Power of Positive Pole
Train your brain & unlock your pole goals!
It is no surprise that pole dancing is a physically demanding form of fitness. As we twirl, spin, drop, split and twist our bodies around the pole, our muscles fatigue and bruises appear – physical signs to show how hard we have been working. Whether you are a beginner or at an elite level, pole dancing will test your strength, flexibility, endurance and pain threshold (seriously, can we please just scrap the layback as a trick already?!)
In pursuit of the perfect straight leg invert or flat jade split, we often forget to train one of the most powerful and important parts of our bodies – our mind. In pole we focus so much on strengthening the physical form, it is easy to forget to strengthen our psychological form. How often do you find yourself in class thinking it will be years before you will get an aerial shoulder mount, but a few weeks later it magically happens? What was difference between these classes? Could it be you were wearing your lucky booty shorts that day? Or could it have been you were confident that this was the week you were going to make some progress with that trick?
Let’s explore the beauty of the brain and how increasing your self-confidence, positive self-talk and mindfulness could sky rocket your sassy, 8inch heel-wearing, stunning self towards your pole goals!
When in doubt, channel Queen B!
Bringing that big hoop attitude
In the wise words of Ocean Alley, “it’s all about confidence babyyyy”. Research has found self-confidence to be one of the most important variables related to sport performance (Robazza & Bortoli, 2007), as it increases perceived ability to manage emotion, and assists an athlete to control negative emotions more effectively. It is this control of negative emotions which may make the difference in your pole performance and ability.
I have often thought that I pole dance better when I am happy and in a great mood. However, studies suggest that it is the absence of a bad mood (aka a depressive state) which is actually the game-changer here. Lane, et al., (2005) found that when an athlete was not coping with training successfully, happiness scores deteriorated, fatigue scores increased and the athlete started reporting some symptoms of depressed mood. Depressed mood was accompanied by confusion and anger, and while happiness levels might be an early indicator to the possibility of a depressed mood, it is the angry, anxious states initiated by a depressed mood which makes the difference in exercise performance.
Essentially, by increasing your level of confidence in your pole ability, you will feel more optimistic and self-assured, therefore less depressed and anxious, so you will perform better.
Self-confidence might get the ball rolling, but self-efficacy is what will get you results. Self-efficacy refers to one's beliefs about accomplishing a task and can influence choice of activities, effort, persistence, and achievement. People may have different levels of self-efficacy depending on their past experiences, but as they work on tasks, they acquire information about how well they are doing which influences their self-efficacy for ongoing learning and performance (Schunk, 1995).
For example, your belief on whether or not you can handstand as well as previous feedback you may have received about your ability to handstand, will influence effort and persistence in achieving a handstand now. You may think, “that combo ends with a handstand and I believe I’m bad at handstands because I never did them growing up, therefore I won’t be able to achieve that pole combo now”. However, research suggests to us, if you build your self-confidence, your belief in how well you will achieve your goal will grow.
Image: Pole Dancing Adventures
Let’s spin into a study combining the two, conducted by Besharat & Pourbohlool (2011). They looked into moderating self-confidence and self-efficacy in sport, and the relationship between competitive anxiety and sport performance. The results found that in addition to controlling and reducing negative emotions, the sense of capability helped the athlete to do the sport tasks with more success. Through reinforcing efficient coping strategies, self-efficacy prepared the athlete for competitive anxiety. It was concluded, that while an athlete’s self-confidence provides the general framework for control and management of stress, self-efficacy specifically related to management and control of sport stresses, better performance, and sport achievement.
To wrap it all up like a tuck on the pole, while self-confidence can be applied to managing stress in general, it is the level of belief in accomplishing a task which will specifically aid performance. Using the handstand example, it would look a little like is:
(Self-confidence = general) - I am confident I have the strength to try that pole combo and have been able to get other ‘hard’ tricks in the past.
(Self-efficacy = specific) - I believe that if I persist and put in the effort, despite what I have been told in the past, I will be able to achieve the handstand at the end of that pole combo.
Girrrrl, it’s all about working that confidence harder than Katy Perry dressed as a chandelier at the Met Gala. So if the path to achieving your pole tricks or performing well at a comp starts with self-confidence, let’s take a look at some of the ways we can build our confidence in a pole class or before a pole competition.
Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Over the years, there has been more and more research into the power of positive self-talk on varying levels. From speaking affirmations out loud to changing your internal dialogue, writing love letters to yourself and leaving cute notes on the bathroom mirror, the results are consistent in that the way we speak to ourselves plays a huge role in our levels of confidence and self-esteem.
