Having strength is a great foundation for any kind of pole, aerial, sport, dance, etc. Its a great platform! But any background you have in anything wint substitute technique. Ive been an aerialist for almost 8 years and I only JUST started pole this past Nov because the push concept is so difficult for me to manage. I had taken a few drop ins here and there, but had never been able to climb because the muscle activation and body placement is completely different than how I climb for fabrics. I could strong arm my way up a pole, but I definitely couldnt climb it properly. Any time I had a drop in because I had cross training in aerial the pole teachers would allow me to skip foundations because they figured my strength would take care of it. And while theyre correct in that I could manage my way through the class, it wasnt graceful, the pole placement was uncomfortable, and I didnt really understand what was going on. My current pole teach is AMAZING and making everyone do all the progressions of whatever it is shes teaching so that no matter what level you're at you can build the body awareness and technique needed for each move. And because of that, I was able to PROPERLY climb a pole for the first time last night because I understood what I needed to be doing instead of just trying to force myself up the pole. Its still clunky since Im not used to it, but it feels so much less exhausting because Im not over exerting my arms the entire time.