National competition season for many sports is coming to a close, and I did it! I survived!! From July 15 through August 19 I competed in four different competitions and performed in ten different categories! I gratefully received five gold medals, one silver, and one bronze all in elite pole dancing categories. I qualified for the International Pole Sports Federation (IPSF) in three categories; so, there will be more competitions in October. But why do you care, and why do I say all this? At this point, I think, I have convinced you that I’m a crazy person who competes too much, yet, my body is still in functional shape! How did this happen??

Let’s talk about how to take care of your body while doing any form of workout (especially high level)!

Start A Morning Flow

A morning workout doesn’t have to be anything crazy. Mine lasts about 20 minutes and it is really a good time for me to stretch out from the night before and to consistently work on the parts of my body that are weaker. For example, I like to hold a plank every morning for a minute, work my lunges, stretch my shoulders along a wall, work on my balance, and focus on my breathwork, among other things. I personally feel that everyone’s morning flow should be tailored to their personal body and goals. This is always something you can talk to a personal trainer with if you are unsure where to start.

I personally do my 20 minutes before I eat breakfast and have found my body feels much fresher on the days I do it than the days I don’t. Even if it is only for 20 minutes a day, you are consistently working on different things, so you will see improvements over time without killing yourself. I work my forward fold most mornings, and the transformation has been remarkable!

Diet and Sleep

Our body can only do so much with what we give it. I am a huge advocate for a plant based diet. I avoid fried food and I don’t drink alcohol. When cooking I saute with water instead of oil whenever possible. As a vegan who does crazy big tricks and a lot of strength moves I get asked a lot about my protein intake. But I have to say, I really don’t think about my protein for one second. I eat a lot of salads. I’m a huge fan of using cashews to make cheeses. But I really enjoy food! I often have an acai bowl every morning, make vegan lasagnas, raw vegan nori rolls, curries, different salads, and even a really good apple pie from time to time. Most of my food is organic and fresh. I think the most important part about food is that it is as clean as possible.

Sleep is just as important as food. It is crazy how so many nights my body is killing me and I wake up to the magic of sleep! Also, on the flip side, if I don’t sleep well, I will drag all day. I personally need a solid seven hours of sleep to be a happy athlete. This is the time the body rejuvenates the muscles.

A Balanced Training Schedule:

You might want to always be doing X workout, but you really need to do some conditioning to get better faster. I use my morning routine to do some conditioning, which makes a big difference for me and it doesn’t really feel like working out as much as just this thing I do in the morning before starting my day. I actually have a confession — I am not a gym person at all. I LOVE pole dancing and want to always be getting better at it, but the conditioning isn’t my favorite part! But the gains are worth it! I balance my pole training with flexibility training, active and passive.

Flexibility and I have a love hate relationship, which is a big improvement to it being a hate hate relationship just a few years ago. I am not a naturally flexible person. All of my flexibility comes from hours and hours of straight up torture! But at the end of the day, my body is so much happier for it. Muscles are supposed to contract and stretch, not just contract. One of the best ways I have been able to help recover from my heavy training is stretching.

I have four main times that I stretch:

As part of my morning flow.
Before training pole.
After training pole.
A focused time for just working a more intense flexibility session.

One should always do a thorough job of warming up and cooling down the body when working out. I will often take anywhere from half an hour to an hour to warm up my body before even touching a pole (sometimes two hours if I include rolling out, but more on that later). Cooling down is also just as important, but often overlooked. If you don’t stretch out our muscles after working out they can stay contracted and this can lead to injury.

Finally, I try to do a very focused stretching session two to four times a week. This pushes me past maintenance and into making progress for my flexibility. And everyone likes a bendy pole dancer!

Self Massage

Massage in general is wonderful for the body! I personally have learned that seeing a masseuse once a week when I’m injured is the best way to help me heal faster. This is literally better than doing anything else for me, but one should learn what is right for their body. Sadly, seeing a masseuse once a week isn’t always an option, but one can use rollers and balls to do a ton of recovery work!

I am sold on the MELT Method! Here you use balls and rollers to massage out your muscles in a particular way, and, for me, it is magic! Over these past two months I haven’t seen my masseuse at all. I just rolled out my body for an hour before training each day and it has made a tremendous difference! MELT has videos online or you can take in person or online classes. I used to do online classes twice a week, but I have been using MELT for so long I just do the activities that work best for my body on my own now.

Rest Days

Rest days are key to getting stronger! I always have one day a week where I don’t do anything physical. Then I have a few days where I might just do a flexibility class. If I’m training really hard, I might even do a day on and then a day off, but my days on might go five to six hours long when training.

Have Fun!

Burnout is a thing. If you are not enjoying what you are doing, take a break. Mix something up. Try something new. Working out should be enjoyable and make you feel good. However, if you need to do something that you are not as excited about doing, find a teacher you really like. Having a coach or teacher who really inspires you makes a huge difference for motivation.

Wow, I just wrote a whole article on how to be a badass athlete and barely spoke about pole dancing! I think people should be impressed by that alone! Anyway, get out there and make some gains! Have a ton of fun, and love your body by treating it right!

Surviving Competition Season/Working Out In General