Posture and Pole Dance

Posture and Pole Dance

In my experience teaching and practicing pole I’ve seen how the differences of posture affect Pole Work. Each posture comes with its own range of easy movements and challenging ones. Below I will explore each posture and some of the benefits and issues with each.

Swayback Posture – which is sometimes confused with a forward curved lower back—is actually when the pelvis is posterior tilted, tucking the tailbone under, the shoulders will round forward, and the head reaches forward to counter balance. The low back (lumbar spine) flatten out in this posture. Hamstrings are tight, and hip flexors are locked long. This posture is sometimes referred to as 'fatigue' posture because the pelvis is hanging back off the femur heads by the 'Y' ligaments.

Here is a drawing of it. http://www.fotosearch.com/LIF155/mm102016/

The femur bones (the big leg bones) are in extension in the hip sockets. This means the pole dancer will find movements bringing the leg/hip into extension super easy (ie. Bringing the leg behind the body), and movements bringing the leg/hip into flexion more challenging. The reason why is that when the hips are already open, opening them further is something that is a natural pattern. When you try to take the hip into the opposite pattern, flexion, you are asking the body to go to the opposite extreme of range.

Tricks easier for Swayback Posture dancers are: Back bending, any spin where the legs come behind the body, invert positions where the leg reaches behind the body.

Tricks more challenging for Swayback: Curling up into inversions, crouch positions, straddle positions.

For working with the more challenging moves with a swayback it is vital the dancer understands what she or he does with his pelvis in the first place. It is not that the pelvis needs to necessarily move into anterior placement, so much as the tailbone and muscles need to relax to allow the femur bone to travel easier. Also the hip flexors need strengthening in a fluid pattern so that the dancer can draw the femur through to flexion in a healthy way.

Flat Back Posture—is sometimes confused with Swayback as they both have reduced lumbar (low back) curves, but in Flat Back the spine is long and the cervical spine leans forward. Another difference is the ribcage placement. In Flat Back the ribs are over the pelvis, and in Swayback the ribs are posterior (behind) the pelvis.

Just like Swayback, the hips are elongated making the femurs in extension.

I have not seen any Flat Back students progress past one level of pole dance, so I do not know first hand what tricks would be easier or more challenging. One thing for sure is there is no spring to the spine which is a problem because the spine is a spring system. Any high impact movements will be difficult.

Kyphosis-Lordosis Posture- This may not be an excessive amount of curve in each direction, but it is a viewable lumbar curve (low back), and a curve of the ribcage forward, which is a balancing of the spine, like a spring. If these curves are too deep or out of balance they can create movement problems and pain. The pelvis is in an anterior tilt, creating a femur/hip placement that is stuck in a flexed position. The neck is hyperextended, which mirrors the pelvis. The ribcage bends backward between the two points. The low back muscles are shortened. The pelvis is in an anterior tilt, meaning leaning forward-increasing the lumbar curve. The back muscles are very short making it hard for them to lay flat on their backs without the ribcage reaching away from the floor (this is with knees bent in supine).

http://www.pediatric-orthopedics.com/Treatments/Kyphosis_Lordosis/kyphosis_lordosis.html

Tricks easier for Kyphosis-Lordorsis posture are any that require a flexed him/femur position, inverting into a crouched position, straddle positions, splits.

Tricks more challenging to perform without overusing particular vertebra mobility are back bending movements, and anything that takes the leg into extension as the backward movement will try to initiate from the low back instead of the femur head reaching back in the hip socket.


Military Posture- This is characterized by a shortening of the back of the body. The pelvis is often in an anterior tilt, meaning leaning forward, shortening the low back muscles. The ribcage is generally normally placed, if not a little posterior. The neck is long and a little forward to counter the ribcage portion of the spine. Stomach muscles are weak, as they are too long. The hip flexors are short and strong. These dancers, in my experience, throw themselves at the pole. They have a lot of strength but not enough length to do the work slowly or correctly. They need a lengthening of their back muscles.

Tricks easy for Military posture are those that utilize mid-back strength, and hip flexor strength. Inverting and handstand positions.

Tricks challenging for Military Posture are those that require length in the latisimus muscle, like spins. They will tend to hold their weight by their pecs, biceps, and forward shoulder muscles, instead of engaging fluidly through the long back muscles.

As always, a good eye by a professional Pilates instructor who is trained in posture can be vital to changing deep movement and postural patterns.

Here’s a little more info on finding out what your own posture is. http://www.easyvigour.net.nz/fitness/h_Side_Posture.htm

Pole Dance

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