Women are abandoning the gym in their droves to take up pole dancing. And leading the way in Calderdale is Kim Beech who has just opened her own removable pole dance studio

When the Eurythmics sang Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves they could have been talking about pole dancing.
Because pole dancing has successfully shimmied out of its sleazy image of the past and into the mainstream pole fitness world.
In the past, it has been largely confined to the world of lap dancing bars and night clubs. Shaking off that image has taken some time but it’s got there, thanks in no small part to the likes of 28-year-old Kim Beech, of Sowerby Bridge. (more…)

Dressed in a low-cut pink shirt, tight black booty pants, and thick, plastic platform stilettos, Stephanie Babines doesn’t look the part of a political rabble-rouser. Yet an activist is exactly what Babines became when her efforts to help women shape up through fully clothed, decidedly G-rated stripper-inspired aerobics ran afoul of overzealous officials in the small western Pennsylvania town of Mars. This unyieldingly perky 31-year-old entrepreneur, standing in the small forest of steel poles that shoot up from the floor of her mirrored dance and fitness studio, has taught dance-phobic authorities an expensive lesson in federal court. “It’s pretty surreal to get calls from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, never mind Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer, and America’s Got Talent,” Babines laughs, leaning back beneath a bookshelf filled with such revolutionary tomes as The World According to Mr. Rogers and The Housewife’s Guide to the Practical Striptease. “It’s not attention I went looking for.” A few years ago Babines was a senior executive at a financial services company, nary a feather boa dancing in her head, struggling with an 80-hour workweek that severely depleted her enthusiasm for the gymnasium. One night over dinner a friend mentioned that pole dancing had become the hot new fitness pole trend. (more…)

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Sandy Shepard pole dances in San Francisco. She says it helps her feel empowered.

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Greatest accomplishment: Doing a “layout” – climb the removable pole, brace one foot behind the other, and then flip so you’re hanging upside down, basically holding on with one foot and your knees. It takes killer abs.

Gear you can’t live without: Comfortable 6-inch heels from Foot Worship in San Francisco. You can pole dance in the same ratty gym clothes that you use for playing soccer or doing the treadmill. But you put those shoes on, and EVERYTHING changes.

Where you train: S Factor San Francisco, and at home, on my own portable pole.

Best time to train: In the morning. I’m more alert then, and pole aerobics work out can be tricky. There is so much coordination involved that I want to be sure that I am at my most present.

Biggest misperception about your sport: That it’s all about sex and we’re bimbos. Most women I pole dance with don’t do it for anyone but themselves. And almost all of us are professionals. You never know what someone does when they take off their three-piece suit or medical scrubs.

Advice you’d give a rookie: Sometimes the “beginner” moves are harder than more advanced ones. Also, since pole dancing involves strength, flexibility and killer abs, it will make you do weights and yoga or you won’t to be able to do a “spinning snake” or “flying angel” like all your pole grrrlfriends!

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Pole Dancing – You definitive guide

Pole dancing burns calories, tones body muscles, increases flexibility, improves fitness and can help tone your whole body. If you want to take up pole dancing then head to a class or keep training at home with a portable pole dancing kit and the pole aerobics workout DVD included for the basic moves:

The Walk Around: Stand tall with your shoulders back. Hook your arm around the pole and tip toe slowly and sexily around the pole.

The Body Ripple: Holding the pole with one hand, move your shoulders into it. Stick your bum out and ripple inwards until your stomach is on the pole. Then pull out your shoulders, bringing your pelvis towards pole. Repeat several times so the movement flows. (more…)

We are proud to announce the first and only affordable portable Dance and Aerobics pole kit. Pole Aerobics Dancing Pole Kit with DVD featuring 2 body-sculpting workouts routines. Made by the Peekaboo Pole Dancing kit factory in the UK. It has never been so easy and exciting to get into shape and practice your moves. We support you with our DVD that includes workouts and tips for you to learn and master. This is the craze with pole dancing classes all over the nation it is time to get your own kit for the home. It even supports up to 220lbs. So it is for anyone who wants to join in and get into shape while looking sexy at the same time! Our Pole Dancing Aerobics Kit Features and Benefits. (1) Extendable top section: For use on ceilings ranging for (72) to (86) in height. (1) Handy Carry & Storage Bag: For convenient portability (1) 50mm (1.96) chrome steel pole: Finish that is the choice of professionals everywhere. Finely wrought, slot-together sections: For easy assembly, strength, the ultimate in stability and smooth joints. No ceiling fixings or tools needed: Quickly erect and take down the pole without cosmetic damage to your home. The option to screw your Dance Pole into the ceiling: For loads of over 100 kg (220 lbs) (1)Easy-to-understand Assembly Guide: Getting started is quick & stress-free. (1)Fitness Pole DVD with so much to learn and have fun with! Pole Aerobic DVD features 2 body-sculpting workouts routines In an exclusive for Pole Aerobics users, founder of Long Beach, Californias Pole Position Fitness, Sharon Polsky has choreographed two fun and fat-burning, 20-minute dance routines. Suitable for all dancers from beginner to intermediate to expert, they’ll have you toning up in weeks. The DVD also includes top tips and a simple step-by-step guide to erecting your Dance Pole.

