Championship Dreams: Stories from the Australian Pole Championships Stage

Join us for a powerful episode as we sit down with five incredible performers — Chelle Hafner, Nicole Harbour, Bee, Buki, and Robyn — to talk all things Australian Pole Championships. From amateur debuts to professional stages, these athletes share their personal journeys, behind-the-scenes moments, and what it’s really like to compete in Australia’s most prestigious pole competition. Whether you’re a competitor, student, or fan, this is an episode full of heart, grit, and unforgettable stories from the pole community.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hi everybody and welcome back to another episode of Pole Obsession. We have a really exciting guest on today and an exciting episode for you because we're talking to some past competitors of the Australian Pole Championships competition. I'm going to pass you on to my beautiful co-host Elle and here you go. Hello everyone. Thanks for listening again. So we're talking to some competitors Previous professionals and amateurs. And I'm not sure, we might have a group person too. Do any of you do group? Maybe, maybe. So, and battle. I know that Shell's done battle before. So we've got like pretty much all divisions covered. So we're going to go through and they're just going to introduce themselves really quick and let you know who they are, what state they're from, what division they've competed in and any titles that they may have won. So we might start with Shell, who's got probably the longest I'm Shell and I've been pole dancing for a long time and last year I competed at Australian Pole Championships and I got the Trickster Award and the Inspire Award and I've competed a fair few times as well. I've gotten second place and first place at Queensland a couple of times and nationals. I got third place in 2019 which was fun and a whole stack of other awards as well. That I can't remember. Battle, trickster. Battle, battle, yeah. I usually just put them down in a list and then just forget about it until next time someone asks me. You need to take a photo of your trophies. You need to take a photo of your trophies. Send it to me so I can pop it up when you tell me about this.

UNKNOWN: 1:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 1:50

Thank you. And this is Robyn. So tell us about who you are, Robyn. Hi, I'm Robyn. I've been competing in APC since 2022. I believe it was my first one for ACT. I've been an amateur every year. I've been so close, so close to placing just a little bit off. But I did get people's choice last year. Yeah, very exciting. And you've also helped with the APC organisational side of it as well. Yes. So 2023. I believe I was up in Queensland helping at nationals and I've helped in a few state heats as well here and there. Yeah so you know behind the scenes not just as a competitor which who knows which one's more chaotic right?

UNKNOWN: 2:38

I do.

SPEAKER_00: 2:38

It's crazy. Regardless it's crazy. And welcome Nicole. Tell us your little dark self sitting in your car. We can slightly see you. Can you hear me? Yeah. Okay, yeah, it's my peaceful place away from studio and kids. Amen. Yeah, well, I don't actually can't remember. I think 2017 was my first QPC or 2016. Was that the Madonna year? Madonna was 2018. And then I think so must have been 2017 was my first year. And I got Sponsor's Choice. I did Black Cat, so the one where I was a cat. Yeah. I think that was 2017. So I got– yeah, I was QPC Sponsor's Choice and then I got a wild card to APC. So that was my very first APC. And then the next year I got Runner Up when I did Madonna and so then did APC that year as well. And then, yeah, I've done– I did QPC up until lockdown when people didn't do them. But because I got pregnant and had a baby. So then, yeah, I had a baby in 2022. And then I came back and won Queensland Pole Champs in 2023. And then got Best Technique at APC 2023. Then got pregnant again, so ran

SPEAKER_01: 4:17

QPC.

