The Pole

When we think of pole dancing, most of us assume its what women do in X-Rated films but that is not always true.

There are four types of pole;
Pole Erotic
Pole Artistic
Pole Fitness
Pole Sport

Pole Erotic is a type of pole dance mainly used within the sex industry and it involves swinging around a pole in lingerie and high heels.
Pole Artistic is a performance art, it combines dance and acrobatics centred on a pole.
Pole Fitness is an extension of pole dancing that uses the pole as a versatile piece of exercise equipment; it improves muscle tone, flexibility, coordination and posture.
Pole Sport is the next level up from Pole Fitness and involves training hard for various competitions.

With all fitness programmes and sports there is the issue of safety.
Before you perform don't drink alcohol, take medications that impair your judgement, use oils or lotions or body make-up.
Don't take part if you have an injury.
Use a crash mat, a grip aid and stay hydrated.
Become CPR certified and make sure that your boss or tutor is CPR certified too.

There is lots of stigma against "the pole" and I'm here to share some information I have gathered and an interview that took place between myself and my good friend Kelly who is a POLE FITNESS DANCER.

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This is Kelly's story...

We call it pole fitness!
We do it in levels from bronze to diamond.
Each level you learn different moves starting to invert from silver and then do inverted moves in gold upwards.
Each level we do the moves to a dance which can be sexy, fast, slow etc dependent on the moves.
We then do showcases to show to our nearest and dearest what we've learnt.
I've joined pole to show myself I can... after my operations and never thinking I'd have the leg strength, it makes me feel like I've over come hurdles.
I go once a week at the moment but I hope to up it to twice a week.
I dance at pole effect in Worcester, UK.
I have gained confidence, flexibility and strength.
The sport is very challenging due to pole burn and bruising!!
The more you do a move though the better the pain barrier becomes.
I hope to keep going after my next operation in the summer and one day want to be able to tutor at least bronze level.

(I'd like to take this opportunity to wish Kelly the best of luck with her next operation and I hope she reaches her goal of becoming a Pole Fitness Tutor one day)
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