We place a HUGE demand on our shoulders when we pole. Not only do we need ninja-level shoulder mobility to make jaw-dropping shapes around the pole, but we also need our shoulders to be hella strong in those end range positions, too.
In this 3-part blog/video series, weâll look at one aspect of shoulder movement that is particularly important for pole dancers: shoulder flexion. More specifically – overhead pushing and pulling.
First, weâll take a look at shoulder mechanics in an overhead position. Then weâll see what this looks like ON the pole. Finally, weâll look at ways we can train our shoulders to encourage optimal shoulder mechanics.
You betcha, weâll be considering that âdown and backâ shoulder engagement cue along the way.
Are ya with me? Then letâs do this thang…
If youâd rather watch than read, you can watch the video of this entire blog post below, complete with animated 3d pole anatomy awesomeness...
What does âgoodâ shoulder mechanics look like with our arm overhead?
When we raise our arm fully overhead, we want our scapula (our shoulder blade), to upwardly rotate about 60 degrees.
We also want some posterior tilt of the shoulder blade (about 20 degrees), for the shoulder blade to stay hugged to our ribcage and for the inferior angle (the bottom edge) of the shoulder blade to wrap around to about the midline of our body.
Finally, we also want to create some external rotation of the arm.

These 4 things, combined together, allow us to reach our end range overhead position and help to create optimal space within the shoulder joint.
Muscles used in overhead shoulder movement
The primary muscles weâre using here are: the trapezius â particularly the lower traps for the upward rotation, along with the serratus anterior which assists with that rotation as well as keeping the scapula hugged on our rib cage and wrapping around the body.
The humeral external rotation is stabilised by our rotator cuff.

How does this overhead shoulder mechanics look and feel when weâre on the pole?
This all depends which way around we are! When weâre upside down on the pole – like in an Ayesha – our overhead arm is being used to PUSH. Gravity is pushing our body DOWN, so to counteract this, we need to actively PUSH to create that upward scapula rotation.
Cues that we often use in handstands like âshrugging the shouldersâ and âclosing the gap between our shoulder and our armâ are to help encourage that scapula upward rotation.
Additional cues like âscrewing the hands into the floorâ or âpointing the elbows forwardsâ, are helping us to create that external rotation of the arm. These handstand cues apply in exactly the same way to the bottom arm in our Ayesha.

I know what you’re thinking… “how does this all work when we’re âright way aroundâ and gravity is pulling us in the opposite direction â like in a pole spin or climb?” Well, stay tuned my friends! Weâll be covering all of this in the next video! UPDATE: The next video is now available here!
Until then!
If you wanna geek out more with me about all things pole biomechanics, check out my book – Pole Anatomy â which breaks down the biomechanics of over 60 different pole moves so you can troubleshoot all your favourite tricks! Available now in paper copy or immediate electronic download!
Iâd also like to give a shout out to The Circus Doc – Dr Emily Scherb! Emilyâs courses on hanging in aerial arts have really helped to solidify my own understanding of how this all works. If youâre a body nerd like me, youâll love The Circus Doc anatomy education courses, too! I canât recommend them enough â go check âem out here!
*Just so you know, I earn a commission if you use this link, but I’d never recommend products to you that I don’t use and love myself! Now go get your nerd-on!
Thanks for reading/watching! See you next time!