Pole Dancing for Fitness

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Hello everyone! About a month or so ago, I was introduced to the wonderful world of pole fitness through an all-woman's fitness center and I am currently in the process of purchasing a pole for my house so I can practice. I really don't know whether or not I should buy this one pole known as the Mipole. It looks fairly legit, but it's a new brand so not a lot of reviews. I heard that it needs to be tightened really tight in order for you to invert.

I really love this and it's a really awesome upper-body workout. The only problem is the stigma and people think that it's for strippers. Me, with Asperger's, I don't see what is so sexual about it. All I see is a pole and you are using the pole as an exercise tool like you would a treadmill or weights, plus, it's fun and acrobatic. It's like gymnastics in a way, which I am not a gymnast, I am the only girl who can't do a cartwheel that I know...

Still, because of the stigma, it's kind of a secret hobby of mine. I did not tell anyone at school about it. The only one who knows is one of my teachers because I wrote a poem about it basically trying to give people some insight and trying to clear some of those misconceptions. He really likes the poem and it has convinced him, but he doesn't want me to read it in front of the class yet because some of those boys tend to be a bit more immature and might not take me seriously. It seems to be the guys who are more affected by the stigma than girls... Still... it's just a pole... what has a pole ever done? It's completely innocent!

It took a while for my father to be convinced. After all, it's a father's job to keep his girl "off the pole" as the old saying goes. Fortunately, my mother was on my side and we assured him that I would not become a stripper. After all, I hate the club atmosphere since I'm not much of a party animal and I can be kind of self-conscious around men and I hate the thought of being treated like an object. Fortunately, it is an all-girls gym where this is offered and there is no guys watching...

What people don't realize is that there is some function to showing skin. It is usually recommended to wear short shorts, not because is makes us look "sexy" but it is to help our thighs grip to the pole. The more skin revealed on the legs, the easier it is to grip. As for the top, we usually can get away with a standard t-shirt. Baring the midriff is not necessary at all.

I really hate the stigma... I just wish it will go away. I mean, the Christian school I go too... there are some people there that are totally against yoga because of its Hindu origins and emptying your mind makes you susceptible to evil or something like that so pole dancing is totally out of the question... I usually lack this kind of social awareness... I feel like I'm maturing and my social skills are starting to improve since I'm start know the time and place for things. Kind of an interesting observation even though I hate keeping it a secret, but at the same time I don't want people to get the wrong ideas.

Sooooo... I'm wondering... is anyone else into pole fitness like I am?

I REALLY want to do pole dancing.

A lot of my friends have suggested it to me, in part joking but in all seriousness it is a great work-out and fun so much more enjoyable than trying to work-out in a gym. I had to talk to local pole dancing clubs to try to find a local school, but I found one that actually teaches real classes rather than one-off classes for hen parties.

Lack of money and lack of anyone to go with is preventing me from taking it up though, it seems very much a girly group thing or something you go to with as female friend, and as I have issues being around other women then I'd worry that if I went alone I'd feel odd surrounded by other women all there with friends and getting on with each other. Do you get on okay with other women in the class?

I was about to say that I don't know how there can be such stigma about pole dancing - here pole dancing and burlesque classes are fairly normal, and in many places these days they even offer pole dancing to kids...granted not without a bit of an uproar - but, in all fairness I could imagine it being an issue in a Christian school.

YOU SHOULD! I must warn you though, it is very, very addictive... I would recommend if you get really serious about it like me to get my own pole whatever you do though: DO NOT GET PEEKABOO OR CARMEN ELECTRA! Those pole are crap... I'm planning on getting a Mipole. I could get a Lil Minx, but I don't really like how you have to screw a mount in the ceiling which kind of limits it's portability and I fear that I won't be able to take it with college to work out with while the X-pole... nice, but way over my budget and the very few reviews I have seen about the Mipole have been good. Though I think the key is setting it up correctly and making sure it's REALLY REALLY tight.

Yeah, if I'm bored during my workouts, there usually comes a time where I stop. I guess I like this because it feels like you are learning a new skill. As for the whole fear of not having a group, you would be surprised how many new friends you make there. I went by there myself and they have six women in a class and yeah... Nobody really cares if you are bad. There is usually at least two people in my class that are total noobs and it's okay, everyone is very encouraging. I was the only one in my class who couldn't invert... I just couldn't lift my left leg off the ground with my right one unless the instructor lifted it for me...

Also keep in mind that I am from a big town in the middle of nowhere that is for the most part not very diverse even though as the town has grown a bit bigger, it has become slightly more diverse, but still not a lot. This fitness center that opened up that I'm going to is actually fairly new to our town and opened only just a year ago and the classes are for those 18 and older and for women only because of this stigma. If it wasn't for that fact, it probably would never have been able to open. Again, it's the stigma.

Yeah, although I do love my high school to pieces, yeah... since it's non-denominational, some families can be very, very extreme. There is also a lot of prejudice against Catholics which... I am one myself. They say they are tolerant and they believe that Catholics are Christians, but I know that deep down they still have that prejudice. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with my school, but I couldn't imagine myself anywhere because they do accept my autism while the public schools, from what I have experienced, especially if you are high-functioning, are very, very prejudice towards you. I have had some really nasty teachers for those three years in elementary school before I transferred to Montessori and graduated in sixth grade and moved onto the school where I have been going to for almost six years...

