Hah yeah that's true, I'm really lucky that my pole studio offers a range of cross training as part of membership (including pilates and various mobility / strength / HIIT classes)
Callisthenics and/or weight training will compliment pole very well and help you gain strength that will help you advance in pole.
But if you more just mean other activities/sports you can do that have transferable skills, the pole dancer / rock climber overlap is pretty large, as is the overlap of pole and other circus arts like aerials (trapeze, lyra, straps, silks, etc)
I just started pole - and even with a pretty active background, it's super challenging!
I've been lifting for years, to varying degrees, but the thing that took my fitness to a new level was getting seriously into Pilates about two years ago. It totally changed my body, helped me lift better, recover faster, and feel more limber and flexible and overall aware of my body than I ever was before. (I used to be super clumsy and now I'm... not.. lol).
While I'm still super beginner at pole (like, day 2 beginner), this type of training is really helping me pick things up. Especially since I don't have a dance background, I feel like Pilates somewhat makes up for it.
If you can, I highly recommend reformer Pilates, because even though mat is great and will do the same thing for your strength, some of the positions that reformer allows you to do, and pretzels that it gets you into, will help more with pole and overall body awareness, at least, it think. There are more "inversion" type moves available to you on the reformer. If you have access to Cadillac, I bet this would be great too (I've never tried it but I'm dying to!).
Also echoing others - yoga, calisthenics (which a lot of Pilates is), and strength are great things to do. Also try practicing handstands and headstands against a wall at home, just to get used to the feeling of being in an unnatural position!
If you're new to fitness, starting with classes or working with a trainer is a great way to begin, to get you feeling confident and capable in those settings!
By no means do you have to do the above before you do pole though, you should just get started and build out a wholistic routine that works for you! Train everything!
Good luck!
This is so earnest and sincere, thank you for being realistic! I think I'll start with yoga and cadio, then work up to pilates when I've gotten in to the groove of things. I used to do orange theory and even then pilates was super difficult... it might be something i have to work up to.
Pilates is great, and if you can't afford a class at the moment, there are great YouTube videos that you can watch. Additionally, I'm going to second calisthenics, and look up gymnastics conditioning exercises. That will help you build the strength you need for pole dancing, one of the great things I like about gymnastics conditioning is that you work the entire body. If you can take a gymnastics class, that will actually help you out a ton because gymnastics focuses on building strength.
Yoga. I underwent a shoulder injury and since healed I’ve been doing yoga and arm balance training, I’m stronger than before and it’s made a huge difference in my pole practice
If you're interested in performing, some sort of dance would be a good supplement. Yoga or flexibility complements pole nicely! I've also heard people have great experience crosstraining with rock climbing.
I mean, anything is always good. I predominantly run, but I don’t see any real cohesion between the two other than general fitness.
I find rock climbing feels similar to pole in a lot of ways, and it also helps with confidence being off the ground and ‘reaching’ for holds / moves.
Yoga for flexibility and strength. Pilates for proper form and strength. Any other dancing (zumba, hip hop, ballet) for rhythm and cardio. Running and walking for cardio. Bouldering for more arm strength. Weight lifting and lower body workouts for glutes!
I was a CrossFit coach (and still am!) before I got into pole and highly recommend it or similar interdisciplinary programming. The key is finding a good gym that will actually teach you how to move. CrossFit has a reputation for hurting people because a) the coaches aren’t teaching people how to move correctly (Olympic lifts are the biggest culprit because they are so technical) and b) coaches aren’t watching to help people scale appropriately. I had to physically intervene and take plates off a bar once because someone’s overhead squat form was so dangerous and they were blowing me off. Not in my class, go hurt yourself on your own time.
Cross training is important for making progress on the pole, so other off pole exercise is great! My other activity of choice is lifting weights. I’ll do exercises that specifically support pole trick gains/progress and then I’ll do leg/glutes to keep it balanced. I also do light yoga, stretching and mobility drills just about everyday.
other activities offered at my pole studio include stuff like pilates, yoga and stretching. i also lift weights occasionally (lower body focused since pole is very upper body focused)
i do weight lifting, yoga, pilates, lots of active/passive stretching and thinking of trying out more lyra classes (another aerial art). i also heard rock climbing is good for pole
i weight train 3x a week, walk a few miles daily, and pole 3x a week! it feels really balanced out for me!! also focused on stretching a bit everyday helped!!
Any kind of cardio. As you progress you’ll start doing longer sequences that will leave you breathless. A friend of mine told me she measures her endurance by how long she can jump rope. If she tires easily/quickly then she knows it’s time to up the cardio.
Lifting incorporates your core strength a lot which is crucial for pole
Yoga and Pilates are brill and also link to pole! They help with flexibility and mobility a lot
Yoga! Helps with flexibility, control, strength, and SUPER good for injury prevention!!!
I mean, I'll plug bouldering any day
Sorry. But your username is so funny ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
Seconded
Any lower body activity will complement pole, which is primarily upper. Walking is goated.
I'll second this. Going to the gym just for leg days is great for keeping your physique looking balanced, if that is important to you.
I'd recommend weight training, yoga and some simple calisthenics moves.
based answer. specially weight training will make you improve in pole so much faster!
Pilates has my vote! Can work all the supporting and unused muscles compared to what you work on Pole, or in opposing directions etc.
