Lucky fire dragon pulls herself up and up and upside down

[lucky fire dragon]

Lucky fire dragon pulls herself up and up and upside down

 

Hi everyone, for those who don't know me yet, I am an amateur pole dancer who got hooked about 3 years ago and is since then slowly, stubbornly building some strength to actually do some dancing on this fabulous thing. It's totally addictive, gives me big bruises and even bigger fun, confidence and has turned me from sluggish desk worker into circus-nerd, active, stronger than I have ever been and roughly 10 kg lighter to when I started three years ago.

 

Apart from pole dance I dabbled with aerial hoop, will get gymnastic rings for my birthday in May (whoohoo), love yoga, hiking, bathing, reading, travelling, music and of course all the gorgeous amazeballs in here

 

Due to some work changes and challenges I was quite absent during the last two challenges and ... am embarrassed to admit... let myself go a bit. Well, contrast is our friend, right, so here is me motivated and dedicated for a proper tough challenge again

 

Let's BRING IT ON!!!!

(will have to look for a proper gif later, sorry)

 

This time I'm going to do it all:

 

• spring clean detox
• get super strong, especially on PULL UPS
• train all the inversions
• and stay super focused with meditation powers

 

The rough plan is there, I might still adjust some details later. Also this challenge will have different parts for each week as it builds up gradually and that will give me some room for adjustments if need be.

 

1. Get sparkling and focused

I have a fabulous yoga book by Tiffany Cruikshank with a 30 day yoga detox program that helped me shed about 4 kg two years ago and will go through the progress again. Might shed less weight this time, but am hoping for some cm less and also noticed the cleaner my diet and the less alcohol I drink, the better my grip on the pole. Aaaaand it turns out that is a BIG motivation

 

For Week 1 I will

- drink a lemon drink every morning

- do the detox week 1 yoga program every morning

• breathing exercise (inhale for 6 seconds, hold for 6 seconds, exhale for 6 seconds, same with 8 seconds and then 10 seconds for 3 rounds each or more)
• 10 x cat / cow
• 3-5 sun salutations A (forward fold, plank, lowering into cobra, downdog, jump to hands, forward fold, roll up)
• 2-5 sun saluations B (forward fold, jump into plank, up dog, down dog, lunge left with arms up, down dog, lunge right with arms up, downdog, jump to hands, forward fold, roll up)
• Savansana (after hoop and inversions)
• meditation (after savansana or later in day, see below)

- add 5 of each pull up and chin up rows as well as tuck into straddle and crunches on the aerial hoop every morning

- meditate for 10 minutes minimum every morning (can be done later in day if need be, but morning would be ideal)

- do all this early enough that I can still do all needed desk work in the mornings and have the afternoons free for other things

 

- do 3 rounds of fire breath every day

- drink no alcohol except on Saturdays but only if I had at least 2 liters of water before

- drink 2 liters of water or herbal tea every day

 

- take measurements on Sundays

 

2. Get Stronger

As I want to really really play with my rings when I get them and apparently you need to have pull up strength for that, pull ups it's going to be.

Plus pole lessons at Level 2+ are really challenging me majorly so no more lazying around on that either

 

- 3 x pole training at home / week (plus the lesson at the studio)

- collect 50 pull ups or chin ups over week 1, negatives and rows count as 0.5 each -> will raise this goal in the weeks 2-4

 

3. Train all the inversions

I have this fabulous feetup stool at home allowing me plenty of play with headstands without any pressure on neck or hand, so I could play more with that... or with handstands (I recently managed to kick into a wall handstand and hold it for the first time idk!!!!! That was so cool it needs repeating) ... or with headstands as we need them way more controlled for pole choreos than I can do right now

 

- spend 50 minutes / week upside down

 

Current status videos

 

Here is the video of the hoop morning training with lots of work still needed on my rows as you can see. I'm thinking now that maybe I am positioning myself wrong and must go a bit more back to that when I come up the hoop is not at my head but at my chest rather...  any hints?

https://vimeo.com/161294594

Also can we still imbed videos in here or not anymore? Couldn't find yet how...

