Welcome back to our anatomy series, where we take one of your favourite pole dance moves and break it down into its anatomical and biomechanical fundamentals. But for this series, be ready to be gooped and gagged because we’re not bringing you just one anatomy breakdown, not even two, we are bringing you 3 anatomy breakdowns! What??! Yes, we are pumped and raring to go! So, in the words of our lord and saviour Ru Paul… let’s get sickening! (Did I just finish watching season 16 of RPDR when before I wrote this… maybe…)
So why we are covering three different pole moves in one anatomy blog? Well, the three moves we are covering in this blog are the cupid, genie and knee hold, and they have one key thing in common: they are all variations of the knee hook grip with the top knee hooked and wrapped around the pole.
So, we’re going to do something different with this series. Let’s chat first through the anatomy of a the top knee hook as it applies to all three moves and then we can break down individual move specifics.
Top Leg Knee Hook
When we hook the top leg around the pole in any knee hook movement we require a strong knee flexion moment that comes from our hamstrings and our gastrocnemius muscles. But interestingly in our knee hold, it’s not just our knee muscles that’s working. We require a combined movement from our hip of flexion, external rotation and abduction, meaning we rely on a lot more to keep us upright.
To create and sustain our knee hook for our cupid/genie/knee hold, our iliopsoas and rectus femoris work isometrically to hold the position of hip flexion, whilst our gluteus maxius, gluteus medius and tensor fascia latae work to isometrically sustain a position of hip abduction. And the hip external rotators (piriformis, gluteus medius, obturatus externus, obturator internus, gemilli, quadratus femorus) are also at work here, keeping the hip in external rotation. Phew! It already sounds like a lot of hard work. Add in the hamstrings and gastrocnemius muscles flexing the knees and you best believe it is indeed that – hard work!
Right! Now that we’re all on the same page about what is required in our top leg in these three moves, let’s break the rest of these moves down one at a time.
Cupid
Now whilst our top leg is securing our grip on our cupid, our bottom leg has a lot of work to do. Our cupid is effectively secured through our top knee grip and our bottom leg push. The pushing motion of the bottom leg occurs from active extension of the leg which is control by the quadriceps and gluteals. Similar to the top leg, the bottom leg is also position in some degree of hip flexion, abduction and external rotation meaning the same muscles are also working in the bottom leg too.
The bottom leg foot can also be placed with the foot directly resting on the pole or with the ankle resting on it instead, which will in turn affect the degree of calf muscle contribution.
Additionally, our core muscles are at work here! Of course they are! Our obliques, rectus abdominus, paraspinals, iliopsoas, and quadratus lumborum are working together with the adductor muscles to resist the rotational and lateral forces placed on the spine. The lateral flexors of the spine and internal obliques sitting closest to the pole are working to hold the body upright against gravity.
Cupid Angle
Let’s talk specifics of foot placement with the cupid now as this information is key! The lower down the pole the bottom foot is, and the further the hips are abducted and as a result, the deeper our hips are placed into hip flexion. An increased degree of hip flexion will place the centre of gravity of the pole dancer backward, increasing the angle of hip external rotation. This may not be a comfortable position for every poler’s hip and additionally will reduce the contact point of the knee grip around the pole. So we don’t want to place the legs too far apart.
However placing the legs too close together and placing the hips into full hip may also not be comfortable for each polers hip secondary to restriction of range of motion from bony anatomy. By placing ourselves into full hip extension, our centre of gravity shifts to an upright position and there is a reduction in active abdominal and hip flexor engagement and an increase in reliance on our gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, hamstring and calf strength. We can use our hand on our foot in this position here to assist in this more upright position of cupid.
Arm Variations
Now when it comes to cupid there are a few different variations of it that we can perform.
Instead of resting our foot on the pole, we can rest our achilles/calf on the pole. From here we can have play with some gorgeous arm variations where our arms are on the pole above or below the knee or we can side bend the body with a reach. Or we can use no hands at all.
Highs and Lows
With cupid comes a number of variations including changes in the hip position. None are wrong or right, but what’s helpful to know is that each position or variation has it’s own individual demands. If the two legs are placed further apart on the pole, this increases the degree of hip flexion and hip abduction, often increasing the difficulty of the hold on the hip joints. But too close together and you may find yourself initially losing your top knee grip when first learning. It’s often all about finding that spot that works for you, that allows you to stack your body effectively and then over time work gradually towards other positions as your strength and flexibility builds over time.
Genie
Now when it comes to our genie (often entered via a cupid), the top leg remains the same, with the hip flexors, hip abductors, hip external rotators, knee flexors (hamstrings and calf) muscles working hard to stabilise the body onto the pole. The key difference between a cupid and genie top leg is the degree of hip flexion and external rotation required of that hip.
When it comes to the bottom leg in a genie, it is effectively mirroring the top leg, meaning the same muscles are similarly on both legs. If a side lean of the body occurs then there will be a slight change in recruitment of the spinal lateral flexors and degree of hip flexion/rotation. Often a small amount of spinal lateral to the lower leg occurs in this setup, but a no-hands genie may also occur. We are strongly relying on our abdominal muscles to resist the gravitational pull and produce a counter lateral flexion and rotational force. The other key point to note is that the hips are positioned in a knees bent middle split, this means that the groin or adductor muscles are placed on stretch in a genie.
Knee Hold
Last up we have our knee hold in which our muscles work very similarly to our cupid & genie, with both legs using our knee flexors, hip flexors, hip abductors and external rotators.
During a knee hold our bodies are able to stabilise themselves against the pole by actively pushing away with the shin of the bottom leg, allowing for greater use of our gluteus maximus and the tibialis anterior muscles. This push allows for greater hip extension which is a key point of difference between a knee hold and a genie. To maintain this position we can use a foot lock where the bottom ankle wraps around the top ankle securing the hold.
Similar to our genie, our spine is resisting the rotational and lateral effects of gravity, so our obliques are working to side bend and rotate the spine to maintain a neutral position against gravity.
Screening
When it comes to screening for our knee holds we want to ensure we have the following:
- Sufficient hip Flexion, abduction & external rotation range of motion
- Hip adduction and hip internal rotation strength
- Knee flexion strength
- Anti-rotation strength
- Whilst not mandatory we strongly encourage a straddle and outside leg hang
So there you have it, three of our common knee holds move. All three are beautiful tricks by themselves, but also used when passing between moves in a combo.
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