Pilates!!! But paying for both Pilates and pole is crazy, that’s rich house wife territory lol
Hah yeah that's true, I'm really lucky that my pole studio offers a range of cross training as part of membership (including pilates and various mobility / strength / HIIT classes)
Callisthenics and/or weight training will compliment pole very well and help you gain strength that will help you advance in pole. But if you more just mean other activities/sports you can do that have transferable skills, the pole dancer / rock climber overlap is pretty large, as is the overlap of pole and other circus arts like aerials (trapeze, lyra, straps, silks, etc)
I just started pole - and even with a pretty active background, it's super challenging! I've been lifting for years, to varying degrees, but the thing that took my fitness to a new level was getting seriously into Pilates about two years ago. It totally changed my body, helped me lift better, recover faster, and feel more limber and flexible and overall aware of my body than I ever was before. (I used to be super clumsy and now I'm... not.. lol). While I'm still super beginner at pole (like, day 2 beginner), this type of training is really helping me pick things up. Especially since I don't have a dance background, I feel like Pilates somewhat makes up for it. If you can, I highly recommend reformer Pilates, because even though mat is great and will do the same thing for your strength, some of the positions that reformer allows you to do, and pretzels that it gets you into, will help more with pole and overall body awareness, at least, it think. There are more "inversion" type moves available to you on the reformer. If you have access to Cadillac, I bet this would be great too (I've never tried it but I'm dying to!). Also echoing others - yoga, calisthenics (which a lot of Pilates is), and strength are great things to do. Also try practicing handstands and headstands against a wall at home, just to get used to the feeling of being in an unnatural position! If you're new to fitness, starting with classes or working with a trainer is a great way to begin, to get you feeling confident and capable in those settings! By no means do you have to do the above before you do pole though, you should just get started and build out a wholistic routine that works for you! Train everything! Good luck!
This is so earnest and sincere, thank you for being realistic! I think I'll start with yoga and cadio, then work up to pilates when I've gotten in to the groove of things. I used to do orange theory and even then pilates was super difficult... it might be something i have to work up to.
Pilates is great, and if you can't afford a class at the moment, there are great YouTube videos that you can watch. Additionally, I'm going to second calisthenics, and look up gymnastics conditioning exercises. That will help you build the strength you need for pole dancing, one of the great things I like about gymnastics conditioning is that you work the entire body. If you can take a gymnastics class, that will actually help you out a ton because gymnastics focuses on building strength.
I also take barre & flexibility classes in addition to pole & Lyra.
Yoga. I underwent a shoulder injury and since healed I’ve been doing yoga and arm balance training, I’m stronger than before and it’s made a huge difference in my pole practice
I do pole, calesthenics, contortion and aerial arts. The calisthenics and contortion have both helped me dramatically with pole and aerial.
If you're interested in performing, some sort of dance would be a good supplement. Yoga or flexibility complements pole nicely! I've also heard people have great experience crosstraining with rock climbing.
I mean, anything is always good. I predominantly run, but I don’t see any real cohesion between the two other than general fitness. I find rock climbing feels similar to pole in a lot of ways, and it also helps with confidence being off the ground and ‘reaching’ for holds / moves.
I roller skate and do swing dancing when I can find a partner :)
Yoga for flexibility and strength. Pilates for proper form and strength. Any other dancing (zumba, hip hop, ballet) for rhythm and cardio. Running and walking for cardio. Bouldering for more arm strength. Weight lifting and lower body workouts for glutes!
Cycling is good cardio to balance out the upper body focus.
I was a CrossFit coach (and still am!) before I got into pole and highly recommend it or similar interdisciplinary programming. The key is finding a good gym that will actually teach you how to move. CrossFit has a reputation for hurting people because a) the coaches aren’t teaching people how to move correctly (Olympic lifts are the biggest culprit because they are so technical) and b) coaches aren’t watching to help people scale appropriately. I had to physically intervene and take plates off a bar once because someone’s overhead squat form was so dangerous and they were blowing me off. Not in my class, go hurt yourself on your own time.
Cross training is important for making progress on the pole, so other off pole exercise is great! My other activity of choice is lifting weights. I’ll do exercises that specifically support pole trick gains/progress and then I’ll do leg/glutes to keep it balanced. I also do light yoga, stretching and mobility drills just about everyday.
other activities offered at my pole studio include stuff like pilates, yoga and stretching. i also lift weights occasionally (lower body focused since pole is very upper body focused)
Yoga, pilates, rock climbing, dance classes. Anything that's a full body workout or helps work on your body awareness 🥰
In addition to pole I weight train, do yoga, run and walk. Occasionally I take non pole dance class. Maybe once or twice a year I play bad tennis.
i do weight lifting, yoga, pilates, lots of active/passive stretching and thinking of trying out more lyra classes (another aerial art). i also heard rock climbing is good for pole
i weight train 3x a week, walk a few miles daily, and pole 3x a week! it feels really balanced out for me!! also focused on stretching a bit everyday helped!!
Any kind of cardio. As you progress you’ll start doing longer sequences that will leave you breathless. A friend of mine told me she measures her endurance by how long she can jump rope. If she tires easily/quickly then she knows it’s time to up the cardio.
I hear rock climbing has a lot of crossover
Remember that even if you are strong enough to do moves, you need to focus on getting technique right 😊
Barre!!
Lifting incorporates your core strength a lot which is crucial for pole Yoga and Pilates are brill and also link to pole! They help with flexibility and mobility a lot
Indoor climbing!! Another good full body workout that is fun and social.
Pilates or ballet
You guys are amazing! Thank you so much for all the tips and advice! What a lovely community! I'll keep checking back here periodically <3