If youāre working on the leg lines for your pole boomerang ā this oneās for you!
Rather watch than read? I got you! Check out the <90 second quick-fire video version of this blog post below!
If youāre here for all the nerdy details, welcome ā read on!
What kind of wizardry is this?
If youāre aspiring to the seemingly magical leg lines of Boomerang B, here are 3 key areas to consider when it comes to improving the lines and getting that dreamy straddle in the air.
Side note: Iām not covering the upper body in this post, just the legs! If you want an upper body spilt grip breakdown, drop me a request and Iāll get my nerd brain on the mission!
1: Flexibility for the pole dance boomerang
First up on our boomerang shopping list is flexibility in our hamstrings and inner thigh muscles (hip adductors).
Flexibility in these areas is what will allow us to create the boomerang shape with our legs (not to mention a million other pole moves – hello all the straddles). This shape is essentially a pancake position, which is a combination of hip flexion (requiring hamstring flexibility) and hip abduction (requiring inner thigh flexibility).
You don’t need a completely flat pancake to put a little extra ‘boom’ in your boomerang, but if we don’t have a reasonably good level of flexibility in our pancake position OFF the pole, then we sure as heck ain’t gonna be able to access that shape ON the pole!
However (and this bitās really important) even if we have flexibility for days and our pancake stretches are feelin’ mighty fine, we wonāt actually be able to access that flexibility in our boomerang without #2: strength!
2: Lower body strength for the boomerang
Itās strength in the opposing muscle groups (our hip flexors and hip abductors – mainly our gluteus medius, gluteus minimus and tensor fasciae latae) which lifts our legs against gravity and actively stabilise and hold that straddle/pancake shape in the air. Yowsers.
We also need some good olā fashioned quadzilla strength to keep our legs nice and straight.
3: Core strength for the pole boomerang
But the super high spreadie shape of the boomerang isn’t just about our legs.
If we take a little look at the boomerang from the side, what weāll often see is this slightly rounded spinal position.
This is because once weāve reached the end-range of our active hip flexibility (thatās the combo of #1 and #2 above), we can then get our feet even higher in the air by tucking our pelvis under and rounding our spine.
Et voila ā super spreadie tastic boomerang is achieved!
This pelvic tuck requires a LOT of core strength to move into, stabilise and hold against gravity!
Itās primarily our rectus abdominis (our 6-pack muscles) which bring our spine into flexion like this, but be in no doubt: our entire core musculature, particularly our internal obliques, will be working hard to stabilise and hold the position.
Of course, all of this happens while weāre holding our entire bodyweight off the floor! Yup, pole dancers are actual magic!
The good news is, we can work on these different elements of strength and flexibility OFF the pole, alongside our āon the poleā boomerang progressions, to gradually work up to the boomerang lines of dreams.
Wannna get to work on those leg lines? Then letās catch that boomerang! Head over to my next blog post >>‘Off the Pole’ Boomerang / Straddle Workout<< for a strong straddle workout!
Wanna create your own customised training to get strong for pole? Check out my book Strength and Conditioning for Pole and let’s get at it!
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