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Returning to Pole Dancing after a Long Break

Going back to pole dancing after a long break - asian woman bending backwards next to the pole

Last Updated on February 8, 2023

This article may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I may earn a commission if you use one of these links to make a purchase. Read the full disclosure.

If you’ve been pole dancing for a while and taken a break, you’ll completely understand what I’m talking about in this post. As a pole dancer, your muscles are probably well-developed and very strong. If you stop working out, for whatever reason, your muscles won’t be as strong as they were when you start working out again. However, they won’t be as undeveloped as they were when you were completely new to pole dancing.

In this article, I will explain what happens to your body when you take a break from pole dancing and then go back to it. If you’re about to return to pole dancing after a long break, then hopefully you’ll find this information useful.

You will learn:

  • The reasons why people take a break from pole dancing or other workouts
  • What happens to your body when you stop pole dancing
  • How to rebuild your strength and confidence back to the levels they were before the break
  • How to ease yourself back into a productive fitness regime

Tips for Going Back to Pole Dancing after You’ve had a Break From It

So, you’ve had to take a break from pole dancing, that’s ok, sometimes these things just can’t be helped. It’s OK to have a break from your regime sometimes, but if you want to get back into things then it’s going to take some hard work on your part.

Reasons for Taking a Break from Pole Dancing

Pregnancy

A big reason that women in their 20s and 30s take a break from pole dancing is pregnancy. It’s understandable why women would want to take a break from pole dancing during a pregnancy. Pole dancing is a very intense form of exercise that can make even a non-pregnant woman worn out and aching for several days.

Although, it is totally possible to continue pole dancing while pregnant, as this pregnant dancer shows in this video! Remember, that pole dancing during a pregnancy isn’t right for everyone, while it’s completely your choice, I’m not a medical professional you should seek proper advice before choosing to pole dancing while pregnant.

Illness or Injury

Sometimes, people get sick, have to go to the hospital, need surgery, etc. This just can’t be helped sometimes. The reason I took a break from pole dancing was that I had an injury to my wrist (not pole related!) and have to have surgery. This meant that I was unable to pole for 4 months while my wrist was healing, which really sucked. As an instructor, I lost part of my income due to this injury.

If you need time to recover from a physical setback, that’s OK, your health has to come first. If your illness or injury has any impact on your ability to pole dance or workout, then check with a medical professional before returning to your previous routine.

Lifestyle Changes

Lifestyle changes can refer to a whole manner of different things, whether it’s going through a breakup, moving house, changing jobs or having other responsibilities that mean pole dancing ends up taking a back seat. Try to remember that working out and staying fit needs to be a priority in your life if you want to stay in healthy shape.

If changes to your lifestyle mean that you’ve taken a break from pole dancing, try to put those problems aside just for a couple of hours per week so you can focus on your pole fitness goals.


What Happens to Your Body When you Stop Working Out?

If you take a break from pole dancing, or any other form of a workout then you can’t expect your body to stay exactly the same forevermore. Sadly, it doesn’t work like that. Maintaining a healthy body requires ongoing work.

You will notice that your body starts to change somewhat after several weeks of not pole dancing. Here’s what will happen to your body…

Shrinking Muscles

Without regular controlled stress on the muscles caused by working out, your muscles will start to shrink in size within a few weeks of stopping. You’ll visibly start to notice the difference after about 4 weeks. Also, you may not feel as strong – you won’t feel weak, but you’ll certainly notice a loss in strength after 4 weeks or so.

Reduced Endurance

After 2-3 weeks without pole dancing, you may notice that you start to feel out of breath when climbing stairs or carrying shopping bags. The reason for this is that the maximum amount of oxygen that your body is able to use in one go (V02 max) starts to reduce after about 2 weeks without regular exercise.

If you have an active life, then this will be very noticeable for you, but it may not happen as quickly as it would for someone whose lifestyle is more sedentary.

Faster Fat Gain

Within 4-8 weeks of taking a break from pole dancing, your body will start to treat fat storage differently. As your muscles shrink, your ability to burn fat shrinks with it, so you may notice a little cushioning in areas prone to fat gain (thighs, hips, waist, and neck).

Related: What does Pole Dancing do to your body?


Going Back to Pole Dancing

When it’s time for you to return to pole dancing, providing that a health care professional has advised you that it’s OK for you to do so, then you’ll be pleased to know that you won’t be the same as an absolute beginner.

Muscle Memory

Fortunately, you will be able to build your strength back up quickly, as your body has something called muscle memory.

Despite your break from pole dancing, your muscles have already been through the process of developing up until the level you were before your break. So, it won’t take them nearly as long to return to that level, if you remain consistent.

Ease Yourself back into Things

Even though you have muscle memory, that doesn’t mean you should pull out your most advanced trick in your very first session after your break! You’re not an absolute beginner, but it can’t harm to perform beginner tricks during your first session, you’ll be out of practice when it comes to these tricks anyway as it’s probably been a while since you last performed them!

See how you feel after your first session, before working some more advanced tricks into your workouts.

Talk with your Instructor

If you’ve had a long enough break, have a discussion with your instructor before returning to let them know how you’re feeling about coming back. They will be able to advise you on what level/class will be best for you.

If your instructor is different to your pre-break instructor, then talk them through your abilities before your break began, let them know how long your break was and what (if any) preparations you’ve done for returning to pole dancing.

Conditioning

If you’re planning to go back to pole dancing, it may be a good idea to start a muscle conditioning routine several weeks before your first pole session. Conditioning your muscles will prepare them for when you’re pole dancing again, causing them less stress in the process.

Some good conditioning workouts to do are:

  • Light cardio (10 mins)
  • Lunges
  • Squats
  • Push-ups
  • Plank
  • Pull-ups
  • Tricep Dips
  • Leg-raises
  • Crunches
  • Small-medium weights
  • Yoga
  • Pilates
  • Stretching
Woman stretching out in nature
Yoga or pilates outdoors is a great way to condition your muscles to return to pole dancing after a long break from it.

Try to get a good routine of 20-30 minutes of conditioning, 3 times-per-week for at least a month before you go back to pole dancing. This way, you’ll reduce your chance of injury, build up some strength and flexibility, and you won’t be as sore after your first session!

If you have a pole at home, you could do some pull-ups and conditioning moves on the pole too.

Related: How to get Upper-Body Strength for Pole Dancing

Do Overdo Things

So, the last thing you want when you’re going back to pole dancing after a long break is another break.

If you overdo things straight away, you risk getting hurt or injured and you may even have to take a break again, which would be a huge setback.

Take it easy, to begin with. Work your way into your regular routine without pushing your limits.

Find Some Inspiration

Find some popular pole fitness hashtags on Instagram and follow some pole dancing accounts to get inspired. Also, check out YouTube videos of your favorite dancers for some inspiration!

Related:

The Best Pole Dancing Routines on YouTube

25+ Inspirational Pole Dancing Quotes


Have you returned to pole dancing after a long break? If you have any tips to share with our audience, please leave a comment below to share your advice with our readers.


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Get your strength back after you've had a break from pole dancing

Happy poling!

This post contains affiliate links. That means that, at no extra cost to you, we may receive a small commission if you buy a product using one of the links on this page. Read our full disclosure here.

Title photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

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