Female only! Pole fitness

I just got a pole and am so excited to start learning and getting stronger! I have a long way to go to get my upper body strength up though.

I'm going to start in Feb, I want to use this month to do a lot of pushups and get my flexibility back, as well as back into my normal weight lifting routine.

JoRocka wrote: »

Why women only?

Pole can be men to- in modern times and historically it has been used by acrobats and to train wrestles in other cultures.

I'm assuming, which is never a good thing , that she doesn't want it to devolve into unnecessary comments. Whenever one of these threads pop up a few guys will comment on how we could dance for them, that we're doing it wrong we should be charging people to watch us dance not paying someone to teach us to pole, and what not. It's all meant in good fun and as a joke, but I can definitely see and understand how that can be annoying to someone.

jasperdog52554 wrote: »

You can do this at home?? My small town gyms don't offer anything like this... You can do this at home?? Please tell me more!

Yes, you can learn how to pole dance at home, but it does take discipline, crawling before walking, and really listening to your body. Do not rush yourself. Start with the fundamentals and basics and really master those and then move on to the more intermediate and advance moves.

You can invest in a personal pole, which can either be a removable pole (pressure mounted), semi-removable (the pole it self can be removed, but the top attachment is actually physically screwed into the ceiling - this is how I have my pole, it makes me feel more secure), or a permanent pole (this pole is cut to fit specifically for your home and is not removable - if you move you can get it down but unless your new home has a room with the same dimensions the pole would be obsolete), or a stage (a pole that is mounted to a stage that doesn't have to be connected to any part of your home).

Personal poles are not cheap. One can run about $200-400 (stages are even more expensive). Do not, do not, do not get a cheap pole such as a Carmen Electra pole. That is a prop pole. It is not meant to handle any type of spins or inverts, no matter what she names it. It isn't a professional pole, and you'll hurt yourself or your house or both. If you do buy a pole stick with X-Pole, Lil Minx, or Platinum Stages.

You can sign up for online lessons, such as studioveena.com (this is not free. I believe a year of subscription is $100, but she does have sales around St. Patricks Day, Black Friday, and she had a New Years sale where it dropped down to $75. I always resubscribe during Black Friday) or 123poling.com (not sure of the price) or aerialamy.com (this site is free). You can also try the dvd route, a lot of professional pole dancers have dvds, such as Felix Cane, Nicole The Pole Williams (who was featured in Rihanna's Pour It Out video and taught Rihanna a few basic spins to do in the video), and there are a number of others.

I personally have a subscription to Studio Veena, and I really really like it. Kiki's Pole Blog is a really nice resource as well (kikispoleblog.com). She has an entire post dedicated on how to begin self-teaching.

Good luck! And please remember that safety is of the utmost importance.

_incogNEATo_ wrote: »

jdhcm2006 wrote: »

JoRocka wrote: »

Why women only?

Pole can be men to- in modern times and historically it has been used by acrobats and to train wrestles in other cultures.

I'm assuming, which is never a good thing , that she doesn't want it to devolve into unnecessary comments. Whenever one of these threads pop up a few guys will comment on how we could dance for them, that we're doing it wrong we should be charging people to watch us dance not paying someone to teach us to pole, and what not. It's all meant in good fun and as a joke, but I can definitely see and understand how that can be annoying to someone.

Anytime I read something that says, "females only," I'm coming to see what it's about. If anything, OP is attracting more male views for the sheer sake of defiance/spite. EX: @_incogNEATo_

Ya, whenever I see something titled "males only," I'm definitely clicking.

JoRocka wrote: »

jdhcm2006 wrote: »

JoRocka wrote: »

Why women only?

Pole can be men to- in modern times and historically it has been used by acrobats and to train wrestles in other cultures.

I'm assuming, which is never a good thing , that she doesn't want it to devolve into unnecessary comments. Whenever one of these threads pop up a few guys will comment on how we could dance for them, that we're doing it wrong we should be charging people to watch us dance not paying someone to teach us to pole, and what not. It's all meant in good fun and as a joke, but I can definitely see and understand how that can be annoying to someone.

I've been on MFP for a while now (three years or so I guess) and I have never in all the time I've been on here- seen someone say that on one of these threads.

And I'm a bellydancer- and quite open about it. It may be something that comes up- but I've never had someone out and out say it here right off the bat without an invitation for joking first.

As noted- it's more likely to attract attention than anything else.

I do agree that it does attract guys when people put "women only," on things. But I'm just speculating on why she put that in the title. And I have seen comments like that in pole dance threads, and like I said, I know that they are joking, and it comes across as joking (at least to me), so I never take offense to it, but that's because I don't care about comments that people make about it b/c I can lift my *kitten* above my head and that's something to be proud of, lol.

jdhcm2006 wrote: »

jasperdog52554 wrote: »

You can do this at home?? My small town gyms don't offer anything like this... You can do this at home?? Please tell me more!

Yes, you can learn how to pole dance at home, but it does take discipline, crawling before walking, and really listening to your body. Do not rush yourself. Start with the fundamentals and basics and really master those and then move on to the more intermediate and advance moves.

You can invest in a personal pole, which can either be a removable pole (pressure mounted), semi-removable (the pole it self can be removed, but the top attachment is actually physically screwed into the ceiling - this is how I have my pole, it makes me feel more secure), or a permanent pole (this pole is cut to fit specifically for your home and is not removable - if you move you can get it down but unless your new home has a room with the same dimensions the pole would be obsolete), or a stage (a pole that is mounted to a stage that doesn't have to be connected to any part of your home).

Personal poles are not cheap. One can run about $200-400 (stages are even more expensive). Do not, do not, do not get a cheap pole such as a Carmen Electra pole. That is a prop pole. It is not meant to handle any type of spins or inverts, no matter what she names it. It isn't a professional pole, and you'll hurt yourself or your house or both. If you do buy a pole stick with X-Pole, Lil Minx, or Platinum Stages.

You can sign up for online lessons, such as studioveena.com (this is not free. I believe a year of subscription is $100, but she does have sales around St. Patricks Day, Black Friday, and she had a New Years sale where it dropped down to $75. I always resubscribe during Black Friday) or 123poling.com (not sure of the price) or aerialamy.com (this site is free). You can also try the dvd route, a lot of professional pole dancers have dvds, such as Felix Cane, Nicole The Pole Williams (who was featured in Rihanna's Pour It Out video and taught Rihanna a few basic spins to do in the video), and there are a number of others.

I personally have a subscription to Studio Veena, and I really really like it. Kiki's Pole Blog is a really nice resource as well (kikispoleblog.com). She has an entire post dedicated on how to begin self-teaching.

Good luck! And please remember that safety is of the utmost importance.

thanks for so much detailed info! sorry about the double post part before

I've been doing pole for about 3 years. I take studio lessons, online lessons, and practice alone and with friends. It is by far my favorite form of fitness!

I started pole last spring and absolutely love it. Right now I have to take a break, but I'm spending the time until i can go back to classes working on strength so that I can keep learning things when I make my return.