6 Foods You Need To Avoid For Better Grip

Have you been looking for an easy way to get better grip?

Are you struggling to stick to your pole a lot?

A good sweaty warm up is a great way to get both you and the pole ready for your pole session.

But what if you're still slipping even when you and the pole are nice and warm?

The good news is, your struggles could be over. The bad news is, it might involve giving up some of your favourite food...

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What You Will Learn

• How to make your skin less slippery
• 6 food types that are making you slip
• Why some foods give you oily skin
• Which foods will reduce greasy skin

#1) Red Meat

While eating a lot of fatty red meat isn't great for your body, you might not know that it's pretty bad for your skin.

There's a lot of saturated fat in meats such as pork and beef, so eating that steak can lead to a build up of excess oil in your skin.

As well as causing blocked pores and acne this will also be contributing to your slip and slide problems on the pole.

So if you must have a steak, make sure you try to find the leanest cut of meat!

#2) Unsaturated Fats

Many studies have shown that having a lot of omega-6 fatty acids in your diet can play havoc with your skin.

That means that eating foods cooked in heavy oils and deep fried will not only cause you to slip on the pole, but could also give you acne.

This includes all sorts of greasy snacks, from chips (fries) and crisps (potato chips) to any other fried product.

Fried chicken, fish and potato are all off the menu if you want to stop that excess oil seeping through your pores!

#3) Bad Carbs

Many people have a fearful view that all carbs are bad and should be avoided if you're dieting, and that couldn't be more wrong.

You have to separate the good carbs from the bad carbs, here's a quick example.

Good carbs are full of fibre and are absorbed by the body at a slow rate, reducing spikes in blood sugar levels.

Bad carbs otherwise known as refined carbs, strip away the benefit of that fibre.

The reason these refined carbs cause us to slip and slide on the pole is because they cause sharp changes in your blood sugar levels.

With studies showing that foods high in glucose cause oily skin, it's best to stick to whole grain food and less starchy vegetables.

That means that if you must eat cereal, pasta, rice and noodles you should stick to whole grain, and I tend to leave bread off the table entirely (unless it's pizza 😀 )

For a more detailed look at how refined carbs affect your blood sugar contributing to oily skin and acne you can read this study in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition.

The good news is, popcorn is 100% unprocessed whole grain!

#4) Dairy Products

More prime suspects for triggering spikes in glucose levels are dairy products.

In the same way that refined carbs cause oily skin and acne, the high amount of hormones in most dairy products also block up your pores and can cause you to breakout.

Now I'm a big lover of cheese, but if you're serious about reducing your slip and slide on the pole then removing dairy from your diet is a good place to start.

That means avoiding things like cheese, cream, butter, yogurt and milk, especially if you already struggle with oily skin.

If you're reluctant to cut some of these out, try sticking to low fat options like Greek yogurt and try other alternatives like almond milk

You might also be interested to know that it is the Whey protein in dairy products that causes these spikes in insulin levels.

So, if you haven't already, it could be time to change up your whey protein shake for plant based proteins instead!

Just incase you haven't already realised so far, a concoction of fatty red meats, cheese and unrefined carbs that we all know and love comes in the form of pizza.

It's a well known fact that most pole dancers love pizza, but it's literally the worst thing you could eat if you're struggling with slippery skin on the pole 🙁

#5) How Many Sugars?

After explaining how high spikes of glucose in your blood contribute to oily skin, I'm sure you'll have already been wondering about sugar.

As it is, sugar doesn't stand out next to other Guideline Daily Allowances (GDAs) on our food's nutritional information.

That's because of a loop hole, where sugar isn't actually doing anything to nourish the body at all.

Just for the sake of indulgence though, the American Heart Association created a maximum intake allowance guide.

What's shocking about it is that women are recommended to have no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar in a day, and men 9 teaspoons.

That's between 25 and 38 grams of sugar, which means that whether you're a man or a woman, one 12oz can of soda will put you over the maximum limit for the day.

That's not including any sugars you added to your morning coffee, sweets, snacks and natural sugars in fruit and vegetables.

So not only is a world full of sugar denying us abs, it's also causing oily skin which makes you slippery for pole class.

Consuming so much sugar may be a little harder to stop as well, with studies showing that sugar is more addictive than cocain!

With this in mind, if you want to increase your grip on the pole and reduce oily skin there's a few primary suspects you should cut from your diet.

While dark chocolate and cacao isn't bad for you, milk chocolate with added dairy and sugar are going to cause excess oils to seep from your pores.

Sugary soft drinks should be cut out completely. If you're not a fan of water try creating fruit infusions or adding a little lime juice.

#6) Alcohol

When you drink alcohol your body temperature rises and this causes you to sweat more.

Sweating a lot also leads to blocked pores and again, oily skin.

In my personal experience I can safely say that cutting out alcohol improves grip, if not from less oily skin it definitely reduces sweat levels.

I used to do my pole work out in the mornings and it was always a struggle to stick to the pole after a night out on the cocktails.

So I'll personally vouch for cutting out alcohol if you want a less sweaty pole session!

Tips For Reducing Greasy Skin For Pole Dancing

To finish up I just want to go over some things you can do to help if you have over-active sebaceous glands.

The sebaceous glands are responsible for producing oil to lubricate your skin and hair, but there are a few things you can eat and drink to reduce the amount of oil produced.

The Source Of All Life

First, drinking lots of water will help to flush oils and toxins from your body.

As well as being great for providing energy and helping with flexibility, it's also a great replacement for those sugary drinks I mentioned earlier.

Drinking more water is a must for anyone serious about pole dancing!

Vitamin A

Many Vitamin A rich foods contain helpful anti-oxidants that will reduce the activity of your sebaceous glands.

If you want to add more anti-oxidants and vitamin A to your diet you should eat things like leafy greens, carrots, sweet potatoes, mango, eggs and cucumber.

Cucumber has the added bonus that on top of its anti-oxidant qualities it's also 95% water.

All green vegetables are rich in fibre with very little oil content, that means that they're great for re-hydrating your skin and flushing out excess oils.

Citrus Fruit

Many citrus fruits are fantastic anti-oxidants, they help to break down excess oils and toxins in the skin.

Adding more fruits like oranges, pineapples, lemons, limes and grapefruit to your diet is a step in the right direction.

Grapefruit is also high in fibre and water, so as well as being a recommended anti-oxidant for those looking to tone up, it's the best food for reducing oily skin.

Final Thoughts

It's clear that a clean diet for pole dancing will do much more than just helping you on your quest to tone up.

It's also going to majorly improve your skin, flushing out excess oil and toxins, in turn increasing your grip.

Getting rid of deep fried fast food products and chocolate is the best place to start, but what do you think?

Is it enough to make you think twice about eating a pizza?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to share with your friends if they are struggling with grip in class!