Anatomy of an Iguana

Do you love pole? Yes?

Do you love learning about pole science? Yes?

Are you a giant nerd just like us! Of course you are!

Do you want to geek out on our latest anatomy series on one of the slickest moves there are out there – the iguana! Yes???

I-guana, you-guana, we-all-guana! (Hehe yes – we’re a bit lame!).

Let’s learn all about this herbivorous lizard! Erm, we mean pole move..! Now you may not know where the name iguana originated, and you might find it fascinating to know that it wasn’t named after a specific pole dancer. Instead, the iguana pole move is named after the film Dancing at the Blue Iguana. And if you’re really old school you may even know of this trick as the Daryl Hannah who played Angel in the film. If you haven’t heard of or seen this movie yet, give it a watch! It features a young Sandra Oh.

But whilst we’re talking about naming rights, if you think about it, an iguana pole move kind of looks like an iguana upside down on a tree! And look, whilst we’re here ripping out some fun facts, did you know that iguanas have a third eye?… weird right! Nature is kind of creepy but cool at the same time! #science

But we’re here to nerd out about the pole move, so let’s do this. Over this anatomy series we’re breaking down the anatomical requirements of an iguana, some epic iguana variations and also screening requirements you need prior to attempting this move.

Entry and Pre-Requisite Screening Requirements of an Iguana

Now before we get into our iguana, we want to ensure we’re strong and safe to do so. It’s important to understand that an iguana is a high intermediate to advanced move. Whilst some studios may choose to teach it earlier on in the syllabus, we strongly advocate for an iguana to be left to later on until a student has developed good pole smarts when inverted. Otherwise, one wrong move and you may find yourself or your student flat on their head.

The pre-requisite pole moves to enter (and exit) an iguana are as follows:

• PROM Shoulder extension > 80 deg

• Hamstring and glute flexibility – standing forward fold

• Back extensor/gluteal strength – prone banana hold

• Abdominal strength – dish hollow hold

• Back crucifix entry

• Straddle or tabletop straddle

 Whilst a standing entry can be taught to students, we tend to shy away from this option when a student is first learning due to potential lack of strength, flexibility and pole smarts. Instead, we tend to opt for a tabletop straddle entry instead.

 Gripping points

The key gripping points of an iguana upon entry are the hands, the feet and the thoracic spine/shoulder, but once in position we unhook the foot, then the only things holding us up are our hand grip and shoulder contact! No wonder this move is a real crowd pleaser. You have to activate #beastmode to hold that position!

Key teaching points

Here’s some important teaching points for our iguana:

• When setting up for an iguana, we want the hand lowest on the pole to be the same arm as the back of the shoulder you’ll be gripping the pole with.

• An iguana is asymmetrical because of the position of the hands being one on top of each other. So don’t try to fix the shoulder asymmetry, this is normal.

• If entering via a layback, ensure your pole shorts are secure! This move has been known to remove a few accidentally upon entering – eep!

• And lastly, keep your eyes looking at the ground when first learning to improve your grip contact to the pole.

Anatomy specifics

The anatomy demands do slightly change with the iguana depending on the entry technique utilised so what we’re going to focus on instead is the anatomy of an iguana pencil, fang and straddle/deadlift and pick out the key common threads we need to know. Let’s start with our iguana pencil:

Iguana Pencil

In our iguana our arms are behind our back in shoulder extension and adduction with the hands stacked directly one on top of the other. Our arms are straight in this hold with a firm pull of the pole occurring. Our head is off to the side of the pole which is the same side as our top hand. The position of our hold means our shoulders are sitting slightly asymmetrical (ie. not level) and to compensate for this minor asymmetry there is a slight lateral flexion of the trunk to give an appearance of a pencil.

To perform this hold, our glenohumeral joints are positioned in shoulder extension with the scapula (shoulder blades) being positioned in retraction, downward rotation and anterior tilt. Our shoulder stability is controlled by our upward rotators (serratus anterior and upper/lower trapezius), and levator scapulae, whilst our glenohumeral joint is stabilised in internal rotation by our rotator cuff muscles. But perhaps most importantly here, our latissimus dorsi, biceps, rhomboids, and trapezius muscles are working hard to pull and keep us inverted on the pole.

To overcome the differing shoulder heights and therefore spinal asymmetry, our lateral flexors work to control the spinal stack. Our quadratus lumborum, obliques and iliopsoas performing a lateral flexion moment to resist the asymmetry. And to maintain our straight pencil position our anti-flexion muscles (aka spinal extension) are working hard to keep the hips over torso. The key muscles working here are the paraspinals and gluteals. Holding this pencil is no easy feat.

