mmg.com.au

Exercising for the sake of exercising is not exactly fun, but when you’re enjoying yourself doing something active, that’s another story.

Playing organised sport, dancing and swimming are all enjoyable activities that boost your fitness, while new crazes like zumba are also proving popular.

One of the fastest-growing fitness businesses not just in Australia, but the world, is pole dancing.

Taking place mainly in strip clubs before the mid-2000s, pole dancing is now regarded as a form of exercise.

In fact, according to Wikipedia, ‘‘pole dance is a form of performing art, a combination of dance and gymnastics’’.

‘‘Pole dance requires significant strength, flexibility and endurance,’’ the website says.

Not only that, it helps with confidence, self esteem and body issues and is ‘‘so much fun’’, according to Echuca pole dancing instructors Andrea Munro and Emma Dux.

‘‘Overall, the theatrical feel of being outside of every day normal life and mundane day to day fitness programs make pole dancing attractable to everyone,’’ Andrea said.

Pole dancing had done so much for people’s fitness, health and overall wellbeing, she said.

‘‘It’s a skill that helps with strength and toning and improves your metabolism and balance,’’ Andrea said.

Losing nearly 10kg since starting the classes in March, Andrea has also regained her pre-baby stomach strength.

The women, who have a combined 20 years’ experience in the fitness industry, started Pole Instincts after watching an episode of Australia’s Got Talent, where three women performed a pole dancing routine.

‘‘We were inspired by the routine and decided this is what we want to do,’’ Emma said.

‘‘The show had made pole dancing mainstream. It felt like the right time.

‘‘We’ve taken the urban and brought it to the country.

‘‘We didn’t want our ladies to miss out on it.’’

Andrea, who has been in the fitness industry for about 13 years, had the fitness knowledge, but wanted to add a fun factor to it while building up women’s confidence and self esteem.

‘‘If there is a booklet on pole dancing, we don’t follow it,’’ she said.

‘‘We’ve taken the concept and made it our own.

‘‘We make it challenging, but realistic, so we have different levels.’’

And the response has been amazing, with about 25 to 30 women, from the ages of 14 to 62, taking part in classes.

‘‘They love it because they get to feel like a woman,’’ Andrea said.

‘‘Women like that feeling. It’s just human nature.

‘‘It also helps with their fitness and confidence.

‘‘They also get to laugh at themselves and laughter is the best medicine.’’

Kristy Serpell has been taking classes since they started and has noticed a big increase in her fitness level.

Being a mother of two, Kristy particularly enjoys the social aspect of it.

‘‘It’s something for yourself. It’s very empowering for women,’’ she said.

‘‘I get to be sexy again. It’s improved my confidence so much.

‘‘It’s been great. My posture has improved and it makes you feel good.

‘‘I wake up in the morning and want to put on make-up and do my hair.

‘‘It also makes it easier to cope with the kids.’’

With the classes being in a group setting, Andrea and Emma said the women were extremely supportive of each other and people of all shapes and sizes could do it.

As pole dancing is frequently linked to sexual innuendo, people who pole dance are often stereotyped into a ‘‘night club stripper’’ wannabe.

‘‘We are working on changing that country attitude,’’ Andrea said.

‘‘There is a long way to go to changing people’s thought processes as some people can be stiff in their ways.’’

On their website, Pole Instincts writes ‘‘underneath all the pretty lines and illustrations are just ordinary people wanting to feel a little extraordinary and who are we to judge what makes one happy?’’

‘‘Pole is another form of dance expression, just the way a Latin dancer uses a costume, a dancer incorporates props, a gymnast uses a hoop or a ribbon or a Spanish dancer uses a fan,’’ Andrea said.

Open to new ideas, the girls said they would continue to evolve with pole dancing and had plans to introduce it to schools as part of physical education, as well as in sports clubs for team building days.

‘‘We just love the challenge,’’ Emma said.

‘‘We’re fun. We’re not strip teasers.’’

Pole dance classes can:

- Improve your self esteem

- Build strength 

- Enhance fitness

- Be yourself without worrying about your shape

- Explore techniques of body movements and dance fitness

- Stimulate happy endorphins through laughter

- Reduce stress levels