If you’re struggling to come up with something a bit different to give your boyfriend this Valentine’s day, why not try pole dancing?
Trashy, slutty and just one step up from stripping for cash? Not anymore. Pole dancing has been trying to shake off its unsavoury image for the last few years and is reinventing itself as an alternative way to get fit.
Intrigued as to whether this type of exercise was really swinging round a stick masquerading as a good workout, I slapped on my skimpiest hot pants and went along to try it out.
Sarah Hollingsworth has been teaching pole dancing fitness classes for four years and due to popular demand she has started a new beginners class at Vitality Fitness Centre in Cardiff.
Known for its connections to seedy strip-clubs and drooling old men, why has pole dancing suddenly become a popular gym session?
“I think it is to do with people all over world, via the internet, promoting and selling pole dancing for fitness,” says Sarah. “Some people wanted to understand how hard the moves are, and it took off from there. Because it is in a gym, fitness is the focus. It’s not about stocking and suspenders. It’s about having fun and toning up.”
The beginners class had attracted six new wanna be pole dancers, nervously huddled at the back of the room away from the looming poles and mirrors at the front. The class progressed slowly, with only two poles there was a lot of waiting around to try out each new move. After a full hour learning how to grip the pole, walk around it and perform some fairly uninspiring swings, I had barely broken a sweat and was sceptical of the fitness value. But the lack of references to sex and seduction kept me positive and most of the beginners seemed to be having a good time and not taking it too seriously.
Here is an example of the leg hook we did in the beginners class:
As we moved into the intermediate class it was clear why beginners had to spend time developing technical understanding and building strength. The giggles were replaced with breathless grunts of physical strain - as the intermediates clearly focused more on perfecting the look and precision on the pole.
The first few moves of the second class had my biceps burnings and thighs already beginning to bruise. By far the most difficult is the climb - learning how to shimmy up the pole using pure arm power while remaining graceful requires years of practise. Teacher Sarah is relentless on making sure you get it right. While I try to flick my leg over my head to turn upside down and hang for four seconds, she is standing cooly next to me saying if I don’t learn it right I’ll get even more bumps and bruises from banging the pole.
Here one of the moves we tried in intermediate:
Although not a brisk cardio workout, pole dancing has an immense impact on muscle tone. A pole costs about £125 to be made to measure in your home. With regular training it could easily lead to a wash-board stomach and honed arm and leg muscles. But a lot of women take up the hobby as a way to improve self-confidence and try something a bit new and daring.
Sarah Roberts, 30, is a doctor and has been pole dancing since May in her spare time. “I just thought it seemed like a good way to get fit rather than going to the gym and it has certainly toned me up.”
But what about the stigma of pole dancing - hasn’t it caused a few raised eyebrows?
“Some friends do make comments about working in clubs. But then a lot of them are quite surprised and impressed by it.”
Emily Kade, 19, and Natalie Eakins, 20, are students from UWIC and were trying out the beginners class for the first time. “It’s an alternative way to shape up and the gym just gets boring,” said Emily. “The better I get at it, i think the more i’ll feel it.”
“There’s been a lot of talk about how pole dancing is now about getting fit but really it is about sex, but I don’t believe that myself,” said Natalie. “My mum was a bit worried but she came round to the idea that it wasn’t actually pole dancing she didn’t like, but taking off of your clothes for men.”
Natalie did know a friend who became very good and ended up performing for money, but she is pretty sure she would never take it outside the gym. “If people come because they think it’s all about being sexy the first session would put you off because wrapping yourself round into a heap on the floor isn’t very sexy. It’s only the professionals that make it look that good,” Emily said.
“The stigma is still there,” said teacher Sarah. “But we are trying to lose it. Pole dancing does stem from stripping but it has become an art form.”
Whether an attempt to present itself as art, or a way to lose your inhibitions, pole dancing is good fun and as a fitness class should be put on the same healthjy level as learning the trapese. But explaining to colleagues I am walked around with brusied inner thighs because of poloe dancing was always going to be tricky.
Classes cost £10 or £8 for students. Sarah runs a beginners class from 12-1 on Sunday and Intermediate 1-2. You must pre-book by calling 07870174101 or emailing sminxie@hotmail.co.uk
According o Srah there are three main ways to pole dance - the dance side of it,
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