How One Pole Dancer Powers Through Fitness with Chronic Fatigue/Pain and Seizures

How One Pole Dancer Powers Through Fitness with Chronic Fatigue/Pain and Seizures

 

For people with chronic health issues, keeping active can be really tricky! You may have issues with joint pain & fatigue and getting regular strength and cardio workouts can be tough. That’s how it’s been for me for years- being unable to guarantee attending a weekly class because of flare ups and so wanting to find a sport which I could genuinely enjoy!

I first tried Pole in a class setting over at Herts Dance and Fitness when some friends convinced me to come along. I instantly realised how bad my upper body strength was (and how slippy my grip was!) but really enjoyed the class and attended a few times until I had a health set-back which stopped me from attending for ages.

At the beginning of this year I decided it was time to give Pole another try, but more at my own pace, so I made use of online tutorials and the PDC app and started teaching myself. I treated myself to a static X-Pole which has been amazing and got to work! I also got back to the gym to work on my fitness and build up my extremely weedy arm strength.

For the first time in ages I’m feeling more comfortable in my strength. I’m down 17KG from the start of my health kick last year and Pole is acting as a huge motivation to keep building strength and get in better strength. My health still flares up with all of this, but I’m learning to stop when I need to and practice little and often rather than pushing myself past my limits.

I’m very lucky to have a great group of pole friends who all attend Herts Dance & Fitness and are very supportive with my home learning including giving me the odd home lesson!

Pole dancing is incredibly empowering and fun for me- plus a great workout. I’ve found the types of movement and stretches involved in pole have really helped my chronic pain and muscle issues and hope to get better and stronger this year!

You can follow my pole fitness journey at http://www.d2shine.co.uk

Ruthy–