Now to ensure our body maintains core alignment in our pencil, our abdominal flexors, specifically rectus abdominus, is engaged to maintain a neutral position. We don’t want to allow our legs to move past the pole without control through our abdominals. This would result in a lumbar extension/anterior pelvic tilt and our body would move towards our fang hold. Entering into a fang position without abdominal strength and engagement can substantially increase the passive load on the spine, which in turn can increase risk of pain and/or injury. So, we want to ensure we can master our dish or hollow-body pencil hold position first which involves the feet being stacked directly above the pelvis, a mild posterior pelvic tilt and engagement of the glutes.

So talking about the legs, it may look like there’s not much happening at the legs in an iguana, but conversely, there’s a bit going on! The hip extensors (gluteus maximus, medius, hamstrings, adductor magnus) and flexors (iliopsoas and quadriceps) are co-contracting around the pelvis to keep the legs still in the air above the torso, all whilst our adductors are contracting to improve anterior abdominal and pelvic stability. Ideally, we position our legs above our torso for efficiency, but keep in mind if the feet/legs are further away from the pole in front, our hamstrings & glutes will have to work hard to resist these forces, whilst the opposite occurs if they are behind with the hip flexor load increasing.

Iguana Fang

Now in our fang position, all of the same muscles are working, there are just some slightly more challenging demands placed on the body. Starting with the shoulders: In our fang position, our shoulders are placed in a greater amount of shoulder extension and scapular retraction, anterior tilt and downward rotation compared to our pencil. Our upward rotators/protractors and flexors of the shoulder will work harder in resisting this end of range position.

Additionally there is a lumbar and hip extension moment controlled by our paraspinals, gluteus maximus/medius and our hamstrings. Our hip flexors and abdominal muscles have to work harder to stabilise our spine in a fang as a result. The knees are flexed to reduce the force on the abdominals and hip flexors and the hips tend to abduct slightly more to assist in balancing the centre of gravity.

Iguana Straddle

In our iguana straddle are legs are now in front of the pole in a widened straddle position. This flexion of the hip requires primarily eccentric control of our hip and lumbar extensor muscles (hamstrings, gluteals and paraspinals), as well as hip flexor and abdominal control to ensure our pelvis stays stacked over the torso. Our bodies require great hamstring, lumbar and hip flexibility to perform this movement as well as strength of these muscles to move between a fang and a pencil.

Iguana Deadlift

Whether you’re lowering from aerial to rise up again, or lifting from the floor, an iguana deadlift is exceptionally challenging. What’s key to note here is that in addition to the requirements of our straddle we lower our body through shoulder extension, meaning greater range of motion is required. In some cases, such as when lowering towards the floor, we can require up to 90 degrees of shoulder extension. Greater strength is required from all muscles when performing our deadlift, but perhaps none quite as much as our latissimus dorsi, which is placed in a very lengthened state when lowering down. We also require great strength from our hip flexors, abdominals, lats and surrounding pulling muscles to be able to return back to the pole after a deadlift lower. Cue the need for more hip flexor and abdominal strengthening (always a good thing!).

Iguana Lever/Planche

Now our iguana planchet or lever is effectively our iguana pencil turned horizontal. Meaning we require incredible engagement with our glutes, hamstrings, lumbar paraspinals and our lats (and other pulling muscles) to get our body horizontal. And we require co-contraction through our hip flexors/quads, adductors, abdominals and calves to help us maintain this incredible isometric hold.

Degree of shoulder extension

Let’s have a closer look now at the amount of shoulder extension required in each of these positions. As you can see, the deadlift requires a lot more shoulder extension than any other position.

So a reminder to check your shoulder extension range of motion before attempting an iguana. Do you have the range of motion needed to perform this move safely? If no, then work on this range of motion first away from the pole before attempting the movement on the pole.

Got a question about your iguana? Lacking shoulder flexibility? Or just struggling to make an iguana entry work for you? Then make sure you touch base with our rehab and strengthening team to help you out.

Online telehealth appointments can be booked with the Pole Physio via our ‘Book Online’ page that can be found here. Assessment and tailored rehabilitation are provided in accordance with best practice and evidence-based treatment to help you unleash your 'poletential'.

Until next time, train safe.

The Pole Physio

xx

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• An Iguana should ONLY be undertaken if your instructor has deemed you ready to work on this trick. This information is general advice only and we are not liable for any injuries that may occur during training.

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