I think that girls that exercise on poles are sexy. I also think strippers are typically ugly.

I've been to strip clubs where women pole danced. And I've seen the youtube clips of pole dancers who do it competitively or treat it like a legitimate form of dance, doing moves that require strength and athleticism. They are two totally different things and I don't feel you should worry about anyone who actually thinks according to that stigma. Do it for you and nobody else. It really does look like a great workout, HOWEVER, my guess based on much of what I've seen is that you need to already be in excellent shape just to be able to perform the exercises, as with many Beachbody exercise programs (such as Insanity). Be careful not to get in over your head. I don't know your current fitness level.

I'm looking into trying out suspension training myself. It looks fun. =)

This is a little off-topic, but also kind of funny ... I work for a social services agency that supports people with disabilities and the elderly and one of our company's programs is a home modification service that does renovations to make homes handicap-accessible, so people can stay in their own homes, rather than enter a nursing home. One of the products we install is called a 'Superpole.' Basically, it looks very similar to the types of poles you're talking about, except that is has a small adjustable handle and it swivels. So, you install it near a bed or a chair and someone with mobility or balance issues can use it to pull themselves up, then lean on it and transfer themselves to a walker or wheelchair.

Anyhow, I was going to visit one of my clients in the hospital following a stroke because I'd needed her to sign some paperwork after we'd installed a Superpole for her. She's in her late 80's and is hard-of-hearing. I walked into her room and at first she didn't remember me, but then she yelled (she tends to shout since she's almost deaf), "OH, YOU'RE THE GIRL WHO GOT THEM TO PUT THAT STRIPPER POLE IN MY BEDROOM!" She went on and on, "THANK-YOU SO MUCH, I LOVE USING MY STRIPPER POLE!", etc. Everyone in the vacinity turned and stared at us. The moral of the story is that if an 86 year-old grandmother of seven is not afraid to share with the world at the top of her lungs that she has a pole at home, then I don't think you should feel weird about having one, either.

Yeah, I'm in good shape. Guess what? I even have my own pole now to practice at home. Except on Friday, I sprained my ankle on accident not from pole dancing and for a few days I was told to take it easy. Fortunately, I'm all better, but today and yesterday it was kind of hard getting back into walking and whatnot.

I have been doing it for a month and I can climb halfway up the pole, it's just I still can't really invert. It's more of a confidence issue than anything though... I have little faith in myself... After all, I was the only girl in my first grade class that couldn't do a cartwheel.

I feel that if something can motivate you to exercise, that's all that needs to be said about it. Regardless of the connotations, if you feel confident that the pole would help you get fitter and challenge yourself, then rock on. Just a pole!

Yay! I finally learned how to invert! I'm sooooo happy~

Woohoo! Congratulations!

I'm ordering my suspension trainer on Friday =)

I would agree with this. I went to pole dancing classes a few times but I did find that I wasn't fit enough to do some of the exercises, especially the ones that required you to lift your whole body-weight with your arms. The instructor said that the only way to get better would be to lose weight, which I'm sure is true but it didn't make me feel like it was a very inclusive passtime!

Well, I did lose 25 pounds beforehand, however there is some truth to that since you are pretty much lifting your own body and more weight means more to lift...

But seriously, there are some plus-sized girls on youtube that are actually pretty good...

Awesome! I just learned the St. Peter's Cross, the Gemini, and the Scorpio, I feel sooooo accomplished...

Apparently after looking at a few Christian websites... According to them, I'm going to Hell! I mean, a lot of people there... they think that dancing is like a one-way ticket to Hell but dancing on a pole? You pretty much are banished to to the lowest level...

Yeah, you know what? Forget them... If they saw what I was doing and realize that showing leg actually has some function to it, and I never exercise around men. I almost get the impression that they just have dirty minds... Seriously, IT IS JUST A POLE!! ! They are so worked up with sin and not being "of the world" that they forget that they are of the world... I seriously hate it when they are like "The world says..." when um... they are also of this world and they don't think that either... It gives me the impression that EVERYTHING in the world is evil when obviously there are some good Christian people that are also part of this world isn't there?

It just makes it sound like they are from a different planet... Infact, I'll be happy when I'm out of this Christian school. I love God and Jesus and I know that they have good intentions deep down and I try not to hold any grudges against them, but they can be kind of silly, but I knew they were slightly hostile to me since day one as being Catholic, they often compare me to Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses and other "Pseudo-Christian" cults... Yeah... It's like they were trying to brainwash me...

Sorry... I was kind of venting...

I've noticed there are basically two kinds of pole dancing. There's stripper pole dancing, which usually requires very little athletic ability, and then there's athletic pole dancing, which anyone in their right mind should consider a legitimate form of dance sport. So yeah, screw them. They're obviously not in their right minds. =)

It sounds to me as if you're enjoying it a great deal. Keep it up.

I would describe what you are doing as gymnastics rather than anything else. Anybody asks tell them to put pole dancing into wikipedia. It gives far more mention of it as a exercise and gymnastic technique which traces its origins to circus work.

Have you put "pole dancing exercise" into google? you'll get lots of hits there that are all just about the positive side of it as an exercise method and techiques.

Have you ever seen the gymnasts who work on the long hanging silk drapes, you would probably enjoy that too.

As with many things in life it is about context, a gymnastic work out in your own home by yourself is exactly that. But do it in lingerie, in a dimly lit room full of men drinking and it then becomes something else!