UNKNOWN: 4:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 4:22

Well, that's the thing. I think just people maybe don't all know that you run the Queensland Pole Championships as well. Yeah, yeah. So I run a few Queensland events up here and, yeah, I took on QPC last year. And I've emceed various state heats and APC when it was down in Vic still. So, yeah. Yeah. So I've been involved with it for a while, since 2017. There you go. Yeah. That's a long time, actually, when you think about it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. I'm Bea, and I've been competing for the last five years. I'm Victorian, and I first competed with the Victorian Pole Championships in 2023 in the amateur division, where I was really lucky to get second place. From there, I got third. wild-carded to nationals with my first nationals in the amateur division and I got third. The following year I competed at professional level and I actually came first at the Victorian Pole Championships where I then went on to nationals again and I actually got third against all the most amazing pole dancers and it was just such an honour and my first professional APC got third. And that was last year, which is amazing. Last year, yeah. So you are a current title holder. Current title holder, yeah. Very exciting. Thank you. And now we're going to move on to Buki. Buki, let us know about yourself. Hello. I am Buki. I am a Victorian as well. Last year in 2024 was actually my first ever... time competing in Australian pole championships. So I did the Victorian pole championships. I was awarded People's Choice Award, which was super fun. I was super surprised by that and super thankful. And then I got to compete for the first time also in the Australian pole championships in Tasmania. And that was an amazing experience. And I was very, very thankful to be a part of it. And were you just as thankful that now you're professional? It's questionable. It's questionable. No, but look, I guess that's the ultimate goal is you want to keep moving up and it had to happen at some stage and I want that to happen. And I think it's just a good chance for me to push myself even harder this year. Yeah, I'm excited that you're doing it this year. Very good. Very good. I'm going to ask the question and then whoever jumps in first can have it. It's like a special buzzer. Everybody can choose their noise and the noise I hear first. That's dangerous. The question is, what made you decide to enter APC and was there a moment where you just said to yourself, okay, yes, I'm doing this. I'm all in. I'm going to do this. Well, I'll go because I love this question so much. So basically, I was a pole bunkie in 2019 and I had never competed in any comp before and I was just absolutely obsessed. I didn't actually even know at the time that it was the national comp. I just thought it was a Victorian comp and it was actually the national one. And it was just so amazing. I was just a pole monkey. I was just asking all the competitors, how would you like your poles cleaned? And I just made sure that they were all perfect. But I was just mesmerized. Honestly, I was, I only really just started advanced classes and I was just determined to get on that stage one day. And then fast forward to 2023 and I finally got there and finally competed and then actually placed. So it was basically like, thank you to Bethany Finlay, Natty Stephens, Mel Grace. I believe that, yeah, they were all in that yacht. And that was me falling in love with competing. It was that. Oh, that's so lovely. Yeah, they're pretty amazing for what? Like all of you guys are though. Yeah, and now you're that person, you know, to somebody. How cool is that? It's still so weird to me to think. But you are that person now, which is cool. Yeah, all the little pole monkeys getting inspired. I love it. Yeah, and I remember seeing you when you did– start to compete and I'm like oh well I call them kittens I said oh you're a poll kitten for us and you're competing now and you're like yeah I've been watching it and I'm ready now Elle I'm ready I'm ready let's go I'm ready I've worked my ass off let's go I'm like oh you are ready all right I emceed that one and yeah I was like oh I loved watching you You're amazing. All right, so I'm going to move on to my next question and I might ask you, Nicole, what's the best thing about competing? For me it's being on stage because I love the opportunity to be up there and, well, one, I guess a lot of times like we all love pole so much but you don't always get to, express it to someone else like on stage like the hard work that you actually do and let people see the hard work you do so yeah but I