Work It Out Wednesday: Pole Fitness

Before you gasp ladies, I assure you, it's not as crazy as it sounds. Although I haven't tried it myself, I have consistently begged my boyfriend for a pole, not just for risque reasons, but for fitness reasons. It takes serious strength to dance on pole and works the major muscle groups in your body! (If you don't believe me, just watch this extremely talented young lady, here). A contributor to Shape Magazine agrees. "After one hour-long class, every muscle in my body was quivering." I don't know about you, but sometimes a 3 mile run on the treadmill, can be rather boring. Why not try something new? Here are 8 reasons why you should consider pole fitness by Shape contributor, Jene Luciani.

1. It's Risque

"The stereotype of what pole dancing means to the majority of people, although chaning and getting better, every day, is part of the allure to some women," says instructor Tracy Traskos, of NY Pole. It's also a great conversation topic at parties or even at work.

2. It's like Role Playing

Besides the fact that you get to wear 6-inch stilettos when you work out, you also get to be a sex siren for an hour. Coupled with building the leg and arm strength needed to climb the pole and hold yourself up and the coordination to the follow the choreography, you get to do like head and hip rolls, mimicking the sexy dancers you often see at strip clubs (while toning at the same time).

3. Female Bonding

"Women who take the classes together create great friendships while bonding over the fun of pole dancing," Traskos says. "Also, no one is catty or judgmental so its a place you can be free to look foolish if you want to!"

4. It's an Accomplishment

"Participants feel like they have accomplished something great they never really thought possible," Traskos says. Plus, it's a safe, fun, and effective way to learn the art of pole dancing. At an advanced level, pole dancing is both a cardio and strength workout which can burn 800 calories and hour or more. 

5. You Get Individual Attention

Rather than group fitness classes, where one instructor is often teaching a dozen participants or more, pole dancing classes are smaller and more intimate. You get a lot of individual attention from the instructor, similar to personal training sessions. 

6. It's Much Harder than it Looks

"This aspect of it builds confidence and improves body image and the ability to tackle other seemingly out of reach goals in life,"Traskos says. "This confidence inevitably blends into other areas of your life, including relationships."

7. It's Four Exercises in One

"Pole dancing effectively combines strength training, endurance, and flexibility training into one fun activity," Traskos says. "It's yoga, Pilates, TRX, and Physique 57 all wrapped into one. And in high heels!"

8. It Teaches the Power of Body Weight Workouts

"Most women work way harder in pole class than in the gym", says Traskos, who was a personal trainer for 15 years before joining the team at NY Pole. "There is a time and place for the gym, but pole appeals to women who hate the gym or never even go. And most of the exercises we do, like climbing the pole, are a lot tougher than doing bicep curls."

Work It Out Wednesday: Dance Your Way to a Leaner Midsection

One of the dangers that many Americans face today is the overwhelming epidemic of obesity.  Weight gain is on the rise, and according to USA Today, many Americans simply carry too much weight in their midsection which can cause dangerous health problems! “People with wide girths are more likely to have large amounts of deep-hidden belly fat around their organs. It might be the most dangerous kind of fat and could increase a person’s risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.” Luckily, there are solutions to this epidemic. Robert Ross, an exercise physiologist at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, says that: “People with waists that wide need to reduce them immediately.”

So what should you do? Well for starters, diet and exercise! Although these two things sound easy, many Americans have a difficult time maintaining a healthy balance between the two. I hear it over and over again, “I get bored running on the treadmill”, “I don’t like going to the gym”, or “I need something that is fun and exciting”. My solution? Ballroom dancing! And here’s why:

• Ballroom dancing encourages good posture and body alignment.This will help strengthen your bodies core abdominal muscles. Believe it or not, having a strong core can improve your performance in everyday activities and improve your health! When you have a strong core, you reduce the risk of back injury, developing heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
• Ballroom dancing is a cardiovascular exercise that will get that heart pumping and will help you burn more calories! Did you know that depending on the step, ballroom dancing can burn anywhere from 250-400 calories an hour-about the same as a brisk half-hour walk on the treadmill! So if you are someone who hates the treadmill, get on that dance floor! You can burn calories while having FUN and blast away unwanted fat.
• Exercise is about rewarding the body with endorphins. Endorphins, scientifically speaking, are neurotransmitters produced in the brain that reduce pain and give you that feeling of euphoria. In other words, they make you feel good! Ballroom dancing is a wonderful way to trigger those endorphins.
• NO MATTER HOW SLOW YOU GO-YOU ARE STILL LAPPING EVERYONE ON THE COUCH! Instead of watching re-runs on Netflix, get that booty on the dance floor!

Did I also mention how incredibly sexy ballroom dancing is? 

References:

MSNBC.COM: “Ballroom Dancing Puts the Swing in Exercise”

USATODAY.com: “Belly Full of Danger”

Ivillage.com: Endorphin 101: Your Guide to Natural Euphoria