Beginners Pole Strength and Conditioning

It is important to remember the difference between strength and conditioning. Strength involves building muscle mass, whereas conditioning is the need to condition the skin in specific areas to be used in difficult holds. Examples include armpit holds, hip holds, elbow and forearm grips and thigh holds/seats. Conditioning comes with repeatedly practising those specific moves on the pole; it would be very difficult to achieve conditioning without this.

The more you can encourage your students to develop their strength and conditioning the better. Students will learn faster, become more competent dancers and more importantly safer dancers. Consider having a specific strength or conditioning section of each session that you teach and varying the exercises to cover different areas of the body each week to ensure no muscle group is overloaded. It can help to show students exercises that can be completed on the pole and exercise that can be completed off the pole that can be practised at home.