also I guess I started competing before the massive rise of social media as well so and everyone can sort of show on social media what you can do but I just love being on stage and I think competing is great for that opportunity as well like just to well yeah like put all your hard-earned work, I guess, to use because otherwise I know for some people it is just something to a hobby, but like if you want to see somewhere where it can go and like you can, you know, be on stage and then obviously be recognized, but then also take the opportunity that will then see if you want to pursue it as something more than that, like competing gives you that avenue as well. So I think, yeah, I don't know. I'm not really making sense right now. I know that. But I think competing is a really good stepping stone for people that want to make pole their career as well. Like it's– you know, you can do it. For me, it's the love of being on stage, but I know for someone like people, it's also, you know, letting people out there see what you can do as well. And, yeah, like– competing is fun. I think it's fun. I know not everyone thinks it's fun. I know that some people, my students, some of them where I'm like compete, they're like, ah, and I'm like, no, it's fun. And you go through, like everyone sort of says the process, which is they're like, oh, I can do this. I can do this. I'm crap. I can't do this. And now all of a sudden you get on stage. You're like, I can do this. I'm amazing. And you get off and you're like, I am amazing. Like, yay me for doing this. Like, cause I am amazing. Um, but Yeah, I think I just love the opportunity to show people what I can do and also being able to express your own style. I think that's nice too, like do, you know, what you want to be, not always having to be. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. Sorry, did that really answer the question? No, it's a great answer and I think you're 100% right. You're able to express your own style and, yeah, I think that's one really great thing about APC is we love all different styles. So whatever type of dancer you are, get out there and just do whatever style you like. So I think that brings originality and difference and you're able to be yourself on the stage. So I think it's really important to be able to do that. Yeah, I mean one year I was a cat, the next I was Madonna, and then I did a really slow emotional piece. Yeah, very contemporary. Totally mix it up, yeah. You said was so important because you touched on if you want to be a professional pole dancer, like how you can get yourself out there by, you know, presenting yourselves on these stages, but also for those and for those of us who love performing and don't have a job. full-time performing, which is the majority of pole dancers. I would say that's like a couple of people that might have a full-time pole dancing gig, but the majority of us don't. So it does give us that opportunity to express ourselves, to get on stage, push ourselves, to show, like to do all of those things. It gives you so many opportunities. And I think so many positive things come from it. And yeah, I do think it's a great opportunity for lots of different outcomes. So I was inspired by what you said. Describe the moment you stepped out on stage. Like what were you feeling? What were your emotions? I don't know if anyone else sort of experiences this when they step on stage. And I feel like I can't actually say it out loud because I feel like you're behind the curtain and you're about to walk out and it's like this whole like... comes over you and you're just like I'm on but to be honest stepping onto the VPC stage the first time I was like don't trip um that was probably my initial first thought um but it's like something completely takes over and you just have this desire to want to entertain that's probably the first thing that comes into my mind is like I'm here to put on a show I'm here to entertain um and that's exactly how I feel and how I go out there and express myself so yeah Was it different on the VPC stage to the APC stage? I will say yes. I think that I am someone that I love to be around people that support me, not saying that, you know, when you're on a bigger stage and you're not, home. So VPC would probably be more home for me, um, that I felt like I had a huge support network around me. Um, so going out to APC, I felt a little bit more nervous for sure. Um, because stepping out, I was like, Oh, I know I've got people back home that will love to watch me, but I'm like, am I going to have the same feeling stepping out here? Um, so I was probably way more nervous, especially obviously being a national comp. Um, but