“Not only is pole dancing very hard… it’s a killer workout.”
Well, this was one hell of an experience! Over the weekend I tried pole dancing for the first time with one of my closest friends. We went to the wonderful Montreal Pole Fitness studio located right above Jean Talon Market. I think that it’s just habit for us to think of pole dancing and say “meh, I could do that, it’s so easy.” Well, to burst your bubble, you probably can’t if you don’t practice like every other fitness activity.
Not only is pole dancing very hard, but it’s a killer workout and trust me, I am still super sore! Montreal Pole Fitness sure does live up to their name because this was one of the hardest workouts I’ve ever done. In one moment, you are having fun swinging around but all of a sudden you are trying to flip upside down and look sexy at the same time… I can honestly say that I looked constipated half the time so I have no idea how professionals can look so damn good while using all the force in their body.
So here’s what happened…
We began class with some basic stretches, the only “really” easy thing we did that class. I was feeling pretty good and we then moved into a simple pole twist. This was pretty easy once you got the hang of it! But then… we got into the hard stuff!
Marie, the teacher, demonstrated and then explained a move where you hang on the side of the pole while spinning with your legs in the air. After a few failed attempts, the teacher helped me and I got the hang of it. You literally needed to use so much strength in order to hold your whole body weight which is a quality of pole dancing and pole fitness that gets lost.
It was hard to feel “sexy” while doing it since you basically make a face as if you were lifting 200 pounds but, after you get comfortable and the teachers help you, you feel and look pretty damn good! The level of difficulty of the positions and moves increased and I won’t lie, I wasn’t able to do some of them, but I still had a great time.