Recession snatching their plush jobs women are now on their toes to tunes as ‘gentlemen’s club entertainers’ at upscale jiggle joints in Manhattan.

Women who previously earned their living as stock agents, fashion executives and real – estate agents have now clutched the poles to sway their way as pole dancers and strippers for about 1,500 dollars for a night.

With the big bucks aiding to remove the dent caused by recession, the girls are also much for the job due to its flexible working hours.

A financial analyst by profession at Morgan Stanley, Randi Newton, 28, who lives in Midtown with recession laying hands on her job has now taken to pole dancing at Rick’s Cabaret in Murray Hill. She entertains three or four days a week and makes about ‘160,000 dollars a year on tips alone’. Newton calls herself as an ‘independent contractor’.

The New York Post quoted Newton as saying of her shift to the dancing job as : “A few nights after I got laid off, I went with friends to a strip club to get drunk and forget my unemployment troubles. The manager offered me a job as a dancer. I thought it was different. And fun”.

Newton also appreciates her new job atmosphere as, “It was very odd seeing a strip club being better run than a major brokerage firm, not to mention I’ve never had problems with sexual harassment at Rick’s,”

Owner of Sapphire Club on East 60th Street opened in January, Peter Feinstein’s words flow thus : “I am receiving a lot of applications from women who recently lost their jobs in particular New York City real-estate agents.”

Becky, 24 who worked as a pastry chef previously has now become a ‘massage girl’ at Rick’s.

Becky said : “I couldn’t find anything after I got laid off because it’s hard to land a chef job these days,” .

Though recession’s tightening grip has caused a lot of lay offs in different fields, business in the ‘Jiggle Joints’ seemed to be on an upsurge with owners into hiring more talent than ever at present.

A rep for Flash Dancers also went on to say about the mounting applications in surplus, as about 40 forms a month to occupy five positions.

Eric Langdan, Rick’s president has said that about 50 candidates a week compete for positions at their club.

“These places give men hope. Even in the worst of times, for us it’s the best of times,” said Langdan.

Greener pastures on the other side?

POLE-DANCING is casting off its sleazy sex-club image as more women than ever give it a whirl as a great way to keep fit.

The gymnastic workout involves a series of moves carried out to music which strengthens and tones most of the muscle groups.

Mum-of-three Tracey Huckfield, 29, has introduced around 200 women to the sport since starting her business Pagan’s Pole three years ago.

Tracey works from home in Valley, Anglesey, where a pole takes centre-stage in the living room and a full-sized mirror helps students to monitor their movements.

Tracey first took to the pole when she was studying for her psychology degree at Bangor University and liked it so much she decided to turn it into a career.

“I’ve got the perfect job really because I’m doing something I love and the vast majority of my clients have become friends,” said Tracey, who is also qualified to teach aerobics.

“The initial thing I do is teach a routine that allows a student to become familiar with the grips of the pole and builds confidence into their upper body strength.

“The girls bring a me a song of their choice and I choreograph a routine to that song.

“I’m more of a trickster than a dancer and will put up to ten tricks into a routine but that is pushing yourself to the limit and it’s more gymnastics and aerial skills.

“We’re trying to change the name to pole-fitness to try and get away from the stereotypical image of the sex industry and there’s a petition going round to try and get it into the 2012 olympics as a sport,” she said.

Nadine Challinor, 24, from Amlwch, started pole-dancing with Tracey four months ago and thinks it’s a lot more fun than going to a gym.

Naomi Harries, 31, is also from Valley and said she couldn’t believe how toned she felt after her first pole-dancing lesson.

“I’ve had three lessons now and I love it, it’s fantastic and a great way to keep fit and so much fun,” said Naomi.

“The work-out is unbelievable and I will get my own pole eventually
when I can afford it.

“I would encourage people to try it because it’s a great confidence booster and it’s a full-body work out,” she said.

The Sprecher Brewing Co. and Miss Pole, a New Berlin-based pole excercise instruction group, team up for another event in Sprecher’s “Share the Passion” series that offers classes celebrating craft beer and passion.

The event takes place Monday, Jan. 26 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Sprecher’s beer garden.

The cost is $50 and includes instruction in “the exotic Pole aerobics art” of pole dancing, lap dancing and strip tease. Participants will receive Sprecher beer and soda samples to drink during the event, and will leave with a souvenir beer bottle featuring a photo label of the participant demonstrating one of her new skills.

“It’s not about being sleazy,” says Anne Sprecher. “It’s about incorporating sensuality and fun into aerobics and enjoying really good beer in a comfortable environment.”

For more information, call Sprecher Brewing Co. source

Fitness Pole

Yamanaka who own Le Physique Personal Training with her husband, Brian often take there clients on an elliptical trainer every day of the week. Although she says there’s a place for equipment, Yamanaka thinks outside the gym literally. Forget the treadmill: instead, the 30-year-old takes her clients pole dancing as it improves muscle posture and development she thinks improving your fitness though pole-dancing is definatly the way forward!