I was definitely more nervous because I'm like, I think people are going to love me. Like, of course I'm there to perform for judges as well um and stepping out but once I did the first thing I was like oh I'm so loved oh my gosh oh my god people are entertained they're cheering so yeah no it was it did have initial first feeling but as soon as you know you get straight into it and you're whipping out those tricks or you're just even doing a quick little head flick yeah You get the loves pretty quickly. Yeah, the audience is usually pretty amazing at state and national. I think the big thing with state is you're bringing your crowd. So you know that they're going to be screaming and cheering for you. When you're going to nationals, if it's in a different state, you still bring people, but you can only bring so many people. Not everyone wants to travel interstate to watch you, surprisingly. I don't know why they don't. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. What did APC teach you about yourself, both as a dancer and a person, Robyn? Actually, a hard question for me. It was very mean of you, wasn't it? Yeah. I guess the first time I did APC, I was not in the mindset to do it. I was doing a pageant the same year. Two weeks later was my first comp. So I literally whipped something together, showed out. I was like, that's what you get. That's what we're doing. But then from there, like, because I knew I could do it, I've done my first comp, I've gotten the first nerves out, I could do a lot better the next year. So it made me realise I could challenge myself a lot more than I was doing. And I progressed a lot in my strength, not so much my flexibility, but my strength quite a bit. And then I did a lot better that year. And that was an ACT New South Wales combined state heat. Still so close to placing, so close. And then... from there as well because then I helped at nationals watching everyone it didn't bring me down knowing I was so close yet like I didn't place it wanted it pretty much just inspired me more where I could see little things that where it was something in my style or something that was actually achievable um and then I guess it put me more in a mindset where I'd want to train more by myself, which is something I'd never do before. Like I'd have to be with someone else to be motivated. But now I can just go into my pole room, do what I need and train and actually get excited for comp. Oh, that's nice. Yes. I want to do a comp now. That would be great. You should do a comp again. I know what you can do, mate. Do you? Which one? Battle. I'm doing Battle with Shell. I'm doing Battle with Shell. Thank you very much. Yeah, come do QPC. Do you know what? I'll have to come somewhere else because WA never wants to do it. Nobody enters Battle, so I can never do it because nobody's in there. I'm just me by myself wooing my own self. I'll come somewhere else and do Battle. Yeah, absolutely. Why not? I'll come. I'll do all of them. yeah the battle um girl did you surprise yourself with what you were able to achieve throughout the process of like comp training and and competing yeah especially i guess with um you know after having kids um i was always like you know i can do what i can do it and then i commit to it and i'm like what have i done and then i just have to like you know keep my myself going and That was, I guess I could pat myself on the back and be like, oh, I actually did it. But every single time that I do a competition, I grow a little bit as a person, as a performer. And I love being on stage. Same as Nicole. I love being on stage. And it's like I commit to a comp and then I'm like, oh, yeah, that's right. Now we have to do all this training, which is less fun. And then I get to stage. I'm like, this is why I do it. This is why I do it. I guess I surprise myself. I try to do different stuff sometimes and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but then I feel like it grows, like a little bit of it leaves its imprint on me as a performer and then I grow from that. And so that's nice being able to look back on where I came from to where I am now is great. Yeah, you've done a lot. You've done also pretty much all divisions. Did you ever do amateur or did you go straight to pro? I went straight to pro. pole dancing in 2009. And there was a competition that was running then that isn't around now. It's the Asia Pacific Pole Championships. And I competed at that national comp because it was national. There was no state divisions at that point. I got first place at that comp nine months after I started pole dancing and then I was stuck in pro for the whole rest of the time. That's what you get

