A New Kind of Exercise – Pole Fitness

This move is much harder than it looks!

So, I am always willing to try new things. So when my friend asked me to join her at a Pole Fitness class, I thought,”Why not?!”  Now, almost 4 days later, I am still feeling the remnants of soreness (in a good way)!  This was a mega full body workout.  I was especially feeling my triceps, delts, upper back, forearms and glutes the following day.  Did I leave anything out?  I was pretty much feeling it all over.  Don’t feel like doing push-ups?  Try doing the fireman move or maybe the martini 😉  Equally effective and way more fun!  I wasn’t sure what to expect when walking in, so here is a breakdown.

The Breakdown

I had my pole fitness debut at Teaze Fitness on Essen Lane.  The class was very much geared towards fitness.  No one seemed to have an agenda to infiltrate Bourbon Street.  It was very tasteful and motivating.  The class was small with a max capacity of 7 people (sign up online to ensure your spot in the class), and the class I attended was populated by only 5, including myself and my friend.  The class was considered beginner, although the other 3 people were doing all sorts of crazy stuff that didn’t look very beginner-like to me.  The other students were all very encouraging, however, and I never felt intimidated – more like awe struck.  After a brief warm up of jumping jacks and stretching (among other moves), we immediately went to our individual poles.

The instructor – she made everything look so easy!

The instructor was very attentive and began by teaching me the very first trick (the fireman), and then she moved on while I practiced.  Meanwhile, the more advanced students began practicing their moves.  Nicole, the very talented instructor, went from person to person giving tips and encouragement.  She encouraged me to perform the tricks from both directions to achieve a full body workout (I was infinitely better on one side than the other for some reason), and she tailored the workout to me – adding a new trick only after I had achieved the previous one correctly.  I learned 5 different moves, including one that required climbing up the pole (I didn’t quite make it to the ceiling, although my friend I was with did!).  We had a short cool down, and I went home with the soreness already setting in.

Do you have to be fit already to participate?

Proof that I use to dance (circa 2001)

I do have many years of dance experience (tap, jazz and ballet), and I currently teach Zumba Fitness, which I think did help me to learn the moves somewhat quickly. However, many years and 1 kid later, I am not even close to being in the shape I use to be.  Because Nicole tailored the class to me, however, I felt very comfortable to perform at a level that I felt good about.  The one-on-one experience makes this a class fit for anyone.   Whether or not I successfully climbed the pole or implemented a move perfectly didn’t change the fact that I got a seriously good workout.

What to wear?

I picked up a pair of exercise shorts from Marshall’s on the way to the class that were short enough for my skin to be able to touch the pole (which is needed to do a lot of the moves), but long enough so I still felt comfortable walking around in them (something like this).  I wore these with a tank, and it worked out great.

The Skinny

Overall this experience was great, and I do plan on returning.  The price was a bit steep (at $25 per class), but you get what you pay for, and there are options to take multiple classes for cheaper. It was definitely a full body sculpting workout with a little bit of cardio mixed in (I definitely got out of breath attempting to climb the pole), and it was super fun at the same time!  I also recommend Teaze Fitness for bachelorette parties.  We had a pole fitness class for my bachelorette party in Florida, and it was a blast!