Everyone knows that eating right and exercising is the key to losing weight and getting a great body. The challenge is finding and sticking to an exercise routine. Pole dancing, or ‘vertical fitness,” is sweeping the nation, providing women with an empowering and exciting way to get — and stay — in shape. Pole dancing fitness classes draw on traditional cardio and incorporate yoga, Pilates, ballet, gymnastics and jazz to create a dynamic workout that will tone and strengthen your entire body. Pole dance fitness enthusiasts say that the routines are so motivating, they become the highlight of your day.

Pole dancing has it’s origins in sexy burlesque routines and in strip clubs around the country. In the early 2000s some Hollywood fitness gurus realized that pole dancing would provide women with a great core and cardio work, tone trouble areas like arms and glutes and thighs, and burn tons of calories. Along the way, participating women began to feel empowered by their mastery of complex movements and routines, creating new and healthy relationships with their bodies. Instead of focusing on the sexual aspect of pole dancing or the “burn” of traditional cardio or body pump workouts, instructors helped women learn and master these complex moves with a grace and style of their own.

What once seemed a little “out there” and risqué a few years ago is now a national fitness craze. Just about every city in America has a gym or “vertical fitness studio” offering pole dancing classes. If public pole dancing is not your style, you can participate from the privacy of your own home, with a number of DVDs or on-demand exercise programs from top industry leaders.

An active lifestyle benefits everyone. Women, especially mothers, often push their physical needs to the bottom of their to-do list. Pole dancing fitness, with its sexy, fat-blasting and muscle-toning moves and mind-body-strength connection might be the answer you need to get your fitness groove back!

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