staying fit | pole fitness

These posts keep getting crazier and crazier!  More fun though. 😀  I started a ‘staying fit’ series last year and pole fitness was next on my list of activities I wanted to try.  Emma of ECN Bodyworks kindly gave me a private lesson yesterday, and safe to say I absolutely loved it!  And fun exercise is always the best exercise, obviously.

We started with a gentle warmup and stretch, before getting straight into some basic step arounds, spins and sits.

Pole fitness is very addictive, I’ve established that already.  Really wanted to carry on for hours!  I easily get frustrated with myself when I can’t do something that I know I should be capable of, but that just makes me want to keep going even more.  I start ‘grr’ing haha, crazy gal.  Always wanting to try the next move, too!

My whole upper body is definitely feeling it today, in a ‘good sore’ kind of way!  All around the armpit area mostly, for a less than technical way of putting it.  My upper back feels nicely pulled back too.  It’s sooo much harder than the pros make it look, but so rewarding to actually be able to do the moves too.  Lots of other sports/fitness classes rely on working your legs to get your heart rate going (jumping, running, squats etc) so it was different to have one that focuses much more on general upper body and core strength.  Supporting your own bodyweight is much harder than lifting weights.  No surprises that everybody who walked out of the class before me looked super strong!

That smile is masking the pain!  Inversions and whatnot look difficult; sitting looks like it should be easy, but really isn’t.  Pretty happy that I managed it first time though!  It’s all about holding yourself up with purely core strength and grippy legs.  Grippy legs on a pole, ouch.  Bruises are called ‘pole kisses’, apparently!

The times I did find myself in a tangle, I’d usually been overthinking the number of steps or which foot to go on, and managed to confuse myself.  And send myself stumbling across the room.  Better to just throw yourself into it, probably!  Go with the whole fluid movement thing.

My ‘inversion’ more closely resembled a sloth clinging on for dear life (or at least it felt like it) but felt so cool!  I was surprised that I actually managed to get upside down in my first class to be honest.

As for previous exercise experiences that help, gymnastics the most obvious but dance, horse riding, ice skating are good too, as any of these would probably give you a little head start with pole fitness thanks to their focus on core stability.  I’ve only just stopped dancing after 14 years and had my own pony for most of my childhood, so I guess I was fairly well positioned for it!  Minus the ice skating part; tried that once and broke my arm so maybe not.  My forte for falling over (nearly decked it carrying tomato soup at college the other day, that was a close call) would have you believe I’ve zero core stability whatsoever, but I think it’s actually alright when it comes to flinging myself around.  I definitely would after more pole lessons, anyway!

My permanent concentration face, evidence it’s not all about being sexy haha!  Would probably look more impressive if I was more than 2 feet from the floor too, but there’s time. 😛

The talented lady herself!  Let’s just marvel at the poses she can pull shall we?

Smiling at the camera from that angle is pretty impressive!

So yeah, I absolutely loved pole fitness, and if you’re local to the Blackpool area, I can’t recommend Emma enough!  I can’t wait to give it another go, and try out the aerial fitness at ECN bodyworks too.  I’m looking forward to hopefully trying my hand at more different activities over summer, once exams and whatnot are over and done with.  Obviously Pole fitness has no seasonal element, but outdoors-y stuff like watersports would be pretty uncomfortable in January here.  Watch this space!

**Previous posts in fitness series: walking, ballet, bootcamp**

lily kate x

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