The way in which we speak to ourselves stems largely from our childhood and the beliefs instilled into us when we were kids. However, you can change these negative thought patterns over time. It’s not always about ‘becoming’ who you are, but ‘undoing’ those external influences to show the person you are truly meant to be.
In pole dancing, negative self-talk can be thoughts such as ‘I’m not good enough yet to enter that competition’, ‘I’m not as strong as that girl in my class’, ‘I could never do that trick’ or ‘I will never get that combo right’. Conroy and Metzler (2004) explored the ways self-talk impacts cognitive anxiety in sports performance. They looked at state-specific self-talk, so the way athletes spoke to themselves while failing, succeeding, wishing for success and fearing failure. They found the strongest results for self-talk, associated with fear of failure and sports anxiety. Essentially, the athletes experienced higher anxiety when using negative self-talk.
By positively changing the ways you think about yourself, talk to yourself (whether it be out loud or internally), write about yourself, and visualize yourself, you can start to shift your confidence, self-esteem and self-efficacy to shine as the pole dancer you were born to be!
Some of the ways you can up your positive self-talk game are:
Identify when you use negative self-talk
Are there certain pole tricks which turn you into a negative Nancy? Could it be watching back a routine run-through or performance? Maybe you are comparing yourself to another student in class? Make an effort to tune into your thoughts and start to note what situations turn on the little voice in your mind that says ‘you can’t’.
Check in with yourself each day
Monitor how you feel each day or before a pole class. Are you tired from a bad night’s sleep? Did you eat a nourishing lunch? Did traffic on the way to pole put you into a bad mood? Tune in with how you’re feeling before pole and make an effort to leave the negative emotions outside of the studio.
Your tribe affects your vibe
Think about the types of people you encounter every day, whether it’s at home, work or in friendship circles. Are they negative Nancy’s? Do they stress often, overact and project their problems onto you? Do they use negative self-talk with themselves often? Make sure you surround yourself with positive people who are focused, compassionate and will support you on the road to your goals!
Would you tell your friend that?
Talk to yourself in the same way you talk to your loved ones. You wouldn’t tell your pole bestie “oh you will never get that trick – it’s on your bad side!” or “you look ugly today” - so WHY are you speaking to yourself like that?! Make an effort to love yourself as much as you love those around you. It might start with small things like telling yourself how smokin’ you look in those new pole heels or how you totally killed it in that dance class!
Use positive affirmations
This might sound a little wishy-washy to some people, but they work. I mean, it’s just positive self-talk said out loud or written down in a statement. A positive affirmation should be 3 things: in present tense, empowering and true. An example might be “I am strong and my body can achieve amazing things”. Try writing just one positive affirmation for pole and saying it to yourself out loud in the car before class or in your mind during the warm up.
Positive self-talk can really impact your pole performance and ability to tackle new tricks. So next time you walk past a mirror, take a leaf out of Ron Burgandy’s book from Anchorman and say “I look good. I mean really good. Hey, everyone! Come and see how good I look!”
Mindfulness
If you’re like me, you struggle to sit still at the end of a yoga class when we descend into our ‘asana’ and meditate for 10 minutes. While the seasoned yogi next to me is breathing deeply and sitting still like a statue, I find myself thinking about dinner, that cool pole trick I saw on Instagram or my giant list of things to do tomorrow.
It is thought that mindfulness and learning to be present in the moment, can reduce levels of anxiety in athletic performance. Athletes who have practiced mindfulness in programs have reported an increase in being "in the zone" in competitive situations, along with a decrease in pessimism and anxiety (Scott-Hamilton, Schutte, & Brown, 2016). As we have already learned, negative thoughts and anxiety will affect our poling ability and performance, so practicing mindfulness will help us focus on that new trick or bringing our best to the stage in a pole comp.
Apparently, mindfulness has a revolving effect. It is thought that the boost in self-concept and self-esteem that comes from the practice of mindfulness, is essential to the continuation of the practice. Research has shown that practicing mindfulness increases self-concept and as a person begins to feel better about himself or herself, he or she will be more inclined to want to practice mindfulness (West, 1987).
