THE POLE ATHLETE’S WARDROBE
If you aren’t familiar with pole fitness you may question as to why we don’t wear very much clothing. You see the videos or pictures posted wearing nothing but a sports bra and an itty bitty pair of shorts. Perhaps you’re wondering why we show so much skin or maybe you’re thinking we just want to “show off our bodies” when really this isn’t the case at all! In fact, we need our skin to stick to the pole! sounds odd right?
Maybe you have been there. It’s your first class and you show up wearing leggings and your husbands baggy t-shirt. You are self conscious when I tell the class that you will need to wear short shorts for when we learn to climb the pole in the upcoming weeks, secondary to that thought of “pfff I won’t be able to climb that pole…I’m not strong enough”. Of course some strength is eventually required but let’s get right down to the main word. TECHNIQUE! No matter what level you are you need that skin gripping onto the pole for safety and to execute these beautiful, jaw-dropping moves. Okay, now you’re wondering how your skin sticks to the pole, right? With any workout you know you must have a proper warm-up and if properly done, you start to feel the slightest bit sweaty which is actually perfect for pole!
Back to that word technique. When training, you need points of contact on the pole and these range all over the body depending on which move or trick you’re working on. Sometimes, it’s maybe the inside of your arm squeezing the pole into your bare side, the inside of your thighs to do an elegant pole seat, or even just to do a simple pole climb where the back of the calve and shin is required. To get even more complex, some of our points of contact slide and stop right into place when doing certain moves which would be extremely difficult if we were fully clothed!
Not to get discouraged if you are self conscious! We are all here doing pole for all the same reasons. We love the passion it brings to our lives, the excitement of nailing a new move, the excellent workout benefits and soon you come to realize that it’s a comfortable, supportive environment and you will forget about those feelings and have a changed self-esteem. ?
Keep calm and pole on my friends!
~ Lorissa
