Pole Dancing as a treatment method?

[badkitty3168]

I have a long time client with fibromyalgia that has chronic pain in right scapula, neck and arm region.

Hadn't seen her in a while, and when she came in yesterday she said a few months back she signed up for a "pole dancing" class on a whim! She said during the six weeks that she was taking the class, her pain diminished dramatically!

I guess all that hanging and swinging from the pole was providing her with some wonderful stretching. I thought it was a delightful antidote. She said the class was a riot, and it just tickled me because she's almost 60. She's very attractive, but pretty quiet and conservative, and it would have been the last form of exercise I would have ever imagined her doing.

Yeah to stretching our boundaries!

savannah

 

[eric k]

What a great story!

Not only the swinging and stretching ... but one should never underestimate the power of getting out there and moving your body while laughing and having a good time.

I hope others see/hear her story and are motivated to get out there and push their limits of what's fun and healthy.

Good for her!!! t023

 

[I love books]

That is so cool! Good for her.

 

[Marianne]

Follow-up to this. Later I googled "pole dancing" and got a bunch of hits on You Tube, so I clicked on some with trepidation, expecting to get a lot of sleazy sex videos.
Big eye opener! Pole dancing is quite an art, and when it's done outside of a bar environment, was quite fascinating to watch. I can see why my client had improvement in her shoulder. The strength required to do the spins, and the natural stretching from hanging, probably really opened up her whole shoulder girdle. All of the clips I watched were very tasteful, athletic, graceful, and fully clothed. It looks like a fun way to do a work out routine if you are athletic enough to do the moves!
savannah

 

[weddingdress_xtryan]

Hi!
I'm so glad I found this topic!

I am a pole dance instructor and I have fibromyalgia. I was doing a google search to see if any other pole dancers/instructors had it too and ran across this.

I can't tell you how pole dancing has changed my life in regards to my fm. I don't have the pain I used to have, now, I still have some and get to the chiro when I'm in a lot of pain, but I am no longer in constant pain (most of my pain was in the same area as Savannah's client), I am more flexible, I feel more rested in the morning and I'm much happier. (and MUCH stronger!)

I was told by my dr's to get exercising, but I HATE exercising. When I found pole dancing, it gave me something to look forward to. I enjoyed it. I love seeing my body transforming. I walk taller, my posture is so much better now.

I have had several students that have friends that have fm, I've told them to at least recommend it to them, if anything, just to get moving!

I'm glad to hear someone else that pole dances is seeing results!

I'm going to do more research on the subject of pole dancing and fibromyalgia.

 

[Van-Hy]

pdxpoledivas;

Welcome to MassagePlanetL.

Which Portland are you in? I live in Hillsboro, OR.

I didn't know anything about PD until my client told me about her class. Other than I knew it was a popular class for some very athletic movie stars. This gal is pushing 60 and although trim, she's not what I'd call athletic and also suffers from fibromaylagia, so I was impressed with the improvement she garnered.

savannah

 

[Wonders]

I'm in Oregon too!

Yes, most of my students are regular everyday women. Mostly moms, and mostly out of shape. They come to me to get in shape, and/or feel better about themselves. I think they relate to me cause I'm not a "professional" dancer. I a mom of 3, like many of them. I've got issues, fibro, reynauds, and tendonitis/bursitis in almost every joint in my body. But I can still do this, which is why I don't accept whining and excuses in my class...I get on to them, but in a loving way

 

[zealot144]

Small world! I wonder if she was in your class? I'll have to ask her the name next time I see her. She got such good results, she's thinking of buying a pole for her home, and she said it was a hilarious time every class.

I'm a very overweight, clunky gal. I can't imagine doing the moves. I think I'd drop like a rock, and fall into the "help I've fallen and can't get up" position! It does look like a fabulous method of developing upper body strength though.

What ever first behooved you to learn to do it? Pole dancing, not unlike massage, sort of unfairly has a strong connotation in a lot of people's minds with the sex trade, so it's sort of cool to see women taking it back and making it into an athletic form for their own benefit. I gotta say it looks like a lot of fun!

savannah

 

[I <3 Edward Cullen]

I am loving this thread!

A little off topic - I've worked on a few strippers over the years, and I have to say, their legs and feet always were most of the problem - shoes, ya know...

Obviously, now I am am learning how the pole dancing part could have been helping to offset other issues and will remember this for teh next gal in that profession that I work on.

Great info for the vault!

 

[Pompal 09.]

I have always thought of pole dancing as an art form rather than a raunchy act. I have always been in awe of the things a female (or male for that matter) can get their body to do on the pole! the amount of strength to a. hold themselves up, b. manuver into different positions and many other things has been so interesting to me. I have researched the net to find out more about pole work, and found out that there is an international pole dance competition! I watched some of the video from recent competitions, and it is unreal!

But to bring it back to the here and now, I have a pole I ordered many years ago with the intention to teach myself how to work on it. It turned into a "party" thing that my girlfriends would beg me to take out when they were over. We had so much fun!! I still have it, but haven't used it in about 2 years.
Just two days ago I went to a local dance studio that specializes in pole work, and let me tell you, it is a WORK OUT!
I went for a sample class (it was $10, how could I pass it up!?) to see what it was all about.
I was pleasently surprised.
We started off with 50 jumping jacks to get the blood moving, then some stretching. Then we went into learning a sequence. The instructor told me that everyone learns the sequence from beginner to advanced so that when they have a open house, the girls can dance together!
The class sizes are limited, there were 5 of us there. That was awesome because it allowed for the instructor to pay close attention to us as we were working. And by working I mean spinning, climbing, shaking and kicking.
Then we ended with climbing up the pole to the celing 3 times (NOT EASY!! I didn't make it half way up the pole, but I did get off the ground!) and 60 more jacks, pilaties moves, sit ups and push ups.

