It has been brought to my attention recently that not everyone who chooses to exercise does so purely for pain, sweat and vanity.

Apparently there is this thing called enjoyment, which is so important to some that they will only exercise if they enjoy it- go figure!

Heck! Some folks even shun the gym culture for other activities, leaving personal trainers and gym bunnies standing by their triple cable crossovers wondering where everyone has disappeared off to…

For those of you who fall within this category of exercise heathens I have put together a list of alternative fitness forms. Those of you who had ‘getting fit’ at the top of their New Year’s resolution list but have yet to make it off the couch as all the options you can think of bore your socks off have no excuse now.

It’s as if I’m Goober’s Uncle Traveling Matt and you are my little Fraggles.

POLE DANCING

Apparently pole dancing makes exercise more sensual (pronounced sent-shoe-ale). Apparently these people haven’t seen me swing round on a pole!

It’s a pretty darn good upper body workout and a great excuse to don high shoes and a pair of shorty short
So even if you are not the gym bunny type then there are plenty of options.

Source: Gaynz.

Columnist tries popular class that separates the men from the women.

I am clinging as if clinging to life itself, muscles I didn’t know I owned now straining, parts of my body previously unfamiliar to me suddenly calling out, begging for a break.

Or a Valium. Or a Budweiser.

I am feeling many things at the moment, not one of which is sexy.

“One of the great things about this,” Collette Kakuk says, “is that it caters to you as a woman.”

This is when I realize I probably should point out to my instructor that I am not, in the most technical sense, female.

But there’s no time for that now because now I have to execute a spin, hooking one leg and twirling the other while lifting myself off the floor, all the while exploring my sensuality and expressing my flirtation nature. And trying to protect my groin.

You know, men really shouldn’t pole dance.

“We have noticed,” Kakuk says, “that it doesn’t look right.”

No, it doesn’t. Personally, I resemble a square-dancing primate, my moves not from The Great Gatsby but more from the Grape Ape.

Thankfully, this isn’t about being a good dancer or really about dancing at all. This is about toning muscles, burning fat and building serious self-confidence, even if it’s sometimes done while wearing FootUndeez, a product that bills itself as “underwear for your feet.”

This is OC Pole Fitness, a company started in Aliso Viejo 21/2 years ago by Kakuk, who recently opened a second location in Huntington Beach.

(more…)