on the conditioning and strengthening exercises you can focus on to get in shape for pole.

Upper Body Strength

Upper body workout is among the top pole dancing exercises without a pole. A lot of the beginner pole moves share the same basic elements. Firstly, upper body strength. Just like how you engage your forearm and wrists to lift heavy shopping bags, you will need to learn how to do the same to lift your body with your arms, shoulders, and back muscles. Knowing the correct engagement will protect you from injury and accelerate your progress at pole dancing.

Now, balancing your body weight on the pole and doing inversions may sound like an ambitious feat when you are a beginner, but don’t feel intimidated! Not only is it totally possible, it will change your life!

Core Exercises And Proper Body Muscle Awareness

One of the most overlooked exercises in pole dancing is core workout. With a strong and stable core strength, your progress will be much faster as your core will support you in different movements and help you avoid dance related injuries. You will find lightness in your pole tricks, inversions, and literally most movements you make.

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Is It Safe To Install A Pole In Your Home?

Apart from that, learning more about the physical body and the techniques to correctly isolate and engage different muscle groups in your body will also help you advance as a dancer and avoid injuries. When you have invested in gaining more body awareness through regular movement, this will prepare you for your pole dancing journey.

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You’re considering taking up pole dancing – or maybe you’ve been pole dancing for years. Whoever you are, it can be tough to find straightforward, simple answers to many common questions.

We understand it can be confusing to know where to start, or even what you’re looking for – you just want to progress. Maybe you have the question, but don’t know where to go to find the answers.

In our Roadmap to Pole, we’ve taken questions from pole dancers across the globe, crafted bite-sized answers for each, and added optional further reading articles from across our website to help you reach your pole-destination with as little confusion as possible.

Other people can face the same obstacles, but your perspective and growth in overcoming those obstacles are uniquely you.

We all come from different backgrounds, health, experience with pushing our bodies, and it changes how we view our struggles, handle difficulty, and celebrate victories.

You know your body better than anyone else, so listen to yourself!
If something doesn’t feel right – stop, find out why, prepare, and try again. Always listen to your own individual needs – and yes, it may change from day-to-day!

By learning about and providing for those needs, you’ll see progress through astounding pole victories, muscle gains, flexibility, grace, and overall boosted mood and self-confidence.

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PolePedia has released a community-based Pole Dance Move Dictionary. This dictionary is meant to help pole dancers of all levels reference pole tricks and moves from a variety of categories.

Every pole trick listed in this dictionary offers a complete view of the movement, with both written instructions and a video overview to help guide you through each step, complete with:

1. Move Name and Alternate Names
2. Pre-requisite Moves
3. Skill Level and Pole Type
4. Points of Contact
5. Move Category

Beyond that, there is also a section to help you through common mistakes, safety tips, and any additional information that many pole dancers struggled with before.

Best of all? It’s completely free.

Why? Because learning how to pole dance safely shouldn’t cost you money.

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Advanced, Grip

The Football Grip is a widely used variant to many inverted moves. The elbows help maintain extra points of contact while bringing the center of the body closer to the pole, allowing you to perform moves from the midsection-down with at least two points of contact.

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The Carousel Spin is a gorgeous move that can be performed on either static or spinning pole. In this spin, you will be facing the pole and bringing the knees together and up, holding your body away from the pole.

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Beginner, Grip

The Cup Grip requires finger strength to feel secure. Some moves may require a double-cup grip, and others might require a single hand cup grip; it depends on the move. This grip is most common in intermediate to advanced moves, but it is always a good idea for beginner pole dancers to get a feel for the grip and build up the necessary finger strength.

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Beginner, Trick

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What is Pole Dance and how to start dancing

Pole Dance is a harmonious dance performed on a metal pole (pylon). It combines elements of acrobatics, choreography and gymnastics. This direction does not need strong physical training, all the required skills and abilities are given during constant training. It is often confused with striptease and pole dancing, but in reality there is nothing in common between them.

Greetings, dear readers. If you are here, then you have the opportunity right now to learn about such a dance as Pole Dance. Classes on the pylon attract modern girls and women, draw them in and fall in love with themselves. The multifaceted Pole Dance gives meaning and fulfillment over time, a thirst for achieving new goals. It gives fans more and more opportunities to develop themselves, to be more attractive and stronger.
What is Pole Dance?

