Intermediate Pole Fitness

You will need:

• to meet the minimum age requirement of 18 years or older
• to hold a Spin City Beginners Pole Fitness Instructor Course certificate, or equivalent certificate
• a minimum of 2 years’ pole fitness experience (recommended)
• access to the internet via a PC, laptop, or mobile device
• access to at least 1 static pole
• a minimum of 2 hours’ study/training time per week (to complete the course within the 1-year deadline)
• a device to film videos on (mobile phones are allowed)
• at least 1 student for the teaching assessment (aged 18 or older)

INTERMEDIATE MOVES

• Basic Invert and Crucifix
• Dismounts – Handstand Dismount – Belly Slide Dismount – Shoulder Spin Dismount
• Handstand Butterfly
• Reverse Grab
• Gemini
• Thigh Hold (from Crucifix and Gemini)
• Hip Hold – Ball, Pike, and Straddle
• Climb Over (from Gemini and Crucifix)
• Star – Viva – Flatline
• Triangle Pose
• Cupid
• Cross Knee Release – Cross Ankle Release
• Bow and Arrow 
• Advanced Jamilla (from floor and from Gemini)
• Shoulder Mount Dismount
• Shoulder Mount
• Butterfly (basic invert entry and crucifix entry)
• Flatline Scorpio (from Gemini and Butterfly)
• Scorpio (from Gemini and from basic invert)
• Straddle Invert
• Chopper
• Superman
• Extended Butterfly
• Caterpillar and Caterpillar Hold
• Iguana – dismount and mount (kicking from pike, bent and straight leg lift) 
• Pencil – Crab
• Archer
• Split Heel (from floor – higher up)
• Duchess
• Aerial Invert (basic to crucifix, more advanced to Straddle)
• Brass Monkey

ARMS ONLY INTRODUCTION

• Elbow Grip Prep
• Twisted Grip Prep
• Split Grip Prep
• Chinese Grip Prep
• Flower – Inverted D
• Dismounting to the floor from arms-only

Compulsory moves required for technical assessment

1. Basic Invert
2. Gemini
3. Scorpio
4. Cross Knee or Cross Ankle Release
5. Shoulder Mount
6. Superman
7. Brass Monkey
8. Arms Only Prep – right side 2 positions
9. Arms Only Prep – left side 2 positions

This course has two main parts to the assessment; a theory assessment and a practical assessment.

At this point in your instructor training, we start increasing your knowledge of core concepts such as training lifting, execution and clean movement. We follow this by covering our core intermediate inverts, looking at the teaching points, safety points, progressions, regressions and problems of each move. Our practical training will finish by bridging to our advanced course and teaching you how to introduce arms-only movements to your students. This is supplemented with an extensive look at effective spotting techniques.

From a theory perspective, we will expand on the foundation knowledge developed in the beginners’ course, expanding your instructional toolbox to give you a range of teaching methods that work effectively when students are at height and inverted. We will discuss class planning in the context of progress chains and how you can use combinations and sequences to both challenge your students, avoid move plateaus, and ensure safe progression to an advanced level. You can expect to leave this course with a wealth of new moves, skills and techniques to reinvigorate your pole fitness classes, allowing you to take your students to the next level.

UNIT 1 – INTRODUCTION TO INTERMEDIATE POLE

This unit examines what constitutes an intermediate move and how to decide whether students are ready to progress onto the intermediate syllabus. We will cover a series of markers which will help you assess your students, as well as techniques to introduce more challenging moves.

UNIT 2 – INTERMEDIATE POLE MOVES

Unit 2 starts with a progression of the core concepts. We will look at different techniques to introduce lifting into your classes and how you can encourage students to execute moves more efficiently and move cleanly between positions. Muscular balance and bi-lateral training is covered before we introduce the core intermediate syllabus moves. We look at each move in detail, from the teaching and safety points to progressions and regressions, also touching upon common problems.

UNIT 3 – INTRODUCTION TO ARMS-ONLY MOVEMENT

To begin this unit, we will discuss key issues raised by arms-only movements, safe dismounting and safe progression through different grips. This will be followed by an in-depth consideration of each of the four main arms-only grips and how you can encourage students to build up the strength, balance, and muscular stabilisation in each grip.

UNIT 4 – INTERMEDIATE STRENGTH AND STRETCHING

At intermediate level, students need to develop strength and flexibility. This is the focus of unit 4. We look at a range of strength and conditioning exercises, areas of flexibility that need to be trained to progress onto an advanced level and methods of increasing pole stamina and endurance.

UNIT 5 – PROGRESSIVE TEACHING AND COACHING

Unit 5 looks at ways to adapt your teaching methods to enable you to coach students working at height and while inverted. We will cover how to progress towards a more student-led system of coaching, look at how you can effectively use progress chains to build lesson plans and how combinations and sequences will allow you to both challenge your students, avoid plateaus, and also ensure safe progression to an advanced level.

UNIT 6 – INTERMEDIATE HEALTH AND SAFETY

Our final unit will look at ways to adapt the health and safety information covered in the beginners’ course to make it relevant for an intermediate group. Again, our main focus is spotting, where we go into the different methods in more detail, including establishing the basic rules of spotting and a discussion on prevention techniques.