Pole Dance – From Coach Potato to Pole Dancer

We all know that pole dancing is good for fitness, building strength. Anything that gets lazy like me before pole, getting off the couch and doing some aerobics has to have something to it. I started after I had my baby girl, in 1999. Since the only exercise I found appealing was dancing, I had been teaching salsa, samba, African dance and other classes for a few years. However, I knew that none of these were going to get rid of my bingo wings acquired during pregnancy. I researched martial arts classes, but I only wanted to move my limbs, not train, or get hurt! I saw a pole dancer on TV, spinning upside down (unusual in those days, since years after I started classes, the only TV representation of the pole was standing to the side, moving a little).

and I knew this was what I wanted to try. Searching the web, I found that there were pole classes everywhere in the United States and I knew that other women would want to do it here too, so I organized a class. I am now 44 years old and I consider it the best work I have ever done. I have been teaching for over 8 years.

If you can’t handle the gym and normal forms of exercise, pole dancing is so much fun that you don’t realize how much energy you are using or how many muscles you are working. Strength builds rapidly class after class, allowing you to achieve moves you wouldn’t have dreamed of before you started. I noticed a difference in the tone of my arms after just four classes a week. Every other exercise machine I’ve ever owned ended up as a washer dryer, if you’re lucky enough to have a tube at home, like a lot of people do now, getting on it is a fun treat, not a chore. 10 minutes a day will give you a substantial workout, and you will see a dramatic improvement in your tone and fitness.

The benefits are not just physical. Improved grace and posture make you appear more confident to others, which in turn makes you feel more confident in your everyday life and allows your self-esteem to shine. I recommend individual classes to quickly progress and acquire movement, but I encourage women to come to group classes because it’s good for their confidence to have others in the class tell them their movement looks good. After a while you have to start believing the compliments, and that’s when something magical happens and the pole dancer emerges. I usually hate photos of myself, but I always love my polo photos, they look so classy and poised; this is sure to rub off on the way you feel about yourself.

You will notice that I have not mentioned the sexy side of pole dancing. The pole was used for martial arts training and circus displays centuries before lap dance clubs were invented. You don’t get paid for pole dancing in lap clubs, only for private dances, i.e. stripping indoors. Many lap dancers are pretty bad pole dancers since you pay for nudity, not pole skills. Dirty dancing is an option, not a requirement, and the lap style pole is a style, not the only one. Pole dancing is beautiful and sensual in the same way as other dance forms, trapeze and circus skills. Whatever your style, you can adapt it to a bar. I do a salsa bar and I have jazz bars, roller bars, street bars, ballet bars and yoga bars in the Zebraqueen clan. Men obviously think that pole dancing exists only to entertain them and fail to understand how empowering and beneficial it can be for the pole dancer who trusts in his skills, with or without an audience! It’s a great party piece to have up your sleeve, anyway. Use it however you see fit!

As for nudity, you need clean, bare skin to hold on, so some bare skin is essential, but you can also dance fully clothed with the help of clingy leggings (sticky pants) which I invented partly for women who don’t want to. Undress. your legs, but also because they provide extra grip for free-hand movements and eliminate burn.

Pole dancing is not only for the young, the pretty, the skinny, the busty, etc. We have all shapes and sizes in our classes. Although it may be harder to start with if you’re heavier, the fact is that you’re lifting more weight than skinny guys, which will make you stronger, faster. When you start pole dancing, you notice that your shoulders and arms (and legs, especially with the revolving bars) get stronger first, then your back, stomach, and core muscles.

After a few sessions, you will master the sit and hang inversion (upside down movement).

I have been researching the benefits of inversion as I thought there must be some benefit if they sell inversion tables simply to hang upside down, and there are! Before I started pole dancing, I used to visit the osteopath regularly with back pain, but not anymore! I thought it was because I was fitter and stronger, but it could also be because I invest regularly…

This is a list of benefits taken from inversion therapy websites:

• reduce back pain
• Provide care and feeding for discus.
• Achieve functional fitness
• Train core muscle groups without loading the spine
• Recover from high impact workouts
• Reduce pain in overworked muscles
• Strengthen ligaments
• Relieve stress
• stimulate circulation
• Train for balance and orientation.

Help age gracefully! 🙂 Hanging upside down improves blood flow to the face and brain – keeping you younger and smarter!

All of that, while doing something fun!

If you want to pole dance, you can, whatever your fitness level. Starting with easy movements, you will soon build your strength and confidence. Give it a try, you might surprise yourself! I did.