If you have no clue where to start in taking a mindful moment, here are 6 tips from HeadSpace on how to practice mindfulness:
Observe your breathing
Go for a nature walk
Take mini breaks throughout the day
Avoid doing too many things at once
Create a journal
Use a mindfulness app to help get you on track (click here for a list of options)
Like music to the ears
I nearly fell off my pole, when I found that studies have shown that there is not a huge correlation between music and exercise performance. Music’s impact on strength, endurance and anaerobic power has been studied globally with contrasting results. It has been found that music can improve athletic performance by either delaying fatigue or increasing work capacity (Karageorghis, et al., 2010). However, another study on the effects of self-selected music on strength, effectiveness and mood, discovered that while self-selected music alters the mood state and increases acute explosive performance, it provides no change in strength training (Biagini, et al., 2011).
What does this mean for pole dancers? It remains uncertain just how much influence different genres of music have on our perceivable level of strength and endurance in a class, or perhaps even a routine. But why do you suddenly find that source of motivation when your favourite ‘pump-up' tune comes on? Maybe it’s ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ by Guns n Roses or ‘Sandstorm’ by Darude (oh what a banger) that gets you through that crazy long combo of tricks and flips. But if the research indicates that music doesn’t play a huge part in exercise performance, what is this magic? Could it be that perhaps music is acting almost as a placebo and it’s really your self-confidence and belief in the song which is upping your pole game? Just a thought I put to you to ponder over...
Regardless of what psychologists suggest, I personally think a good playlist = good pole training session. There’s nothing like hitting pole tricks and splits on those magical accents of your favourite songs to get you through another round of aerial straddles!
(Looking for a pole playlist? Check out Hair Flicks and Tricks on Spotify! Follow the ‘Tunes for Tricks’ playlist or ‘Grooves for Grinds’ playlist for something more exotic.)
Have no fear, your SuperMIND is here!
As important as it is to work on your strength, range of motion, flexibility, movement and dance in pole, don’t forget to train your brain too! Think about some of the ways you can you build your self-confidence, so you believe more in yourself and your ability to accomplish your pole goals. Perhaps it’s taking 5 mindful minutes with your cuppa in the morning, or thinking a positive affirmation before trying that bad-ass flip. Let’s all start to walk through life as confidently as Elle Woods walking into Harvard. I mean, she was onto something with the ‘bend and snap’ so who are we to second-guess the power a positive attitude and good pair of heels can have!
Tell me in the comments below how you bring the Elle Woods attitude to your poling!
References:
Besharat, M. & Pourbohlool, S. (2011). Moderating Effects of Self-Confidence and Sport Self-Efficacy on the Relationship between Competitive Anxiety and Sport Performance. Psychology, 2, 760-765. doi: 10.4236/psych.2011.27116.
Biagini, Matthew & Brown, Lee & Coburn, Jared & Judelson, Daniel & Statler, Traci & Bottaro, Martim & Tran, Tai & Longo, Nick. (2011). Effects of Self-Selected Music on Strength, Explosiveness, and Mood. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association. 26. 1934-8. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318237e7b3.
Conroy, D. E. and Metzler, J. N. (2004). Patterns of Self-Talk Associated with Different Forms of Competitive Anxiety. Retrieved from: https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jsep/26/1/article-p69.xml
Karageorghis, C.I., Priest, D.L., Williams, L.S., Hirani, R.M., Lannon, K.M., & Bates, B.J. (2010). Ergogenic and psychological effects of synchronous music during circuit-type exercise. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 11(6), 551-559.
Lane, A. M., Beedie, C. J. and Stevens, M. J. (2005). Mood matters: A response to Mellalieu. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 17, 319-25 as cited in Lane, A. M. (2016). Sport and Exercise Psychology: Topics in Applied Psychology (Second Edition). London: Taylor & Francis Ltd, Routledge.
Robazza, C., & Bortoli, L. (2007). Perceived impact of anger and anxiety on performance in rugby players. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8, 875-890. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2006.07.005
Schunk, Dale H., (1995) Self-efficacy, motivation, and performance, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 7:2, 112-137, DOI: 10.1080/10413209508406961
Scott-Hamilton, J., Schutte, N. S., & Brown, R. F. (2016). Effects of a a mindfulness intervention on sports anxiety, pessimism, and flow in competitive cyclists. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 8(1), 85-103. DOI: 10.1111/aphw.12063
West, M. A. (1987). The psychology of meditation: Research and practice. New York, NY: Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press as cited in Carlisle, Phoebe L., "The Effects of Mindfulness on Several Dimensions of Athletic Performance". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2017. Trinity College Digital Repository, http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/64
