That’s right. Pole dancing. It counts as a workout, you know. And it’s a tough one.

Last night, I was looking into some more adventurous classes in my area when I stumbled upon a studio that does more mainstream stuff (like yoga and Zumba) as well as pole dance and burlesque. Well, sign me up for a nice, bright morning class.

…Kinda. The pole dance studio was actually pretty dark, with random red and green lights making the place look a little like a club. But the poles were clean, the wall of mirrors allowed you to watch the instructor, and the music was playing.

I told the instructor that I had never done pole before, which meant the other girl in the class was way ahead of me, but I still did fairly well, I think.

I got to learn a number of basic tricks: lady’s spin, 360, Hello Kitty, a firefighter variation, double cross, and a diamond (going forwards and back). We also worked a bit on climbing the pole, which frustrated me a lot because I couldn’t hold the pole tight enough between my thighs in order to move my arms up without slipping. But it was a good challenge.

All in all, I can say this: I am sore. My ankles hurt, my calves hurt, my arms hurt. If you do a pole fitness class, be ready for bruises and pole burns. When you’re trying to hold much of your body weight between the back of your knee and a spinning metal pole, you’re bound to get bruises.

<-Me trying to hold a firefighter spin still. So much tougher than spinning.

My Tips:

• Find a good, clean studio. Bodies are touching those poles. Hands and arms and legs and, well, crotches. They should be clean when you get there.
• Don’t try to start out in heels. Work barefoot.
• Wear something short. When we were working on climbing, I had to pull the legs of my shorts way up. The pole grips better to skin than to fabric.
• Get into it. You’ll be doing body rolls, butt rolls, and flashing grins into the mirror. It’s all part of the fun. Don’t worry if you can’t get something perfect, just get into the movement.