Pole dancing, my journey.

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I realised in this blog I often mention pole dancing, but I rarely descript it. I thought I'd give you all a more detailed account of the reasons why this is the one exercise that I have stuck with.

I started pole dancing around March/April 2012, around 6 months after I had moved to Ayrshire for work. I had just moved into my own flat and found the evenings long and boring. I had a couple of friends who had tried pole dancing and loved it, so I did a google and found lessons in Kilmarnock.

I still remember my first class. I was terrified! I came alone, all the girls looked so gorgeous, and I was beginning to wonder what on earth I was doing! Then along bounced Claire! Who was nothing like what I thought a pole instructor would look like.

Fast forward a year (and a wee bit) and I'm still there with Claire. From the girl who couldn't get two feet off the floor on her first lesson to someone who can hang upside down, twirl around and around, is getting better and stronger every week! I've had set backs, couple of fractured ribs, pulled muscles. As my weights fluctuated I've found pole harder and I get frustrated when I plateau.

However as I watch my progress, as I nail the move, as I hold on longer, spin further. The joy is insatiable.

You are engaging your legs, your arms (including the forearms which are difficult to work on), your shoulders, your core...pole is a total body strength workout. You work for one hour, keep flowing, and the sweat will start. In fact pole burns an average of 250kcals an hour, the same as an average work out in the gym, and you don't feel it!

You build strength, improve muscle definition, increase stamina...but most of all you gain in confidence! You laugh at yourself, you are proud of yourself, and you begin to realise that you can hit the moves, you can co-ordinate, and that you look great doing it.

There's a sexy side too...but I think part 2 will come next week. If you are thinking about it - try it! Go for it! For me it's the longest I've stuck to an exercise, and the reason is because you never feel that you are exercising!