SPEAKER_01: 20:10

for being

SPEAKER_00: 20:11

too good,

SPEAKER_01: 20:11

Shel.

SPEAKER_00: 20:13

Sorry? That's what you get for being too good. Well, there was no other comps around at that point. It's like you're pro or you don't compete. Yeah, that's true. There was only that one in MPD, right? Yeah, there was Miss Pole and, yeah, Asia Pacific Pole Champs, yeah. Yeah, and then we came in and that's it. And they, I think, stopped the year that we came in. But so... What's the difference? What do you find the difference with comp prep between when you're doing a doubles or battle or pro? Doubles, I don't have to focus as much on cardio, so I don't have to, you know, do the regime of making sure I train a certain amount of time so that I build up the stamina for my routine so I'm not dying by the end of it. It's more just focusing on cleaning up the skills and then sequencing what skills I want to do. Doubles is just hilarious the whole time. I love doing doubles. It is such a fun thing to do, but it's very time-consuming. It's hard trying to get two people doing a routine and stuff like that. And then, you know, doing the normal solo pro is physically exhausting, but also you can just completely tap into what you want to do, and so there's more self-expression through that one. Yeah. What would you pick if you could only compete in one forever? Pro. Yeah, I knew you'd say pro. You guys are all like, it's the hardest, but I do it. That's the one. What does everybody else say? I want everybody else to chime in. Yeah. Well, I was just about to say, okay, Shell, let's do doubles, but, you know. Yes, Nicole. Yes. Yes. Can you actually? Can I take that back now? Yeah. You can't really do Queensland, guys. Bad news. We'll come somewhere else.

SPEAKER_01: 22:09

We'll come somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00: 22:11

Oh, my God, I'd love to see that. We'd do it as an excuse just to see each other. Yeah, that's it. Bring the babies. Yeah, that's it. Can we make it groups and include the babies? And that's it. She has babies. And have them run around on the floor underneath us trying to catch them. You can take my

SPEAKER_01: 22:32

babies.