I am still sore!!!!
I will definatly be going back. I have never sweat so much while having fun!
I am so glad pole work is being looked at in a different light . Thanks for sharing the info about FM sufferers breaking the pain cycle with some really intense fun workouts.

 

[Cell]

I'm a very overweight, clunky gal. I can't imagine doing the moves. I think I'd drop like a rock, and fall into the "help I've fallen and can't get up" position! It does look like a fabulous method of developing upper body strength though.

What ever first behooved you to learn to do it? Pole dancing, not unlike massage, sort of unfairly has a strong connotation in a lot of people's minds with the sex trade, so it's sort of cool to see women taking it back and making it into an athletic form for their own benefit. I gotta say it looks like a lot of fun!

savannah

weight is not an excuse i'll accept! unless you have a broken bone or something, you can do this. if you are a lmt, then your arms are stronger than you think! i just did a party and had a lady who was probably around 250 and she was a shorty, she did EVERYTHING I gave her. Because she didn't have the one thing that holds a LOT of people back, FEAR! She was kicking the skinny girls in the party's butts all over the place! She was great!

I got into it after my 3rd kiddo. I was 29, she ravaged my body...I was sitting watching Oprah one day and saw it on there and thought "I can totally do that!". So I begged my hubby for a pole, after 6 months, he relented (I have ADD, so I tend not to stick with things, and he knew that! LOL) and we made one from home depot! haha Then after a month or so, I started selling them and got a real one. I just taught myself. The confidence I got from it was amazing! My sad knock knees always prevented me from doing most forms of dance, but this didn't hurt my knees.

After almost a year of teaching myself, my friends told me to start teaching it, so I sold my magazine (I founded Vancouver Family Magazine) and started my biz!

I think I noticed the FM issues diminishing within a few weeks of starting. My arms and back, especially upper back, have really gotten strong. My posture is great now too, I hold my head up higher and walk with confidence. My body isn't perfect, I have extra skin on my belly, a double butt haha, and no boobies BUT for being 32 with 3 kids, I know I look damn good. Sure, I would LOVE to have my 21 yr old body back, but that's not gonna happen without surgery(especially after 9 lb babies), so I've accepted it...for now I love being able to do something not everyone can do. I love teaching it. I LOVE seeing women come in and being so unsure of themselves and then watching them finally get a spin and the HUGE grin on their face and everyone in the class cheering! It really makes my day. I become friends with many of my students, hell, I've even gone out dancing with them numerous times. I truly have the best job in the world! It's like a girls club in every class. Everyone knows about each others kids and such, we keep things really lighthearted. It's really a blast! But it is hard work!

 

[nersespurses]

... Then after a month or so, I started selling them and got a real one.

Since you have some expertise in this, do you mind posting some links where those who are interested can purchase "good" poles?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fades to White]

This is so interesting. I'm gonna pm you, pdvplolediva, I'd like to know more about your classes, since we're in the same part of the world............

does it feel like flying when you spin?

savannah

 

[Steveman3014]

So I begged my hubby for a pole, after 6 months, he relented

That's funny! Just doesn't sound right. Even with ADD, my husband would find that to be the best idea I would've ever had!

 

[Bride & Mommy to Be ?]

... Then after a month or so, I started selling them and got a real one.

Since you have some expertise in this, do you mind posting some links where those who are interested can purchase "good" poles?

Thanks in advance.

I actually sell them! I've repped for most pole manufactures and found that platinum seforum.xxxes is the best...go to gotpole dot com (the forum won't let me post the link) you even get a free video of your choice when you order through me.


and yea, most of my students think it's super funny that it took my hubby6 months to agree! he told me "You're gonna treat this like every video and gym membership you've had, you'll LOVE it for 2 weeks, then get bored and stop, so NO"

hehe, I win!

 

[Caiden]

Not to take business away from pdx, but I purchased my pole from http://www.lilmynx.com
The reason I purchased from this co, is because when I first started looking into poles and classes ect, Sheila Kelly was huge, and that is what she used.

There are others out there, but I find this co to be reasonable, and good quality.

 

[zenjanthropus]

fyi on the lil mynx.

i used to sell those also. i stopped because of issues that many, if not most people have eventually (actually sheila kelley is no longer a rep for them either, she's a rep for platinum seforum.xxxes now)

the main issue of the lil mynx is that after a while, for some just a few months, for others after a few years, is that the mechanism that holds that pole up fails. it's a spring loaded pole, so the more that it's jolted around, the weaker it gets. if you actually took apart the pole (don't do that it will void any warranty), it's just a large spring and a piece of white pvc pip inside of it.

because ps poles use a bolt, it's a true pressure mechanism, and not spring loaded. I've looked and reasearched practically every pole out there and ps is by far superior.

also, as far as the sfactor classes go, be VERY careful, MANY MANY people have injured shoulders (rotator cuff) because of the improper "hanging" they do on the shoulders. They do not teach how to engage your shoulders and back. I actually know of another studio that does sfactor recovery classes! lol so be wary of sfactor type classes.

 

[Red Hott]

I could see this happening. As I stated previously, my pole is more of a "party favor" than anything else. If I was to become more active with the work I would switch from a spring mounted to a bolted pole too.
Thanks for the imput!