Pole dancing requires a tremendous amount of upper body strength. For some people, this comes naturally, while for other people, it takes time. All in all, building your upper body strength requires dedication, it does not just happen overnight. Throughout your training, you will begin to notice small changes, that’ll lead to bigger achievements. Here are a few tips on how to build up your upper body strength to help build your pole dancing skills. 

Switch Up Your Workouts 

A great way to improve your strength is by incorporating workouts into your routine that focuses on the upper body. Exercises such as push-ups, planks, and pull-ups help improve upper body strength. These exercises can be added to your workout circuit, or you can dedicate certain days to focus on upper body conditioning. For example, you can assign different days in the week to focus specifically on your shoulders, arms, chest, and upper back. 

In addition to these exercises, weight training is another great way to build upper body strength in the body. You can start by using smaller weights, then slowly work your way up to heavier weights once you begin to notice improvement. Ultimately, challenging your body by performing different exercises without pole helps improve upper body strength as well. 

Give Your Body Time to Rest 

When your body is being challenged, it’s vital to rest. Overworking your body leads to unwanted injuries and stress. Also, this leads to excessive inflammation, which causes discomfort and swelling in the muscle tissues. 

Try to cross-train your body by performing exercises such as yoga on the days that you want to rest and recover. Cross-training is a great way to help relax the body and ease unwanted tension within the muscle tissues. When your body feels rested, feel free to get back in action, and continue to make progress to meet your pole dancing goals. 

Perseverance is Key

All in all, perseverance is key, especially when it comes to pole dancing. Keep in mind that your body is learning and adjusting to a new high-intensity exercise, so it will take some time for you to get fully comfortable. Remember to always stay patient throughout the journey; this is the ideal time for you to learn and understand your strengths and weaknesses. Once you can recognize these aspects, you will be able to grow in them both, which will help you improve and enhance your overall pole dancing skills. 

Confidence is sexy, and you should always wear it wherever you go. For some people, it may seem harder to build your self-esteem and confidence in different areas of life. Although your self-esteem and confidence change with time, it’s vital that during this journey you love yourself through every step that you take; Here are a few amazing tips to help improve your overall confidence and self-esteem when you walk through any door: 

Don’t Wait for Compliments 

Although we all like to hear compliments, it’s vital to take the time to compliment yourself every day. Giving yourself compliments is a great way to boost your self-esteem and overall confidence. Honestly, this can be done at any time of the day. It doesn’t matter if you’re just getting out of bed, going to the grocery store, or changing into your pajamas for the night. Don’t be afraid to look into the mirror and remind yourself how beautiful you are. Beauty truly starts from within, so it’s necessary to make sure you feel good on the inside before you focus on your outward appearance. 

Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone 

Another great way to improve your self-esteem and confidence is to step outside of your comfort zone. Stepping outside of your comfort zone is a great way to feel beautiful and experience new things that you’ve always dreamed about. For example, if you have an outfit you’ve been dying to put on, pick a day out of the week, dress up, and go out to slay the night. Ultimately, this process will help you learn more about yourself and also slowly begin to break you out of your shell. Furthermore, if you feel a bit hesitant, don’t be scared to bring a friend with you so you can feel more comfortable and confident when you step out. 

Own Whatever You Do! 

Lastly, it is critical to own whatever you do and always stay true to yourself. Doing this will help improve your overall self-esteem and confidence. Life has many journeys; sometimes during different challenges or adversities, it’s easy to lose ourselves in the process. For this reason, it is essential to stay true to ourselves and understand that the people who are meant to be in our lives will accept us for who we truly are deep down inside. Altogether, recognizing your personality and style is a great way to improve your overall confidence and self-esteem. Remember, there’s only one you, so don’t waste your time being someone else. 

Flexibility and fitness go hand-in-hand. The more flexible a person is, the better they will perform. Keeping the muscles healthy and in shape helps reduce the chance of injury while increasing your body's range of motion. There are different types of techniques to help improve flexibility to make every workout safer and more effective. Here are a few tips on how to improve pole flexibility: 

Switch Up Your Stretches 

To help improve flexibility, it’s vital to practice different variations of stretches. Practicing various stretches helps target different muscle groups to improve the range of motion in many areas. For this reason, it is necessary to breakdown the major differences in distinctive types of stretches. 

To start, static stretches are typically performed during warmups or cooldowns. A static stretch is when a person stretches a particular muscle group for an extended amount of time. The stretch isolates and directs its focus on one muscle group. An example of this is extending both hands to your feet for 30 seconds to help stretch out the hamstrings. Ultimately, static stretches help pump up the body before exercise. 

Unlike static stretches, dynamic stretches include more movement from different muscle groups. Some examples of dynamic stretches are squats, lunges, bridges, and high-knees. Studies have shown that dynamic stretches work well with high-intensity exercises and can also improve mobility. Furthermore, dynamic stretches help increase the muscle's temperature to prepare the body while stretching the muscle tissue as well. 

Get Regular Massages 

Excessive muscle stiffness or soreness after exercise can impact your performance in the future. Recent studies suggest that massages can help improve flexibility in the muscles. When the muscles become stiff, this can make it harder to extend, hence impacting flexibility and range of motion. Massages can help improve circulation in the body, which directly helps provide relief to the muscle tissues. Ultimately, when the muscles become more relaxed, this can help the body heal at a faster rate to help improve performance and flexibility. 

Practice Yoga 

Research has shown that yoga positively impacts flexibility. Performing different yoga poses can help adequately stretch the muscles. Each pose targets various muscle groups in the body, which is essential to help reduce tightness. Practicing different poses over time helps increase the body’s range of motion and overall flexibility. Additionally, yoga has been shown to help reduce muscle stiffness and improve body posture, which can help correct bad habits and techniques.