For those who want a killer workout that will burn fat, tone muscle, and provide you with an awesome skill in the process, pole dancing is a fantastic option to consider. I’m not only talking to the ladies here either; if you’re a guy and you can get over the stigma surrounding pole dancing as a bloke, then this is an incredibly effective and fun way to get into shape (and potentially a good opportunity to meet women!).

The Benefits of Pole Dancing

While you might associate pole dancing with strip clubs, it is actually a very impressive skill to learn on its own. It requires a ton of upper body strength and coordination. More to the point, it has a vast number of very impressive health benefits which far outstrip (sorry, poor choice of words) many other popular forms of exercise. And it’s great fun too!

Weight Loss

For beginners, simply spinning around the pole and performing a few moves is a great way to burn some calories and get some cardiovascular benefits. As you get more advanced and start working harder, these benefits will only increase. You will find that you burn just as many calories as you would in the gym. It’s estimated that an hour of pole dancing will burn around 250 calories.

Muscle Toning

The true benefits of pole dancing revolve around (sorry, poor choice again) the muscle toning and building benefits. Pole dancing is essentially an incredible upper body workout that will build much more muscle than most weight lifting classes.

Suspending yourself from the pole with your arms will train your triceps (getting rid of any “bingo wings”). At the same time pole dancing will help with building shoulder muscles and lats. Often you’ll be gripping the pole with your legs, at which point you’ll be training your quads and hamstrings. Other moves even task you with climbing the pole which will build your biceps. The majority of movements will be very effective in strengthening your core and developing flat, toned abs. Throw in a few press ups and you have a fantastic full-body workout.

The best thing about pole dancing for muscle toning is that it uses your own body weight. This means your muscles aren’t going to develop disproportionately and slow you down. It also means you aren’t going to get too bulky. Your muscles will develop as your skills improve while your body stays light and agile.

Increased Flexibility and Balance

Pole dancing requires a lot of flexibility. The warm ups at the start of most classes are designed to improve this. If you can’t touch your toes right now then you will be able to after a few months of pole dancing!

Another benefit of pole dancing is improved balance as you are constantly controlling the tiny fast twitch muscle fibers in your body to stabilize yourself. This improves your kinaesthetic awareness and helps to prevent trips and falls. In general these improved abilities will help you to avoid accidents and to stay much more nimble and light on your feet.

Then there are all the other benefits that are associated with all forms of exercise – from improved mood and confidence to better sleep and strengthened immune system. Pole dancing is also a lot of fun and you’ll be amazed at the kinds of moves you can pull off as you get proficient. If you’re looking for a new way to improve your health and fitness then, this is definitely one to try.