Last Updated on February 7, 2023
As a pole dancer or any sportsperson, it’s important to mix things up with your workouts and practice sessions. While you’re trying to perfect and hone a particular skill, there are many other things you can do that will compliment your main discipline.
For pole dancers, there are so many options available – because pole dancing requires so many different skills and incredible full body strength.
If you’re a pole enthusiast, you’ll definitely be interested to improve your form and widen your aerial horizons, so this list is for you!
12 Other Workouts For Pole Dancers To Try
Here are some ideas to inspire your workouts and make you a better pole dancer!
1. Aerial Hoop
Moving from pole to aerial (or vice versa) is a natural progression. Your pole skills will set you in a good standing to be very good at something such as aerial hoop.
You will find that a hoop is a lot pinchier than a pole as it’s narrower so there’s less surface area to grip onto, but it definitely uses the same muscle groups for performing straddle inverts, for example.
Fine the best aerial hoop here
2. Static Trapeze
Like aerial hoop, ths circus discipline is perfect for pole dancers to try.
3. Silks & Ropes
Another circus-related aerial sport to try is silks or ropes. These are slightly more painful that pole itself (it pinches more) but it uses a similar technique for climbing and inverting.
Did you know you can also get pole silks, which attach to your existing dance pole?! How cool is that?!
By AerialShowgirls via Wikimedia Commons
4. Yoga
Yoga is just excellent for strength building, flexibility and fitness. Pole dancers are encouraged to attend yoga classes to help maintain good form, core strength and flexibility.
Yoga certainly isn’t easy, it requires a lot of core strength and concentration (just like pole dancing!)
5. Pilates
Pilates is also highly worthwhile for pole dancers to practice, classes are very common and affordable and it’s easy to do at home too!
6. Gymnastics
Pole dancing shares a lot of characteristics and technique with gymnastics, so as a pole dancer you’ll already have some strength and flexibility to give gymnastics a go. It’s really simple to practice gymnastics at home, even if you don’t have any equipment. Check out these simple gymnastic warm-up exercises that you can do at home, they’re perfect for beginners!
7. Climbing
Climbing is one for all you adventurers out there! You don’t have to climb up a jagged-cliff-face immediately though, there are loads of indoor climbing centres and climbing walls around the place.
Climbing definitely requires a lot of strength, and balls of steel – so pole dancers will be great at it!
8. Swimming
Did you know that swimming is also great for DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), you know when your body aches for a day after a pole workout? Well, swimming can help ease that so it’s highly recommended to swim regularly if you love to workout and build strength.
9. Cheerleading
Cheerleading requires a lot of strength, grace, poise, coordination… these all sound like things that pole dancers have too… go figure 😉
10. Belly Dancing
Belly dancing is an eastern practice (like pole dancing) which burns a surprisingly high number of calories in a one-hour session, and it’s known for giving you a flat stomach. You should definitely give this a try!
11. Modern Dance
Practising modern dance, alongside pole dance, will improve your coordination and ability to choreograph creative and entertaining routines.
12. Cross-Fit
Cross-fit is a great idea for anyone who has hit a plateau with their workouts, cross-fit will help you take it up a level. If this is you – that is, if you feel as if you’ve plateaued with your pole fitness progress, then cross fit will give you that boost to help you reach the next level!
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Happy poling!
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