In pole dance, a pole or pylon serves as the main working element, a sports equipment on which various tricks are performed. In striptease, a metal pole is a decorative detail, the stripper dances next to it, doing simple dance moves - no complicated tricks are performed here.

Pole Dance is a physically difficult pole dance that can be safely attributed to a power sport. Young girls, women of different ages and even children can do it. By the way, men can also practice on the pylon, perform power elements of increased complexity.

Standard Pole Training

As a rule, Pole Dance classes for beginners begin with a warm-up to prevent sprains and all sorts of injuries. A good start makes pole training safe and effective, prepares the ligaments and muscles for loads, twist. Then it is allowed to start performing simple elements of the dance. When the body is well warmed up, stretching is done (static and dynamic).

Flexibility is important for performing the main number of elements on the pole, so stretching is in every workout, after warming up and at the end of the session. A force load is placed on the prepared body. A lot of energy is wasted here. To perform heavy tricks in pole dance, the use of a mat is provided. After a power load, the trainer does stretching and a hitch.

Tips for pole dance beginners

Pylons for training are dynamic, which are spinning, and static. There is an erroneous opinion that it is better for beginners to practice on a spinning pylon. Beginning dancers are advised to start doing dance elements on a static pole. It may be more difficult, but it’s faster to make progress, get stronger and develop a muscular corset. The issue of choosing clothes for pole dance for practicing on the pylon is also of interest to beginners. Everything is pretty simple here. For the first workout, you don’t need high-heeled shoes and expensive uniforms. Initially, a t-shirt, shorts and socks are enough.

In the future, you can decide for yourself what you want to wear for training in Pole Dance. For the first lesson, it is not at all necessary to bring magnesia (liquid chalk to improve grip with the pole) or gloves. Just try to come to the lessons for beginners and in practice understand whether special tools are needed or not. When hands are held tight without anything, gloves and magnesia are not needed. In addition, the coach will tell you what would be the best option in a particular case.

A big problem for beginners is bruising. Without them, the first workouts are unlikely to do. It will take some time to put up with them. To alleviate the condition and quickly improve the appearance of the body, you can use special ointments, such as lifeguard 911, troxevasin, badyaga. Time and patience will help in the fight against bruises.
IMPORTANT! Before starting pole lessons, it is important to check your health condition. There are a number of diseases, due to which the doctor may prevent you from training. That is, you need to consult a specialist, especially if you already have any health problems.

Varieties of Pole Dance

Today there are three main directions of Pole Dance:

Exotic. Here, the emphasis is on strength elements in a percentage ratio of approximately 70 to 30. In addition, the bulk of the dance movements are performed on the floor. This kind of pole dance is characterized by plasticity and eroticism. At the same time, there is no undressing in the exotic.
Art. The direction is characterized by a harmonious combination of power elements and choreography. The emphasis is on the technique of performance, the quality of tricks, and the outfit of the performer. The classical understanding of the direction is pole dance as an art.
Sport/Fitness. The most difficult variety of Pole Dance. In the performance of the pole dance, approximately 70% of the complexity and quality is given.

Why should everyone try the pole?

Paul Dance makes you constantly work on yourself, your body, hone your own skills, fight fear and pain. This can hardly be called a disadvantage of this type of dance, since there is a goal, work and victories.

In training, music and movements allow you to relax, relieve negativity and nervous tension. On the pylon you become more graceful, stronger and more flexible, and also much more confident in yourself. Pole Dance is the art of controlling your own body, which always needs care and love. This is lightness and endurance, a slender figure, which you get as a reward for perseverance and work in training. By the way, the successful half-dancer Anna Eliseeva agrees with this.

Pole sport is a combination of useful and pleasant. This projectile serves as a simulator that allows you to keep your body in good shape, lose weight, and build muscle strength. In the process of training, the body receives a great physical load on the main muscle groups, especially on the back, arms and abs. Pole dancers work within their own limits, their muscles develop rapidly, and the body tightens and becomes attractive.

