What do Rock Climbing and Pole Dancing Have in Common?

I bicycle in the winter, I run in the winter, I've been ice climbing in the winter, but since I can't climb up real outdoor rocks in the winter, I've been spending a lot of time at Vertical Endeavors climbing gym in St. Paul. I love Vertical Endeavors. Anyway, last week I went to Vertical Endeavors on Tuesday, had a great time climbing, including a couple of nice hard routes. Then I went back on Thursday and couldn't even get half way up an embarrassingly easy route. What happened in between? Pole dancing on Wednesday.

First, model Kate Moss appeared in a White Stripes music video, then other celebrities rushed to have poles installed in their homes to get as gorgeous and toned as she is, and then pole dancing turned into a fitness craze with dance and fitness studios across the nation outfitting themselves with poles and teaching the moves to thousands of women. It's much, much harder work than it looks and it's even harder to do it and look good at the same time.

Here in Minneapolis we have Flex Appeal in downtown Minneapolis. Their studio has several pole dancing fitness classes a week, and other interesting aerobics classes, that I will direct to their website to check out. The classes are popular with bachelorette nights, parties, and bridal showers. I went there on a girl's night out. Going to a bar is so 2008. And we discovered that it's a lot of fun and a phenomenal workout too.

As well as many of the same skills that other forms of dance use, pole dancing uses abdominal muscles, arm and leg strength, and trains balance, just like rock climbing does. That explains why my muscles were so exhausted on Thursday. And, ladies, if you take a class, you may well know someone who will appreciate your new skills. I think I love Flex Appeal too.