#and i can't bench barbells without a spotter and i don't want to have to ask a Stranger for help every single time

[laurelindorenan]

please pray that i find lifting buddies!

[sonsband]

Hi. You do vertical dancing right? I've always wanted to try it but don't know when I'll be able to, so in the meantime I would like to do some strength conditioning and flexibility training. So I wanted to ask, do you have any routine recs or useful tutorials you would recommend? Thnk you in advance!

Oh boy howdy do I! I'm assuming that you don't have access to a pole (or a spotter).

I kind of made up my own routines, since I have such a terrible back and need to spend so much time stretching it out, but I tried to find examples for some of my favorites.

I don't know your level of strength/flexibility, so I tried to pick out things that can be adapted to be easier/harder, but you can always come back or DM me. Also I'd love to hear updates, tell me about all your wins!

My comments to start would be:

Remember to take care of your lats and glutes -- once you get on the pole you're going to use those a lot more than your shoulders, which you're going to need to protect so you don't end up like me and going flying mid-spin. Oh, also, protect your shoulders! And one last thing, PROTECT YOUR SHOULDERS!

Make sure you're including pulling exercises, like pull ups and deadlifts as well as your bench presses and shoulder flies. Keep your back safe tho -- kettlebells and trap bars over barbells.

Work on active flexibility, it's going to transfer to passive really well. Don't just stretch, activate your muscles and push against the ground.

Don't be afraid of suspension, grounded inversions (even traveling ones), or instability, they're not actually as scary as they seem.

Try to incorporate dance into your workouts. For example, fan legs on the ground for your abs will teach you the movements for a really pretty move once you can get on the pole.

You will have to do boring resistance work, I'm sorry. Monster walks, Pallof presses, face pulls...

If you're willing to spend a little money, I use my sliding disks, yoga blocks, and resistance bands almost every day.

Practice grip and ankle strength as well, I just do that while I'm at my desk job tho

You're going to need to learn to trust your body. Your body protects so well, but a lot of your early training is just going to be proving to your nervous system that you're safe. This is for flexibility, but also once you get into dance with controlled falls, spins, drops, etc.

Okay! Routines!

*Remember to warm up first, and since I don't know your skill level, please listen to your body if you can't complete something as described. I'm not a professional or anything, this is just what I personally do, please don't listen to me or the videos over yourself.

If you don't have any equipment:

This YouTube channel. Just all of it. She's fun and a little silly, but her videos cram a lot in. She's a contemporary dancer, which has a lot of overlap (I dance both!) so her basic dance moves videos will help get you familiar with how your body would move, and some floorwork ideas if that interests you, since pole can include dancing on the floor. Contemporary floorwork can be amazing for strength training, too.

These are a little trickier but uses pole moves without the pole to build strength (although YouTube has a whole bunch of "conditioning off the pole" routines)

A 30 Day Challenge, I'm doing it and it's really nicely bite sized

Lats exercises with just a towel (I use this routine but with resistance bands)

If you do have resistance bands, these are good too. Ignore the stuff about the wide back, you'd have to do a whole lot to get there, but you do want a strong back.

Opening your shoulders (after you've opened them a little, dive into puppy pose and hold there for 20-30 seconds, then push your spine up while pushing your underarms to the floor for about 10 seconds)

Scapula pushups and shoulder circles in tabletop are really important for protecting your shoulders.

Take care of your spine. Keep your back as flat as possible with your tailbone tucked, don't jackknife (looking at you, sit ups), make sure you're having days of active recovery.

Use a backpack full of heavy stuff as a kettlebell -- you can deadlift, farmer carry, or wear it for extra challenges on your squats and core work. (Also grocery bags, those are good for farmer carries)

Body weight squats and deep squats in straddle (I sit in my deep squat and play games on my phone)

I will just sloth walk around my apartment (I live alone, if you can't tell from that). It's a very slow movement, on hands and feet, moving each limb individually as slow as possible, core engaged. It's exhausting if you do it long enough.

There are paid classes or online courses that can be super helpful (I have my silly little course I do in the mornings that I like, and take weekly classes with a local dance troupe) but you can also get a lot of free yoga/flexibility apps. Mostly those free ones are helpful for a feeling of accountability rather than the routines they recommend tho.

If you're looking for strength, I like Barbend, even though they're very specialized in hypertrophy they have a lot of good info -- their newsletter usually has some new exercise to do, even if I skip the competition news. Just remember to keep your weights (your backpack) lower and your reps higher, you're going to want endurance over increasing your maximum lift. But if you're lifting weights, still keep track of your 1RM, it's so encouraging through those Beginner Gains.

If you have access to a gym, try out TRX training! It's suspension work, which will add in more instability and lifting your own body weight, but has some more forgiveness than the pole. (Hint: I like pull up from seated). There are a bunch of routines for TRX online, but really listen to yourself, even if you're going until failure.

Okay, I've thrown a whole bunch at you, hopefully something sticks out, or you can try something new (and hate it and wonder why you ever listened to me at all lmao)