I don’t usually read the Business Weekly section of the Sunday newspaper. It’s kind of dry most weekends, but not a few weeks ago. As I was separating the sections and stacking them in the order to be read, the Business lead story caught my eye.
Pole Fitness As a Business.
Actually, the two accompanying photos caught my eye first–women of all ages and sizes, in shorts and tank tops or T-shirts, hanging onto the kind of poles that are the mainstay of strip clubs.
What the? Just when I thought I’d seen everything.
Intrigued, I began to read. I learned that pole fitness isn’t something relatively new, even though this is the first I’ve heard of it, and there are some misconceptions about it because of the association with stripping. Pole dancing workouts are designed to build upper body and core muscle strength–from the hips up.
The women who practice pole dancing fitness say they feel strong, empowered, and sexy. I tried to picture myself swinging on one of those poles. It was not a pretty picture. Strong, empowered, and sexy never appeared in it. So, I’ll go back to the Wii Fit once my new hip feels up to it.
Aside from a variety of pole dancing classes, this particular pole fitness studio offers classes in burlesque, belly dance, twerk, and yoga. Yoga? How did yoga get in there with all those bumps and grinds?
The pole fitness studio profiled in the article is named Stilettos & Steel. Hmmm…it’s sort of cute and alliterative, but that’s a rather provocative, sensual name. After all, stilettos are hot shoes worn by hot women–and by strippers. If I were the studio’s owner fighting misconceptions about pole dancing as exercise, I sure enough wouldn’t have the word Stilettos in the name of my business, especially if I didn’t want it associated with something as disreputable as stripping. On the other hand, maybe the attraction of Stilettos & Steel is that the women who go there to work out secretly enjoy feeling naughty as well as sexy. Hmmm…
8 Responses to “Just When I Thought I’d Seen Everything #BusinessWeekly #Newspaper #PoleFitness”
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Okay, my favorite line in your post is, “So, I’ll go back to the Wii Fit once my new hip feels up to it.” I’m as ready for pole fitness as you are, Lana. LOL It actually looks like a pretty strenuous workout, so I guess it’s good to keep an open mind…and if it makes you feel sexy, why not?
I can barely walk in stilettos to feel sexy, Betty. They make me feel spastic. In my twenties, I bought a pair that were the only shoes in a color that matched a new dress. I tripped in them and fell down a flight of subway stairs in Manhattan. I didn’t break anything but got a few nasty bruises. Those stilettos went in a closet and never came out again. If only there were workouts that involved eating chocolate…
I got hung up on the line that said, “I was separating the sections and putting them in the order to be read…” I guess I never minded just skipping around. Pole fitness looks and sounds like fun – as long as I don’t have to hang upside down!
I couldn’t hang upside down either, Patty. I’d get dizzy and fall off.
About the paper: I don’t read it in the order the sections come in. I have my own order. I start off with the funnies and other pleasant reading and read the news sections last.
Thanks for the post, Jolana. To each her own, I guess. I run. I don’t look great doing it, but my heart likes it. 🙂
Well, you look great, Dana, so running must agree with you. 🙂
Judging by how they are hanging from the poles in those pictures, they ARE fit.
No kidding! 😀