SPEAKER_00: 22:33

I'll just give you the babies. Yeah. Shell, you touched on, like, the types of training that you do for the different divisions with having to include a lot more cardio than, like, in pros solo than in, say, a group division. So I wanted to sort of put the question to the group, like when you structure your training regime, how does that look? Like what do you, yeah, if I had to like just, if you could give just a summary to someone who's maybe never done any comp training or prep before, like what do those weeks leading up to the date look like and what types of training do you do? Do you cross train? Do you focus on training? on strength do you focus on and when have you finished your choreography so just i guess the timeline and what those sort of um that comp training really looks like for you um yeah so whoever's got a good concise answer first can go i i could say that um i'd say Definitely a month out for myself, I have to have my routine solid and done. So I'm doing at least when I'm getting in for a training session, I can get three run-throughs done. Usually the first one, terrible. Second one's pretty on point. And the last one's just, you're just building your endurance by that point. But I have tried to incorporate with my training that when I'm at that stage, as soon as you finish training, grab a skipping rope, start skipping and really try and keep that endurance going. So you can really focus on your breath. Um, cause there's nothing worse than when you, you know, you're, you get on stage, you've got all this adrenaline and you, you know, you're pumping through, but your adrenaline is taking over. You haven't got any breath to just like calm your, uh, a little bit. So, um, That has really, really helped for myself is just, you know, do a run through, grab a skipping rope and skip for a minute straight afterwards. It's not easy. I suck at that. But it has definitely helped with my endurance. So, yeah, that's a little training tip that I've been doing. That's a great tip. I'm the complete opposite. Oh, sorry. Oh, are you? You're the complete opposite. You go, Bea. You go. Mine's pretty similar, but I like to have six weeks out that it's all done. And then I'm just polishing. And, but I don't mind if even at six weeks, I can't do it perfectly. Like, but I definitely need to be able to do it perfectly two, three weeks beforehand. But at six weeks beforehand, the routine is done. Like I don't do any changes, no choreography changes, nothing like that. Like six weeks, I have exactly what I want. So prior to that, I'm thinking about combos and, all that stuff, writing everything down that I must have in it. And then six weeks out, the routine is done. And then just working on polishing. I try to do two run-throughs in every training session. And they mostly focus on getting through the routine. So if I'm starting to struggle, I won't stop the music and redo it. Because I think if on the day... I was really struggling. I have to keep going. Like I don't have a choice. So I've never, even with the worst run I could possibly imagine, I've never stopped the music. And even if I was slipping all the way down, I just keep going. And then like four weeks out, that should start to improve. But even if it's not, I just try to stay as positive as possible. Like I've still got four weeks instead of feeling like, oh my God, I've only got four weeks. I'm like, I've still got four weeks. It'll be okay. So I try to start, that's when I start to really change my like mindset. I'm starting to like really get into and dive into like my nutrition and like better sleep, better hydration. And I'm actually prepping my skin for four weeks out. So I like cut out oils. I cut out greasy foods, even like extra salts. Anything that could possibly make my skin slippy on the day that the week before I eat pretty much the exact same foods the whole time. I won't even run the routine three to five days before the comp. And I just watch my video. I'll watch the best run video so that I'm not psyching myself out. If I have a terrible run, I don't watch it ever again. It happened, but it's fine. I just try to stay positive. I rewatch. the good one, and I just watch it to remember but not to critique too much because I've just got to stay positive. And then I get to the day and I have the same nutrition like food. I'm very strict on that. And I've always found that's been the best way, that if I'm just always thinking about how excited I am to get on the stage and just positive vibes all the way through, I end up doing the best run on the day. Wow, what an answer. Yeah, I'm just very, very disciplined and very disciplined. You reminded me just then of Naomi Capelli because she's exactly the same. You and I, everything, the nutrition, the way she trains, everything. But she trains closer to comp than what you would though. But, yeah, very similar in all of that sort of stuff, which blows my mind that you guys are that deep, you know. Like that's a lot. Guys, just get a skipping rope. Just get a skipping rope. It does make me calmer. B, that is incredible what discipline you have. That's awesome. I'm actually going to take a lot of those things that you've said and like literally run them down. Thank you. I've actually learned a lot like from my very first comp. I was running it like three, four times the day before. and i've just learned so much like one of those other questions you asked felix like what or um al what have you learnt from all your comping i think the most i can take away is the prep i've learnt and adapted my prep so much that now this six weeks out like mental health like planning like nutrition all that stuff that i have developed has been basically since the start of my first vpc every comp before that was just a learning curve just learnt after every time i was like ah yep i didn't do a great run because xyz let's cut that out let's restart let's do something else and this has been been the best but i've learned every time yeah give you guys a heart attack go on We want to hear it. I choreograph in my car on long drives. It's always the best time when routines come to me when I'm driving, which is not good. I do not condone that to anyone because you should be concentrating on the road. And I'm one of those people that will change my routine the night before. I have a heart attack. That would give me a heart attack. Yeah. My heart is attacking. I like you something if I'm like, oh, I think it's from– and I don't know how much everyone– I'm an organized chaos person. I've always just been that kind of person in life. Like if I'm too prepared too early, it just– I feel like stuff just– it won't– I won't enjoy it. But, yeah, I'm sort of a– I jam-pack my life full of lots of stuff. So for me, I'm like, yeah, night before. And I've found that when I have traveled for comps and not trained the day before, I don't do as well. I do better when I do train the night before. I think for me mentally I have to do a run through the night before to just go yay or nay because then I'm like, oh, that didn't work. Okay, then you know what, you have to do the next day. Or if it does work, I'm like, okay, yay, that works for me for the next day. And I know so many people that are like a week out, they're like, oh, thank God I had my routine all done and it was fine. I was sick and then I could still do it. I'm like, oh, I would die if I didn't have that last week to train. I'm up shit creek without a paddle. Sorry, y'all, I don't know if I'm allowed to swear. It's fine. But it just, I think that's how I kind of, because I love the performance side, it's how I keep the performance so genuine and like enjoyment on stage is because I'm sort of, yeah, I'm just, yeah. I'm just not an over-prepared person. That's why I'm good at running comps. I can do things last minute really well. If you ever need something last minute, I'm your gal. Yeah. Amazing. What a great answer compared to bees as well, right? Yeah, I'm the complete opposite. I remember one comp I did, I had a cheesy mite scroll on the way to the comp and I did really well that comp. So now I'm like, I just need carbs. Just give me the carbs before the comp and I'll be fine.

