Pole Knee Lift Exercise

By Susan Peach

The Pole Knee Lift exercise is great for increasing functional core and upper body strength for pole dancing. It will also help you improve control so you can make those challenging moves look effortless!

To start, face your pole and reach high with one hand to grasp it above your head in a basic hold (thumb points up).

Place the other hand low on the pole in an inverted grip (inside of your elbow points up, and thumb points down). Place your feet fairly wide apart and lean slightly forward, with your weight coming onto your toes. Next, engage your core muscles (pretend someone is about to punch you in the stomach), brace yourself with your arms, and...

...s-l-o-w-l-y lift your feet off the floor, bringing your knees to hip height if you can. Pause here for a moment, then slowly lower your toes to the floor. Repeat in a slow and controlled manner. You may only be able to do 1 or 2 at first, but soon you'll get stronger and will be able to do more. Make 8-12 reps your goal and you'll have something to work toward.

The pole knee lift exercise requires a lot of core strength to lift your feet off the floor, especially if you do it slowly. But it also requires quite a bit of arm and upper body strength to hold your body weight up while you lift your feet.

Be kind to yourself while you work on building the strength you need!

It's so important to stay in control and to move slowly when doing this exercise. This is because you'll develop better muscle strength and control if you use muscle, rather than momentum.

Sure, you could do more reps and get through them quicker if you just threw yourself into it. But that's not going to help you look graceful and controlled when it's time for inversions and advanced lifts.

Pole Knee Lift Exercise - Reminders

• This is an intermediate level exercise, so please don't attempt it if you are just beginning pole dancing or do not yet have a base of core and upper body strength


• Don't attempt this exercise if you currently have a wrist or shoulder injury, or are recently recovered from one


• Do engage your core muscles before you lift


• Remember to lift and lower your knees in a slow and controlled manner

Susan Peach is an early pioneer in pole dance fitness and the voice behind Your Pole Pal, a long-running resource for the pole community. She taught dance & fitness for nearly 30 years, leading hundreds of classes and working with thousands of students aged 6 to 80+, and created original programs when formal training did not yet exist. She also produced one of the first pole fitness DVD series, along with instructor training and Latin dance fitness programs. Today, she writes and builds Your Pole Pal, still with a soft spot for Latin dance music.

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