FitSugar

Work It, Martha!

FitSugar — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:30:25 -0800

I'm loving this clip of Martha Stewart going completely outside of her box by doing a pole dancing workout with S Factor founder, Sheila Kelley. Check out this clip as the domestic diva gets down and gyrates her hips in full workout gear. Despite not being able to slide upside down on the pole, Martha did finish with an impressive leg lift.

If you've ever wanted to try a pole dancing workout but were too afraid, you've got no excuse now. If Martha can do it, so can you. In her own words: "She's got me on the pole. Woo-hoo!"

Is one of your fitness goals for 2010 to step out of your fitness comfort zone? Are you ready to work with a pole?

Guess Who?

FitSugar — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:50:28 -0800

Can you figure out who has taken S Factor pole dancing classes?

Friday Feel Good! Men Can Work the Pole Too

TresSugar — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:15:41 -0800

As female pole dancers petition the Olympics to include their sport in the international games, men want a chance to someday spin for the gold too. The men's pole dancing movement is heating up in Japan, where men competed for the first time in a world pole dancing championship. The organizers say that pole dancing isn't just about exotic dance and seduction; it can also be a demonstration of acrobatic skills and athleticism. Have a watch and see if you agree.

Oh Snap! Just Hanging Around

TresSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:04:53 -0700

Women competing for Argentina's Miss Pole Dance Sudamerica 2009 performed in downtown Buenos Aires yesterday. Pole dancing competitions have taken off in the US too, and some of you previously took issue with the fact that a highly sexualized activity is now a competitive sport. Still, you have to admit that these women are showing off some serious skill. Between these photos and the footage from the Miss Plastic Surgery pageant held in Hungary last week, I'm not sure what competition they'll think of next!

View 3 Photos ›

Get Ready For the First California Pole-Dance Championship

TresSugar — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

I have no doubt that pole dancing, as a press release for California's first pole-dance championship next month puts it, "requires strength, agility, flexibility, and endurance." Nor do I believe that pole dancing is "just posing against a pole" but rather involves "spinning, inverts, climbing, and power holds."

But what does it mean to elevate to a sport an act that originated in strip clubs and which symbolizes a woman's role as a sex object? We'd pause (at least, I hope we would!) if there were a competitive lap-dancing competition. But a similar argument could be made for making it a competition: a woman needs strong calf and thigh muscles to "dance" over a man's lap.

Pole-dance exercise classes have gone mainstream, so it's no surprise pole dancing has turned competitive. Women get enough reminders from the media that our jobs are to be sexually alluring - why not actually just learn a sport or emulate the acrobats who perform for Cirque du Soleil? At least a high-wire act doesn't come with symbolic baggage.

Do you think it's weird that pole-dancing is so mainstream that it has become competitive sport?

Say What? Strip Club Tells Miley to Come Back in a Few Years

TresSugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:30:29 -0700

"While Miley did show off some skills, we at SCORES cannot encourage this kind of behavior for women under the legal age. If she'd like to come try out in a couple of years, our door's open!"

- Ed Norwick, the general manager of NYC gentleman's club Scores, says that even he cannot condone tween Miley Cyrus's pole dancing performance seen on last night's Teen Choice Awards.

Pole Dancers Reach For Olympic Gold

TresSugar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:00:58 -0700

From the stripper pole to the Olympic podium? Proponents of "pole fitness" want more respect, and perhaps a gold medal would help. In an interview with Marie Claire, dance instructor Collette Kakuk, cofounder of the Pole Fitness Association, makes a case for pole dancing as an Olympic sport.

Poles aren't just for strippers anymore. There are stripping-based fitness classes, sport poles, and even national pole-dancing competitions. The moves require no small amount of strength, flexibility, control, and balance. Kakuk argues:

But if you look at rhythmic gymnastics and figure skating, so many of the movements are similar to what we do on the pole. We have to shatter the taboo. The pole is just another fitness apparatus, like a vertical balance beam.

I don't doubt that you have to be incredibly fit to pole dance. But I can't help but think the pole dancers might be a bit overeager for Olympic glory. As Kakuk points out, "we need to unify the sport. We don't even have common names for our moves." Well, at least they have a readymade soundtrack!

US Pole Dancing Competitions

FitSugar — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:00:00 -0700

I've taken an S-Factor Pole Dancing class, so I'll be the first to say that it is quite a workout. It requires strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, stamina, and did I say strength? I know many women are into pole dancing as a workout, and even celebs like Teri Hatcher and Kate Hudson have raved about it. Kendra Wilkinson has even created her own line of sports poles for home use. I had no idea, though, that pole dancing could be taken to a competitive level. Check out footage from the 2009 Pole Dancing Championships.

I've got to admit, I am quite impressed with the courage, self-confidence, grace, and amazing strength these ladies are clearly demonstrating. After seeing all their tricks, and how they can effortlessly hold up their own body weight in so many unique positions, it inspires me to want to take another class. How about you?

Kendra Wilkinson's "Sports Poles": Cool or Not?

FitSugar — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Is the stripper workout here to stay? Former girl next door Kendra Wilkinson is banking on it. Hugh Hefner's sporty ex-girlfriend has created a proprietary line of stripping equipment that she's calling "sports poles." She's expressed her excitement for the product on her personal website:

As you know, I'm an outdoors girl, so it's hard to find fun ways to exercise in my house that keep me from getting bored. I'm like a little monkey and love to swing around on things - haha - so that's why I decided to create my own line of sports poles, which will be coming out soon!!!!!

Kendra assures apprehensive sports pole users that it's easier than it looks and added, "I can definitely see people like Cameron Diaz, Kate Hudson and Scarlett Johansson loving my sports pole, not to mention that they would look soooooooo HOT doing it!"

The platinum, self-proclaimed "little monkey" thinks her pole is a fun (and sexy) way to work out. What do you think of the name of her product and the idea behind it - cool or not?

Source

Another Stripper Bites the Dust

GiggleSugar — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:00:00 -0700

Who manufactures and installs these lame stripper poles? There's now a whole new genre of video that shows hard-workin' pole dancers practicing their craft at home, only to have the poles collapse by the end of their routines. Since this is happening so much, just to spice things up, they could incorporate a comedy routine into their shows at the strip joints where they work. A kind of Lucille Ball meets Jenna Jameson type thing.