UNKNOWN: 31:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 31:59

B would be like hyperventilating. What's going on? Oh, my God. Breathing in and out. I mean, it's definitely a spectrum, isn't it? Same thing doesn't work for everybody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So just quietly, I'm definitely more of a underprepper

SPEAKER_01: 32:22

than an overprepper.

SPEAKER_00: 32:23

But what about back then in the day when you were doing MPD? You trained hard. Did I? Wow. We hope so because otherwise it's so unfair. I trained a lot because I was doing a lot of teaching, a lot of performing, but I did not do a lot of pole prep. Majority of my performances are all improvised. So I didn't even choreograph them. Yeah. Ah. guys. But I'm good at improvising. I'm not as good at choreographing as I am at improvising. So that's why, you know, you play to your strengths. I'm not going to, because I get more stressed if I have to remember things than if I don't. And you know that you've got to put in the things that you're really good at. Well, you know, I have a rough idea of where I'm going to put something. So yeah, if it's a big, a big bit of the music, the spatchcock is going to go there. If there's another big bit, I'll put the eagle there and then everything else is just rolling around recovering. So when it comes to comp prep, the first thing I have to do as soon as I've agreed to do a comp, I need to have a song. If I don't have a song, it's not happening. Like I'm putting it off until I have a song, even if it's like a few weeks out. So I need a song. In terms of training, I do cross train. So strength in the gym, Pilates. This year, I've been putting in some more cardio to help with my endurance. Definitely not skipping after doing a run through. I would die. But just general like running stepper machine. I hate the stepper machine, but it's so good for you. In terms of actual pole training, I'll do it in the afternoon. So I'm not too tired from the morning because I'll generally do my other training then, have my work day, come home, do some training. I'll try and split it up so I'm not doing too much and I'm not fatiguing my body because you want to make sure you actually recover, you don't injure yourself as well. So there'll be days where I'm just doing spin tricks or I'm just doing static or I'm just doing Corrie. I probably wouldn't train more than four days a week for pole until it gets really close to comp. I will aim... aim is a very general term to have my routine ready a month out so then I have a little bit of leeway to do it and then I'll aim for like two to three run-throughs as well and then the week of comp I won't do any training for at least a day or two beforehand I same I have to start with a song I need to be inspired so I need music and then once I find the song it's it starts choreographing itself in my head. And then I'm Nicole and I'm driving around, picking the kids up from school, choreographing routines in my head. I know I shouldn't do it either, but I do. Or maybe it's I don't have any other quiet time. Yeah. I start choreographing it to the music in my head and I find that things just start happening. It's just like it takes a life of its own. I definitely like to start, ideally like to start the physical training a few months out from the competition, even if it's just starting to put combos together and to fit things into the music where I want it to be. I prefer to train in the mid to late afternoon. But the reality is I just got to train more if I can get a piece of time. And sometimes that's at, you know, 9.30 in the morning before I teach class or sometimes it's at 9 o'clock at night after I teach class. I got to have my routine solidified a month before the competition so then I can just focus on polishing it or taking out the little bits that don't quite work the way I want it to, really kind of troubleshooting it there. I like to do a minimum of three run through sessions a week. And I usually stupidly make my routine so hard that I can't do more than one run through in each session. Or if I do, if I do, it's like, okay, so we're doing this half of the routine because that's all my second wind stamina will allow me to have. I don't do any other cross training because my ACLs on both knees are kind of not really there so for me my pole dance routine is my cardio so i just got to take more time to make sure i rest and recover and stretch and trigger point so that i don't get worn out and you know repeating the same thing over and over um nutrition is everything so eating healthy eating clean One month out from comp, I won't touch alcohol or I will restrain myself from eating excessive amounts of ice cream or chocolate. So I eat really healthy and I stay away from alcohol and try to get extra sleep. I never do a run through the day before my comp unless the last run through I did two days before was a disaster. And then I'll do another one. But I prefer not to. And on the day of the comp, I never do a full run through on stage because I don't want to eat into my energy reserves. So actually performing that night, because so many times I've made the mistake of doing a full run through. And it was amazing only to then not have not to be fresh enough to do it properly when it comes to it on the night. So that's what I've worked out for myself. I've noticed that with yours. Like you never ever do a full run. You'll just do bits or you'll do a bit. Like if I'm worried about not fitting around the truss, I'll do that bit to check my space or to check how the floor feels or the spin of the pole, but I'll never do a full run through, no. Yeah, yeah. And only pros are the ones that never do a full run through. Amateurs always do a full run. Yeah, because they've got to do it for their mental health. Yeah, we do. Yeah. Battle, always do a full run. Group don't and pros don't. So that's interesting, isn't it? Can I just say I've been sort of watching us a little bit and there's been two points in time where we've all nodded like in agreement, like nodded so hard. The first one was, Shell, when you said there was like– like sometimes in training where you just like it's a real grind and you're just pushing through and just pushing through and just pushing through but at the end of it you know it's worth it and we're all like yeah yeah this is yeah that's like childbirth you're all as well like you have a child then you forget about you get pregnant again like what have i done first freaking cramp you get when you go into labor and you're like What have I done? And the second one was when Robin said stair machine. We all were like, oh, yeah, it's horrible.

SPEAKER_01: 39:10

It's really horrible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's horrible.