When practicing on the pole, the joints and ligaments become healthy and flexible, since in Paul Dance the main part of the elements is based on acrobatics that require great effort and fantastic flexibility. Thanks to this feature, this type of dance can even be compared with ballet.

What is attractive about pole dance is that the dance gives a thrill to the audience and the performer, based on various elements of acrobatics. Amazing tricks on the pylon for the most part are the meaning of this direction, they are the subject of admiration and envy. To perform them, you need to develop balance and coordination, strength and flexibility. Having mastered a new trick over and over again, you can congratulate yourself on the victory over pain and fears.

Pole dancing: what is pole dance? Where to start pole dancing

Not what it seems

Help on the shore: pole dance is not a striptease, but a full-fledged dance and sports direction, a mix of choreography, acrobatics and gymnastics. The direction originated already at the end of the 11th century in India and at first it was marked “men only” (well, or as they said then), that is, for the development of strength and endurance. Then circus performers got down to business: they traveled the world, adopted the experience of different nations and came up with acrobatic performances on a pole. And it turned out to be a great show! Since 2003, various championships and competitions have been held in pylon sports. The rules are black and white: it is forbidden to be naked and show erotic elements. It is heard that the inclusion of the direction in the program of the Olympic Games is not far off. And we are glad.

Not only dances

Pole dance corrects the figure for one or two. In one lesson, each muscle group has time to turn on: from the arms and back to the press, legs and buttocks - a great alternative to monotonous exercises in the gym. Since you have to stay on the pole in different planes, with each movement you feel a rather big load. You really work, get tired and spend a lot of calories. And flexibility, plasticity and stretching are also developing.

Another huge plus: you won't be able to "pump".

The work, although difficult, has to be done with the weight of your own body - hello to the aesthetic relief. As well as a possible reduction in the manifestations of cellulite due to the work of the muscles of the legs and the activation of blood circulation. That's it, nothing more to dumbbells.

Not only sports

There are several varieties of pole dancing. And if the direction of pole sport is a story about power elements and tricks, then pole dance and exotic pole dance are, first of all, dances. In the last version, the focus is on choreography in characteristic high heels, on musicality and sexuality, while tricks on the pole are supposed to be at a minimum. From the point of view of psychology, many dancers note the positive effect of dance on self-confidence, femininity, sensuality, getting rid of negative thoughts. Additionally, you are charged with adrenaline: after all, tricks are performed at a height of a meter, and clinging to a pole and simultaneously holding on to it is not so easy.

How to prepare?

The official answer is no. I mean, you don't have to prepare. Absolutely everyone can practice pole dancing, no matter how many cups and medals you have in gymnastics. It will take two to three months of regular training to start feeling confident in performing tricks and stop being afraid of heights. The first meeting with reality is harsh: bruises and calluses are inevitable, especially at first. While this argument can be applied to literally any fight-calorie endeavor, whether you're cycling or trying on boxing gloves. A professional was asked to continue the checklist.

Kristina Levandovskaya,

head and teacher of the Moscow branch of the school of dance and acrobatics on the My Pole Space pylon:

“It is important to understand that the pylon is not exercise therapy. In the classroom, we immediately begin to work with the weight of our own body, and not with small dumbbells of 2-3 kilograms. Therefore, if you have serious problems with the musculoskeletal system, it is worth solving these problems before classes.

And such a fear that before practicing pole dancing you need to pump up or stretch somehow, this is superfluous. Not waste your time.

A competent trainer will select the appropriate exercises that correspond to your specific training, and the development of the necessary strength will take place under the supervision of a professional. The entry-level elements do not require or imply any outstanding flexibility.

Please bring short shorts, sports top, tank top or t-shirt for class. To warm up or while waiting for a lesson, you can take leggings or pants. Sneakers are not needed - the lesson most often takes place barefoot or in socks. Schools usually provide special cloths for wiping the pylon, but you can take your own as well - it will be more pleasant and hygienic. On day X, do not apply cream to the body and hands - this may interfere with traction with the pole.

Most importantly, don't be afraid to bombard the instructor with questions. There should be a clear understanding in your head of how and why you actually spin.