I came across @pole.technica the way that most people have — I saw a viral social media graphic detailing the physics behind a pole dancing move. Fiora Wild (a stage name, real name Whitney Schoenthal) had drawn out a series of free body diagrams to explain why grip is such a key factor in pole — and how to compensate for sweaty hands or low grip strength. I teach introductory pole classes here in Honolulu, and slippy hands are undoubtedly the most common issue my students face. Here was a graphic that I could show them, and a set of workarounds we could try, like squeezing tighter or applying a grip aid.
The more academic side of my brain was similarly delighted by these diagrams. They honestly wouldn’t look out of place in a classroom, and swiping through them scratched the same itch in my brain that once compelled me to complete an AP Physics project on conservation of momentum in ice skating.
Finally, I thought, a kindred spirit.
Wild found pole dancing nearly 13 years ago, while she was in graduate school for materials science. We spoke recently about the overlaps about her viral pole graphics, and the overlaps between her two domains of expertise.
Maddie Bender (Sequencer): When do you think you first made the connection between pole and physics?
FW: I think it was kind of always there for me.
But the first time I ever really sat down and did what I like to think of as “pole math” was actually rage math. I used to own a studio in Virginia for a couple years, and one of the students there messaged me. She was on the plus-size side, and she was like, “I have a boyfriend out in this city. And I was looking for a pole studio there. And the pole studio’s website says that their poles can only hold 200 pounds. I don't understand. Is that a legit thing? Should I be worried? Should I be mad?”
The photos of their studio had the industry standard pole, which is an X-Pole [Ed: X-Pole is a manufacturer of the standard chrome or steel pole that you’re probably thinking of when you picture a pole]. X-Pole doesn't explicitly say a weight limit or anything like that. And I was like, “This is a problem I can figure out.”
I went through and I got all the measurements of X-Poles: what material they're made of, what its material properties are, and started doing the math on what it would take to actually have an accident, based on weight on a pole and in a way that would damage the pole.
Basically the answer I got was, like, an astronomical amount of force in a weird direction would need to be put on the pole, because it's not just downward, right? We put a lot of force sideways.
But in an absolute worst-case scenario: you have run full speed, you've grabbed it with your arms, you're flinging around sideways, you're going so fast that it's incredible that you're even staying on this pole. How heavy would that person need to be before the pole gets damaged?
It was something like 650 pounds.
And I ended up writing that all out, making little drawings that went with it, and showing my work on graph paper. I put it on Facebook and it went kind of low-key viral.
You don't judge numbers going into an equation on their moral value. They're just numbers.
MB: Why do you think it resonated with people?
FW: I do think there’s this idea that you have to be classically beautiful to be a pole dancer or something like that, or that fat people don't belong on the pole. That’s not true — but these are things that I have heard, and things that my larger students say they’ve heard.
I've absolutely had students where a chair wasn't constructed well enough and it broke on them. And so, if that's part of your mindset, you could think, “Is this device okay for me to use?” And so it makes a difference to be able to show that the pole is totally safe. This is a well-engineered product. Don't let this be the reason that you don't do pole.
And then I do think it helped that I put cutesy graphics with it.
MB: It’s very girly-pop, definitely. So that was the first graphic you made, but you then followed up on it.
FW: Absolutely. I have these physics concepts in my head, so I have this academic understanding of why a certain move would be harder than another. But then, showing it on paper was kind of a fun exercise. I thought, “Can I actually solve this puzzle? Is this a puzzle that can be solved?” And for a lot of the pole stuff, it can, which is really, really neat.
One of my other favorite ones was comparing these three versions of one pole trick where you're holding yourself out sideways on the pole and your legs can be very open in a straddle [in an Iron X]. Or you can bring them a little bit closer together, and then they're in a V shape. Or you can bring them all the way together, which is like a full flag. You're fully out sideways from the pole.
I also knew students who say, “I can Iron X, but I cannot flag for the life of me.” I know that the visual of this looks like such a simple thing, like, just move your legs in. You're holding the pole in the same exact way, your torso is in the same exact position — why is this so much harder? And I realized, that's a really long lever arm. That's why that's so much harder. Let me do the math for you.
In the Iron X version, your legs are essentially vertical, so the lever arm — the distance from the pole to the center of gravity of your leg — is a lot shorter than if you're sticking them straight out.
Your overall body center of gravity is also going to move a little bit if you have your legs spread versus straight out. And so for each joint that is going to care about that — which is all of your shoulder — now there's a longer lever arm, so there's more torque pulling around that joint, which just means your muscles have to be that much stronger to be able to hold yourself up.
MB: Do you find that these sorts of explanations help your students understand what they're doing wrong? Can they take some of these mechanistic things and fix a trick for themselves?
FW: Yeah, absolutely. I would say the posts that I make that get into such ridiculously nitty-gritty math, that’s just fun for me.
But I’m also an instructor, and I do use this information on a more practical level. So for example, I taught a pole physics workshop, and a big part of it is demos. We talk about spinning faster and slower depending on how close in and far out from the pole your body mass is. But friction is another key component, and for that I give the example of Cupid.
A tip I give for Cupid is to squeeze your adductors [Ed: inner thigh muscles]. From an outside perspective, no one would be able to tell if you're squeezing your adductors. But the added force that you're putting into the pole increases the friction enough that you probably won't slide anymore.
And to be a bit ridiculous, I make my point by doing a Cupid in socks and engaging my adductors. That’s always kind of like eye opening for people, because it shows that there are so many avenues open to you on how to increase friction on the pole so that you don't slide down.
MB: When I think about muscle groups and the types of pressure and friction you’d have to apply, it stops being “I have bad feet,” or “This part of my body is wrong for this activity,” and it starts being more about, “Well, to do this, I need to exert a certain amount of pressure and here's where it could come from. It could come from my feet. It could come from this muscle group.” Do you see this way of thinking as empowering or body neutral?
FW: Yeah. I personally try to be as body neutral as I can be, and try to talk about things in realistic terms. Different moves look and work differently for different people. Having this physics and engineering background can help me figure out why it might be a challenge for a person to generate force because their arm is shorter, but they can compensate with longer legs.
It just makes it like an equation. You're just gonna plug in the variables and solve it. You don't judge numbers going into an equation on their moral value. They're just numbers.
MB: Could someone try to invent a pole move using physics? Like, theoretically do the math on paper, and try to do it in the air or on the ground?
FW: I don't know if it would quite work out like that. I think of the researchers who have PhDs in physics and go on to national labs, and they're like, “The math says there should be this crazy, like, particle.” I personally haven't gone down that particular road. I do have a little list of moves I think are possible — but not necessarily from the physics, more just from vibes. I did message a friend who's really good at pole, and I had this whole schematic, this diagram drawn out. And I was like, “Can you do this move?” And they were like, “Whitney, what the hell?”
MB: There should be a PhD track in theoretical pole physics.
FW: Theoretical pole physics! I hope I get to be a professor.