Week 1.
This week was my first official week of training for the World Pole Sports Championships. The week was a process of trying out my new schedule and adjusting what wasn't working. I started off thinking that I would be training pole three times a week and going to the gym three times a week with one session for upper body, one for lower body and one for cardio and stretching. I soon realized this was not going to work. After speaking to my biokineticist on Monday it became clear that my lower body and particularly my right leg and glutes need quite a bit of focus. As a result, I have now changed my gym schedule to include two lower body days and one upper body day with a cardio warm-up and ending off with stretching on each day. I also implemented a new morning schedule that includes 30 minutes of mobilization and stretching. Originally I was waking up at 6:30am, but was feeling very tired and realized I could push my wake-up time to 7:00am while still getting everything done. In my session with my coach we also looked at my compulsory moves and adjusted some of those.
This week has taught me the value of remaining flexible. I would not have managed to stick to my original plans and it would not have been beneficial for me to do so. It is only through evaluating my plans and adapting them to my needs that I have managed to implement a training schedule that suits my lifestyle and my needs. However, I must remember that the process of adapting and being flexible does not end here. I can often become stuck seeking perfection and become too hard on myself or give up when things don't go exactly as planned, but I have got a long journey ahead and I need to stay focused on the big picture.
Week 2.
The second week of my worlds training has come to an end. It was a very busy week and it was difficult to stick to my schedule and commitments, but I made it work! I managed to fit in two gym sessions this week but had to skip one due to studying for an exam, I also skipped one pole training session due to the exam although I did work on some of my compulsories at our fundraising Pole Jam. But next week should be a lot less busy so my goal is to do all of my scheduled gym and training sessions. With winter really getting into full swing now my spasms have gotten a bit worse and I've been experiencing some body aches, so my morning stretching routine is becoming even more important, so I am also going to focus on that in the upcoming week.
This week consisted of several major highlights. The first highlight of my week was a private lesson with Claudia that I had to work on some of my off the pole choreography. It went really well and we managed to add a lot of elements that should help boost my score. Another highlight is that our fundraising Pole Jam went incredibly well and I got the amazing news that Infinity Grip is sponsoring me!! I am so incredibly grateful to Conny from Infinity Grip for her generous offer.
The fundraising was one of the aspects that I have been most concerned about with going to Worlds. I know myself and know my determination and that I will be able to train hard and represent myself and my country well, but the fundraising has been a bit of an unknown up until now. I was worried that we might not raise enough money to cover the costs of the trip and that financial stress would put a damper on the experience. However, after seeing the massive amount of support I have received this week, I am no longer as worried. I am so thankful for everyone who has contributed so far and for all the support I have been receiving. My pole community, in particular, has blown my mind with its generosity and I am so humbled by this whole experience.
Week 3.
This week started off a bit rough. The flu has been going around and I’ve been feeling like my body has been fighting something off. I decided to take my training a bit easy in the first half of the week to try and make sure that I didn’t put my body under too much stress and end up getting sick. I ended up skipping my second gym session for the week, but by the end of the week, I was feeling a lot better. On Friday, I ended up having an amazing session with Julie! We reworked the first half of my routine and I’m feeling really great about it. Then on Sunday I made it to the gym and had a great session - hitting some personal bests in reps and weights.
This week has really emphasized the importance of listening to my body and taking easy when I need to. Going into the week I really wanted to stick to all the gym and training session I had planned and push myself, but in the end, I’m glad I decided to listen to my body instead.
Week 4.
This week my training became a lot more focused. I now have a fully choreographed routine and the hard part of polishing it up and perfecting all the accents and musicality and timing starts. Time is quickly slipping away and deadlines for when I need to be ready by are fast approaching. My goal is to have the routine ready by the middle of August to perform at a fundraising showcase and again at Pole Unity so that I get some practice on stage before I perform at Worlds.
I took a break from the gym this week to really concentrate on pole and be well rested for my training sessions as I knew that I wanted to push myself and have all my elements ready to be choreographed. The other reason that I decided to take a break from the gym was that it was Winter Pole Festival this weekend. I decided to do two workshops. One workshop was specifically to help with some of the more dynamic elements of my Worlds routine and the other was just for fun.
This month has flown by so quickly. In the moment it feels like I'm not really making much progress but looking back its incredible to see how much I have been able to accomplish in such a relatively short space of time. My goals for next month are to keep up the consistency in my pole training and try whenever possible to stick to three gym sessions a week. I want to improve my execution of the choreography that I have and get consistent with the timing so that I can start adding in more of the artistic elements. Most importantly I want to remind myself that I am doing this because I love pole. As it gets closer to Worlds the pressure is building, but I want to make sure that I don't get too caught up in the technicality and lose my love for the sport.
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