Pole Gym Classes
Classes are now under way. To book call 01343 550033PoleGym is in a totally different realm from pole dancing. It is purely fitness training that can be likened to gymnastics but on a vertical pole.
Horizontal Twist
PoleGym has been formatted from the strength training, spins and invert poses that are developed at a higher level in pole dance but with the 'dance' element removed. You get the same benefits; a complete body work out that is ideal for core strength, muscle endurance, posture and flexibility. Much of it is upper body, but it also provides an intense workout for abdominals, back and leg muscles. It takes strength of mind to swing up and invert onto the pole so it a great confidence boost.
This makes PoleGym an ideal workout as a cross training exercise for other sporting disciplines. Competitive swimmers, gymnasts, martial arts fighters, equestrian riders, mountain bike riders, rock climbers and tri-athletes have caught onto the benefits of including pole work training to enhance their performance and endurance in their primary sport. PoleGym offers the ability to increase your heart rate/thermogen levels without partaking in cardio. Scientific tests have concluded that in less than three minutes of doing a pole work out your heart rate can go to the same level as if you had spent 15 minutes on a treadmill, and in just 11 minutes of pole work, you can burn as much as 300 calories.
Serpent
What to Wear: Shorts, T-shirt or vest top. Trainers are fine to begin with but soft soled shoes such as Tae Kwon Do shoes or climbing shoes are better. Guys need to wear a shield/box and no oils or hand/body lotions to be worn during the class. Also please remove rings and bracelets as they affect your grip and scratch the poles. Grip chalk is supplied but bring a towel to wipe your sweat and a bottle of water to keep hydrated.
What to Expect: Class starts with a warm up on the floor which incorporates contemporary exercises with the various pole poses that you will be learning in PoleGym. We then move on to further warm up exercises using the pole: upper body hangs, anchor holds, fireman pull ups and pole stretches.
We then go through some spins and kicks on the pole to further loosen up, work on the poses and improve co-ordination and flexibility. Spins and kicks alone will increase your upper body and abdominal strength. We then move onto the more difficult exercises of climbing and inverting on the pole. As you get stronger with inverts and climbing you'll be able to progress to more difficult strengthening exercises; sit ups from hang back, press ups from invert hand stands and rip curls from shoulder mount. Students that work out in regular gyms report that no amount of weight training with machines and dead weights can substitule pole work where the weight you are constantly lifting and holding is your own body weight! That's the secret of it's success and why so many sportsmen and women have caught onto the benefits of pole work as cross training for their own disciplines.
Climbing the pole is an excellent way of improving core strength and a test of courage. We start with the basic Fireman Climb, then the Scissors Climb, the Reverse Climb, Shoulder Mount, Side Step Climb, the Iguana Climb and finally the Spiderman Climb! After climbing, you'll start inverting on the pole. From the basic Serpent and Hang Back you will learn to perform various pole poses: The Crucifix, Scorpion, Stinging Scorpion, Bow & Arrow and the Superman are just a few.
Finally, the last ten minutes are a cool down and stretching session, you will curse me in the morning but thank me in the long run!
One final factor in the benefits of PoleGym is the 'fun' aspect. In the Gym fitness industry the main focus is on persisting with training, the 'fun' aspect is measured from this and understandably many people do not find going down to the gym 'fun'. In contrast, PoleGym has a huge fun aspect, think back to when you were a child playing on the monkey bars in your local park. PoleGym classes are small, maximum twelve students with four students per pole used. The very nature of the sport means you have to interact with other unlike gym or studio fitness sessions where you are working out alone in a group. While it's nice to be 'in the zone', it much more fun to interact with others. Encouraging fellow students, exchanging ideas and having a laugh at the same time has been one of the main attractions of pole dancing classes, I'm confident that it will be the same with PoleGym. Initially it will be a 'men only' class (to be fair) but in time we will make it a mixed class. If you have any doubts about the benefits of pole work why not book a private taster session, you will soon change your mind!
PoleGym Classes will be starting on 8th January 2008 at the Moray Leisure Centre.