SPEAKER_00: 39:12

So we feel really strongly about those two things. Your body language, guys. We're reading it. Our little bobble heads were like, yes, yes, yes, yes. Agree, agree. I will say, Michelle, I totally agree with you on the alcohol thing. That is one thing majorly that I completely cut out. It is huge what alcohol can do to your body, your skin type, your mental state. One drink is enough to make you depressive on your muscles the next day, yeah. Yeah, and it just takes all your energy and absolutely. I cut out alcohol basically from the moment I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm going to do it. I have three kids, so I'm not that stressed. That's fair. That's fair. I don't have kids yet. I don't drink. And so what I used to when I was younger, but I don't anymore at all. But it's incredible. Yeah, I think that the toll that it takes on your body, I don't think people realize how long it takes to recover and also the cumulative effects of it as well. Exactly. And when I say drink, I don't drink that much at all, but I can tell one drink makes a lot of difference. Yeah, just one drink. When you notice it the most. Like if I have a drink now because I haven't drank for years, I'm like,

SPEAKER_01: 40:37

oh, I get poisoned.

SPEAKER_00: 40:40

Take it away. And I used to drink like a fish because I thought it was cool. I would like to ask you all, all of you, this question because I think this is really interesting, this question. Is there a piece of feedback from a judge or a fellow competitor that has really stuck with you? So whoever wants to answer first. I've got an answer straight up in my head. It was actually something Susie Q said to me like years ago. It was before I had Madison, so it would have been before 2012. So I was notorious. Like, you know, coming from a gymnastics background, I would always be like trick, trick, trick, trick, trick, trick, trick, trick, trick, trick, trick. And it was her advice was it's not what you do, it's how you do it. And that didn't fully understand it at the time, but it's taken me forever to realise that it's kind of everything. Is

SPEAKER_01: 41:33

there

SPEAKER_00: 41:33

anybody that doesn't actually look at their feedback? A lot of people don't. Yeah, most people don't look at their feedback. Most people don't ask for their feedback. Most people don't ask for their scores. We only give out scores and we very rarely give out feedback, to be fair, because when you've got 40 competitors on stage, judges don't have time to write feedback. So it's rare that we have any. But when it comes to scores, most people do not ask for their scores and we don't send them out. you know, for the chance that they don't want to know what they are. So like if they do well, most people don't want to know that. So, yeah, a lot of people do not want to know. I feel that way. I'll be honest. I'm not someone that will read my feedback or ask for scores or anything. Sometimes I haven't even watched my performance because I'm so satisfied sometimes of how I've brought out on stage and done something for myself and what I've trained for. I might be a bit naive and I don't want to hear anything negative about it because I'm happy with how I did on you know that's that's good enough for me but then if I have been super satisfied sometimes I've have looked at them and then gone all right sick I'm going to improve on this I'm really going to focus on that um but I'll be honest it's taking me to get to a certain point to actually get to myself to a read my own comments and things like that because I was too scared, especially when I first started out as competing. I was terrified. I didn't want to hear anything negative. I was like, you know, just a baby polar. I didn't want to hear that my toes weren't pointed. I know I don't have the greatest feet, and then over time I have gotten better. I think I viewed one of my comps that I was really satisfied last year with that I read, but there have been many performances that I was like, nope, I was happy with how it was. And I'm going to leave it with that just for my own mental health. That's how I felt. And I didn't want it to hinder, you know, anything else. So yeah, that's just sort of my feedback when it comes to asking for my scorings or, you know, what are the judges have said. So, or I have actually gone and spoken to a judge personally and just said, Hey, can I just get like, you know, it's a bit, it's a bit nicer when you actually go and speak to someone about it rather than reading it on a bit of paper and you're like, Oh, same trick three times. Like, damn it. Yeah. So yeah. Thank you for listening to part one of our episode with past and present Australian Pole Championships competitors. If you're thinking of entering the Australian Pole Championships, entries close this Monday, the 21st of April and we would love to see your entries for the state heats. We are looking for entries for professional, amateur, group and battle. So this is your sign to get your entries in and we will talk to you soon.