 

Here is a video of some current pole projects: seat relax into hangback should ideally be switching from one into the other and back with as little hand help as possible (good prep for higher levels  ) the handstand attitude with one leg away from the pole feels for some reason suuuuuuper scary, so it will be my bravery expansion for a while and the slide down needs more control and less hooking in with the bent leg, finally the headstand - goal is to lift straight legs up controlled from top of foot (i.e. not standing on toes like I did here) and then crunch up to hold straight away at the top of the pole (not use the help of hand below butt like I did here...)

https://vimeo.com/161296316

 

 

Measurements and weight on Day 1

upper right arm: 29.5 cm

upper left arm: 29.5 cm

chest: 88.5 cm

waist: 83 cm

hips: 89.5 cm

right thigh: 54 cm

left thigh: 53 cm

right calf: 35.5 cm

left calf: 34.5 cm

 

Starting weight 64 kg

 

 

 

Squeeeeeeeeee EXCITED

 

Best of FUN and SUCCESS and safe training everyone!!

 

 

[lucky fire dragon]

for week 2

[lucky fire dragon]

for week 3

[lucky fire dragon]

for week 4

[lucky fire dragon]

for summary

[Urgan]

Ohai...

[Son of Rylos]

I'm here for the stalking and the successes!!!

 

But... amateur? Hardly!! Definitely intermediate at least, don't sell yourself short Lucky!!

 

I feel you about the last couple of challenges having things cause massive upheaval. Got your back on this one. 

[TheFatFriar]

Hi! And welcome back, apparently I'm going to be honest, your avatar and nickname is the reason I decided to check out your profile, then I saw you also have an awesome challenge (dragons have a special place in my heart and I admire pole dancers, do I need to say more?) I'll be following along!

[lucky fire dragon]

On 31.3.2016 at 0:31 AM, Urgan said:

Ohai...

 

 

On 1.4.2016 at 3:50 AM, Calibre said:

I'm here for the stalking and the successes!!!

 

But... amateur? Hardly!! Definitely intermediate at least, don't sell yourself short Lucky!!

 

I feel you about the last couple of challenges having things cause massive upheaval. Got your back on this one. 

 

YAY, glad to have you

 

You're so sweet! Take note I did say amateur as opposed to professional and not beginner

Strictly seen I am still at beginner level because our intermediate levels only start at Level 4 and I am currently training at Level 2+, preparing for Level 3 (which will probably happen towards the end of year only, but I'm in no rush), so I am still beginner even though the things we do are by far not easy...

What I wanna say is that while it might look super impressive to non-polers it really isn't in the pole dancers world. Which doesn't matter much as I am damn proud of all the things I can do already and suuuuuuper excited to learn some more

 

Yes, we both know what it's like when life is challenging enough and fitness challenges take a back seat so long, but hey we've both grown strong from it in many ways and WE WILL PUT IT ALL INTO THIS ONE, whooooooooooooohooooooooooo

 

13 hours ago, Kunmaar said:

Hi! And welcome back, apparently I'm going to be honest, your avatar and nickname is the reason I decided to check out your profile, then I saw you also have an awesome challenge (dragons have a special place in my heart and I admire pole dancers, do I need to say more?) I'll be following along!

 

Hi there and thanks

With dragons in our hearts and love for pole dancing we'll be great friends already  Thanks for being on board

[lucky fire dragon]

So on Thursday I had an AWESOME pole class 

I managed that blasted crunch up from headstand into supergirl seat twice

without cheat hand

 

Video to follow still as I still have to manage again... after those two times my abs were apparently fried and when we recorded I did not manage any more. But still, I DID IT!!

It's one of those moves that have my legs green and blue the next day, but my teacher says "oh just a few months and then the body is used to it and won't bruise anymore..." So now I'm unsure, do I train it excessively now to get past the bruise phase before bathing season... or do I save the pain and go in bits and pieces... this is where hubby thinks I am so crazy spending money on these courses

 

Other wins were dancing through full choreo without wiping hands on towel in between - big woot!!

And managing once to lift up into headstand with straight legs and no momentum, yayyyyyy  No chance yet on the other leg and could not repeat after that once, but I don't care, it's proof I can do it. 

Next week we will start a new choreo over the next 6 lessons so I am quite excited to find out what we will work on. I feel a lot more at home now in Level 2+ than a month ago, so that too is awesome. Let's see how long this confidence lasts ahahaha, but I will enjoy it fully so long. 

