The Best Of Pole Dance & Fitness – January 2017
I read a lot every month, from pole to general fitness, healthy eating and nutritional information.
I come across things around the web from time to time that I think you guys will be able to take helpful advice and information from.
So, whenever I see something I think you'll benefit from, I save it right into my Evernote. Once a month I'll put together a roundup of my favourites for you to enjoy.
So without further ado, here is the ninth post in my series of favourite pole fitness, health and nutrition articles I read this month!
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Pole Dancing & Fitness
First, let's check out the top pole dancing & fitness articles I read online this month...
#1) How To Progress Faster By Drawing Expertise From Many Places
In the number one spot this month is this short but hugely important post from Peach Lee Ray over at Pole With Peach.
Peach opens up this article with a rehab style confession...
Hello, my name is Peach, and I am a Pole Slut
In this post we're reminded that there will always come a time in your journey, where you have simply learned all that you can from your home studio.
It's a great idea to draw your experience from multiple instructors with various strengths and areas of expertise.
You'll be making sure you have a well rounded set of pole dancing skills, which is a great idea even before you've learned all you can where you started out.
You'll also be supporting many businesses in our growing industry!
Sometimes it can be a bit of an awkward subject in select pole studios that will take your wandering as a personal betrayal.
With that said though, a good instructor will understand your need to move on when they have taught you all they can.
#2) Why Your Wrists Hurt In Handstand Training
Have you started handstand training and run into wrist pain?
If you're struggling to understand why your wrists still hurt even though you feel ready to practise more handstands, this article is for you.
You'll learn three reasons why your wrists are hindering you, and exactly what you can do to fix it.
Neo's article is full of back to back solid gold advice on handstands.
You'll find everything from a selection of wrist warm ups, to exercises to help you build strength for your handstands.
#3) Starting From Scratch In Heels
If you've ever tried on a pair of Pleaser Shoes and suddenly become Bambi, you'll love this post from Holly over at Pole Freaks this month.
Whether you're wondering why you ever bought them in the first place, or just thinking about getting a pair, this is super helpful.
Inside you'll discover Holly's personal experience transitioning to heels which I'm sure most of us can relate to.
It's a helpful reminder that when adding a new element to your pole skills, it's best to start at the beginning again.
#4) Do You Ever Forget To Breathe?
Have you ever been struggled to get a new move and turned blue in the face from trying?
I know I have at least once. I definitely recall being told to breathe early in my pole journey.
In this article by Mel at Mel Nutter, she reveals the importance of breathing and how it affects your movement.
It's also important to remember when attempting to deadlift or perform crazy bendy moves, your muscles need oxygen!
That's why it's so beneficial to focus on your breathing, even though it's so easy to forget about it.
#5) Good Things Come To Those Who Wait
This month I stumbled across an older but still relevant post by Holly on her blog 'Pole For Life'.
In this article you'll learn why you need to have patience with your pole journey, and why it's dangerous to skip over some moves.
When struggling in some areas it's easy to just move on to learning the next trick.
Holly reminds us that a lot of moves are essential for safe transitions (such as your leg hangs). That's why it's so important that you keep coming back to these if they are your nemesis!
Having moves like this under your belt will allow you to 'hang out and catch your breath' if you're finding other more advanced moves hard 🙂
Other Fitness Tips I Read This Month
In this section I'll be sharing tips from fitness blogs around the web that can be useful in your pole training too!
#6) Are You Looking For Some Clean Eating Inspiration?
I'm not one for short term diets, I'm a big believer in changing habits permanently to achieve my health goals.
Approaching clean eating with this mindset makes you less likely to slip up, but sometimes a little inspiration goes a long way.
So this food diary of a ballet dancer on the Energetiks Blog is perfect for hardcore fitness addicts!
It details a day in the life of dance student and food blogger Alexandra. You'll find lots of ideas for tasty nutritious meals, including healthy sweet treats.
Because most of us need to satisfy that sweet tooth somehow!
#7) Understanding How To Fuel Your Body
Sticking with the trend of nutrition this month, this article at Born Fitness will help you to understand all the myths about the food you love.
You'll learn everything from why you shouldn't cut out carbs if you have an intense workout routine, to why fats are a necessary part of your diet.
Not only that but you'll learn why you need to prioritise your protein intake and understand where the concerns surrounding a high protein diet really come from.
#8) How To Deal With Jerks!
This one isn't strictly fitness, but it is an important lesson for us as pole dancers.
In the pole world we're often exposed to idiots, so after reading this post about how to deal with them by Neghar Fonooni I just had to share it with you this month.
Through her own experience she teaches us how to keep cool when conversation gets unexpectedly heated. It's important to remember that no one can upset you if you don't let them.
Find your happy place and remember it's their problem not yours, and never let them make it your problem.
The Healthy Food Corner
Each month I do a lot of food prep, I'm forever looking for healthy meals I can cook in bulk.
Apart from saving a bunch of time this also allows me to worry less about diet and what I'm going to eat in the moment of choosing a meal.
Once a month I pick 2 - 3 recipes, buy all the ingredients for around 8 portions in bulk, and then spend a day cooking!
Then, to mix things up I'm always on the look out for quick and easy healthy recipes so I don't get bored of eating my prep meals.
So every month I'll share my favourite recipe from the month with you right here!
#9) The Main Course
Want to know something interesting about spicy food?
It actually gives you a metabolism boost! Combining spicy with a high protein, freshly cooked meal is one of the best things you can give to your body!
That's why my favourite recipe this month is this sweet potato chili!
This super tasty recipe is high protein and can also be made in a slow cooker and packed up into portions for freezing.
I just love sweet potatoes in my recipes at the moment and it really adds an interesting flavour to your chili.
If you're not keen on super spicy food make sure you don't skip the avocado in this meal as it will cool everything down.
It's also a superfood so if you're not into plain avocado, why not make your own fresh guacamole to top your meal.
#10) A Healthy Tasty Treat
I think this might be one of my favourite guilt-free desert so far!
This month's desert option is an improved recipe for an old favourite snack of mine, rice krispie cakes. Not only is this recipe tweaked to make it much healthier for you, it's also gluten free!
Made with brown rice cereal and none of the unhealthy additives, it's also been given a nice high protein twist.
#11) Something Different To Wash It Down
For a while now, one of my closest friends has been trying to convince me to drink Kombucha.
She and her partner are well traveled and have a wide knowledge of food and drink from many cultures around the world.
With a slight natural fizz to it and a strange symbiotic organism used for the fermentation process, I really wasn't all that keen to begin with.
That was until recently when she started selling her Kombucha with new and interesting flavours!
So, while you can't actually buy her Kombucha unless you live in Costa Rica and I wasn't actually making it myself, I do want to share a similar recipe with you.
This recipe is for my favourite flavour of Kombucha, strawberry!
There's a huge number of reasons to drink Kombucha every day, from it's probiotic properties to revitalising energy boost and enormous health benefits.
So try it out and see what you think!
If you've read any great pole fitness articles you think deserve a spot in the top 10 next month feel free to share them with me here or comment below! Did you find these articles helpful?
