What first caused you to try pole dancing?  Maybe you saw pros like Jenyne Butterfly or Felix Cane on YouTube.  You thought to yourself: "I want to learn how to do that!"  However, once you got into class, you realized that those ladies not only make it look easy, they must have the kind of pain tolerance that is not normal in other human beings.

Let's be honest:  pole dancing hurts.  We bang our knees and ankles and get bruises.  We stretch our skin as we climb and get awesome raspberries.  Our muscles scream and shake.  If you thought you were signing up for a gentle yoga class, you joined the wrong sport.  Pole dancing requires us to use muscles that the average person may not have used before.  It requires you to strengthen your entire body -- starting with your core, moving to your upper body and ending with your lower body (which is usually the strongest muscle group and already somewhat in shape from carrying our bodies around).

Even if a class of beginners starts together, some students will generally advance faster than others.  Perhaps they already have a background in fitness or dance, which gives them the edge.  Or perhaps they are just lucky and take to pole dancing like a duck to water.  If you feel like you are in a class where other students are moving along faster than you, take note of what they might be doing differently.  Even the best pole dancer will meet some tricks or moves that don't agree with them.  But they keep trying until they succeed.  As mentioned before, some of these pole moves can be very painful.  Some of us grit our teeth and work through the pain until we nail the move.  Others stop at the first hint of feeling uncomfortable, then can't understand why they aren't improving.

Watching our neighbors can be a great motivator.  We can study their technique and skill.  Perhaps their moves are more liquid and we can try to emulate them to make our dance look smoother.  Or maybe they are strong and can flip upside down with almost no effort.  So, don't get frustrated when you see a better dancer or trickster.  Try to learn from them and you will improve your moves in the process!

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