 

Pull up rows:

Dan, I am shocked to report, I can't do them all the way

Well my shoulders are quite a way higher than the floor still but I guess lower would not make it easier either but harder instead, right? Anyway, I recorded my attempts and will share them here later for any helpful hints... So funny to see how I first cheated with pulling my neck forward, then realizing and pushing my chest out instead and going into hollow back... anything but acknowledging that I simply can't get all the way up yet  Well, now I know what to work on over the coming weeks. Will simply go as far as I can and maybe do some negatives, too until I can manage all the way.

 

On other news:

My Dad is doing much better, his heart specialist did a check up yesterday and cleared him to only come in again in 6 months time. My daughter's second birthday party (during the first one half her guests were ill and couldn't come, so we did another one now) was a great success, with them decorating some very creative and delicious muffins, hopping lots on the freshly reborn trampoline, going on the requested treasure hunt, watching inside out and camping overnight in our living room together. The treasure hunts are actually a lot of fun to put together, my mirror writing comes easier now without needing any mirror for it. I mixed letters upside down and coded some texts to make it a little harder. It was twelve clues to find that were each part of a puzzle picture that pointed to the final treasure, being a little Easter nest with sweets and stickers for each girl. Who says Moms can't have their fun either, hehe. And it took them about 20 minutes, which is pretty good.

 

Meditation:

I have started most mornings this week with yoga already and have been really good on my water, had no alcohol and am doing plenty of breathing exercises, which are great. Surprisingly I am struggling with the 10 count meditation the yoga detox program recommends. I usually enjoy meditation as a treat, get into it easily and experience it as a vacation time for my mind. But with counting each breath until I get to 10 and then start again, my mind says "Oh I am not on vacation", counts for a little while and then starts going into all kinds of directions, until I remember "Right I  wanted to meditate" and bring it back again. I can see this is a great way to train focusing on a single thing for a while. I am so used to multitasking that focusing on one activity alone has become strange for me. Will keep at it and report.

[Mrs Van]

So glad your dad is doing better. And you are already on the go, go, go!

(Ok, this guy isn't a dragon, but...) I'm here to support you.

[lucky fire dragon]

3 minutes ago, elizevdmerwe said:

So glad your dad is doing better. And you are already on the go, go, go!

(Ok, this guy isn't a dragon, but...) I'm here to support you.

 

Your support is always awesome and most welcome, Elize! Love the dragonish music dude

[Lightning]

That's really interesting about the meditation.  I wonder if it's harder because there are so many other things you want to do/need to do that day that you have trouble giving yourself the time to meditate.  When your on vacation you probably feel less responsibility to do 'things'.  Makes me wonder if that is why I have more success when I try to meditate in the evening once all my to do list items are done.

 

So happy that your Dad is doing well!  

And so happy to have a LFD challenge to follow!

[lucky fire dragon]

Well, thinking of things to do still is definitely a factor but if I do it in the evening my mind simply goes ahead into planning future things to do or that I could do Often there pop up even really good ideas and then I have to tell my larger self to please help me remember these ideas later cause now I'd like to MEDITATE!!!

 

What usually works best is switching my mind off completely and go into a kind of empty state where I am aware of my body and surroundings but in a very visceral, non-mental way. That is super relaxing and yummy  

With the ten count I can't switch it off completely and now I'm determined to be able to do both

 

Great that the evenings work well for you! What kind of meditation are you currently doing?

 

Thanks for being on board again 

[SymphonicDan]

Yay, new challenge

 

For me anyway, rows are not much easier than pull-ups. My AMRAP PR for rows is 20 but for pull-ups it's at least 12. Rows also vary in difficulty depending on feet position. If your feet are too far away from the rings then it can be much harder (in fact if the rings get to your face it's a "face pull" and that's supposed to be considerably harder than a standard row.

 

If your shoulders are not at the ground at the bottom of the RoM then yes that does make it easier if your feet are in the best position, but if you have them too far away from the rings then it makes the move even more like a(n inclined) face pull, which is hard.

[lucky fire dragon]

Oh are there different versions of that? I assumed legs would have to be straight, so yes they are far away. Will go load up those videos now, might be easier to explain...

[annyshay]

Going to get back on track with you, Lucky! 

[lucky fire dragon]

yayyyyy 

[Urgan]

Man can I borrow a cup of energy? You're doing so much so well! Re: bruise adaptation, I say do what you can with no pressure to literally beat yourself up. One can only do so much there, yeah? 

 

Glad to hear your dad's alright AND you planned and pulled off a birthday party in the midst of awaiting to hear good news there. 

[lucky fire dragon]

borrow away, right now I seem to have plenty

I am feeling the work deloading and it is doing me a whole world of good. Handing over so many admin tasks and responsibilities to others .... I feel like being reborn.

The funny thing is, I used to love all those parts. So I guess there is a time and place for everything and now my sweet spot has simply shifted

 

Yeah, bruises are actually not as bad anymore (bless my sister who is an apothecary and mixes me the BEST of creams ) So I'll see ... part of it will be decided for me by what will be included in the new class choreo or not. So I can let fate decide for me

 

My Dad was actually at his doc in the morning (with my sister) while I took my Mom to her regular docs appointment and that is a whole story in itself, so I was quite exhausted when I came home after that plus doing the family grocery shopping and getting ready for my girls Birthday party in the afternoon. But she and her friends played so nicely and I somehow got a second breath back, so I planned the treasure hunt while they were busy decorating their muffins. Sneaky dragon mommy... hid all the clues while bringing garden waste out (outdoor clues) while they were on trampoline (indoor clues) and the last ones actually while they were hunting the first ones

Then had my break while they watched "Inside Out" with our projector giving a home cinema. By that time hubby was home and helped a lot, too.

Today I am laaaaaaazy though and must kick myself properly now for pole training. And I want to train, don't want to loose the freshly rewon momentum there.

 

Knowing you all cheering on does help so much! You, Urgan, take a break however - you've been busy enough for two weeks in one!!

[lucky fire dragon]

So I updated the before challenge videos to my first post and here goes as well:

 

Here is the video of the hoop morning training with lots of work still needed on my rows as you can see. I'm thinking now that maybe I am positioning myself wrong and must go a bit more back to that when I come up the hoop is not at my head but at my chest rather...  any hints?

https://vimeo.com/161294594

Also can we still imbed videos in here or not anymore? Couldn't find yet how...

 

Here is a video of some current pole projects: seat relax into hangback should ideally be switching from one into the other and back with as little hand help as possible (good prep for higher levels  ) the handstand attitude with one leg away from the pole feels for some reason suuuuuuper scary, so it will be my bravery expansion for a while and the slide down needs more control and less hooking in with the bent leg, finally the headstand - goal is to lift straight legs up controlled from top of foot (i.e. not standing on toes like I did here) and then crunch up to hold straight away at the top of the pole (not use the help of hand below butt like I did here...)

https://vimeo.com/161296316

[lucky fire dragon]

Pull up testing:

 

negativ pull up from chin at bar in 10 seconds lowering slowly - check

deadhang from pull up bar with shrugged out of shoulders for 45 sec - check 

 

Chin-up tests from standing on tip toe: only one at a time any more and that only twice, hmpf, that used to be better...

Here is the meager chin-up state: https://vimeo.com/161301119

[SymphonicDan]

Chin-ups look good! It was clearly at the limit of your strength because on the 2nd rep you started raising your knees a little. Both reps were very controlled though, with more than 100% range of motion  which is great (your chin is above the bar, which is obviously more difficult than barely touching the bar - which is the minimum for a chin-up - so I think you have strong lats and it's your upper-arm muscles that need the most training).

 

For the rows, you could try lowering the hoop, or putting your feet on a chair, or whatever you need so that your body is horizontal to begin with. And then alter where your feet are as you described, and that will be a textbook row position, even if not with textbook apparatus

 

With the dead hang and the chin-ups and the pull-up negative, I think you're very close to an actual pull-up. In fact I would bet you could do it by the end of next week if you continue training (although maybe I'm being too optimistic as always...)

[Mad Hatter]

Ooh shiny new challenge! Almost missed it this time too, you're very sneaky about them.  

 

Great challenge, but I don't know what you mean when you say you let yourself go, from the videos at least you look strong and awesome! 

[Mrs Van]

14 hours ago, lucky fire dragon said:

Pull up testing:

 

negativ pull up from chin at bar in 10 seconds lowering slowly - check

deadhang from pull up bar with shrugged out of shoulders for 45 sec - check 

 

Chin-up tests from standing on tip toe: only one at a time any more and that only twice, hmpf, that used to be better...

Here is the meager chin-up state: https://vimeo.com/161301119

That was great! Wow I'm in awe! And you look so good!