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Bulky body from doing the pole??
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I guess everyone else has a much different definition of bulky.
But, I am a STRONG disbeliever of the pink dumbell theory.
STRONG.. so bear with me.
There are VERY few things in pole dancing that are going to make you -bulky-. Women don’t easily get bulky. Hell. Men don’t easily get bulky. You have to work hard to get significant muscle gains.
Isn’t that why we picked pole dancing as a fitness over long distance running? When you ask who’s body would be acceptable to you, you didn’t pick stringy body runner or miss olympia. You picked pole dancing. The hot girl sport.
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Seriously. Who is the "bulkiest" woman in pole dancing?….
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Anyone have an opinion on this theory? Its been rolling around in my head every since I met Jenyne Butterfly. You would never guess she’s a world class athlete by just looking at her. She’s incredibly strong, but doesn’t look bulky at all.
Mindy
I think body type has a lot to do with that though. You and I could do the exact same workout and eat the exact same things and end up looking totally different. I look at some women like Karol who is a tiny llittle things and has been poling for years and she doesn’t have any bulky muscle or biceps of steel LOL. I know I personally tend to put on muscle so I’m pretty sure when I’m 8 years in it’s gonna show with all kinds of cuts and rips LMAO! At least I hope it will! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_geek.gif
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Women don’t easily get bulky. Hell. Men don’t easily get bulky. You have to work hard to get significant muscle gains.
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I have to disagree. I have always bulked up quickly – ever since I was young and did gymnastics – it think a lot of it really depends on the body type and your musculature structure to begin with. Which isn’t to say that you don’t have to work hard but some people are just much more prone to bulking up than others.
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What I love about pd is that regardless of how ‘bulky’ someone does or doesn’t get, it leaves you with a lovely balanced bodyshape. I’ve been doing thai boxing for 6-7 years and the last year and a half of pole dancing has given me a better overall body shape than running/gym/swimming/martialarts ever did.
Some of the shapes and poses the professional pd’s make on the pole are just jaw dropping, they look so toned, slim, even petite, yet when you see them in normal photos they’re actually quite muscular.
I have to say, I’ve kinda got a crush on my new guns https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif
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Hey Mindy4pole – wrt your theory on using arms more than core.. I know I definitely do this – got good arm strength but my core needs work! So.. my arms are kinda bulky alright! Moreso than when I didn’t do pole!! But it’s okay – I like photos of me that look like I’ve got guns.. I agree with Polegrrrrl on that one!! And the fact that I can do pull ups in the gym makes me feel like a real man hahaha!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_bounce.gif
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I’ll use this opportunity to admit pole has given me my best body ever as well. I suffered for years with eating disorders, and I still get twinges of those feelings every now and then. But, when I look in the mirror now, my brain can’t lie to me anymore…I am smokin’, SMOKIN’ hot nakie! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif Pole comes with equal parts of fitness and outlook adjustment. All these beautiful new muscles on my body have changed my world!
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Wow! This has become a problem for me as well. My arms became flab/bulky around the same time when I started taking classes (March 2008). However, I was also doing The Firm and its videos that fused weights with cardio. I’m trying to continue lifting weights but increasing my cardio so that everything starts to slim down and (hopefully) becomes more proportionate. My thighs are bulky as well, and I think it has to do with me being able to build muscle more quickly than burn fat.
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I can’t wait til I look smokie hot nakie haha if that day ever comes. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif Contrary to popular belief, us men are just as self conscious about our bodies as you women are. I am the most cut, toned, and strong that I have ever been in my whole life as a result of poling but my body still looks awkward because I can’t seem to get any chest pecks. Does anyone know any good moves to do on the pole to develop the chest? Cuz besides yoga and pilates I can’t tolerate regular exercise hahaha https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif
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Hi JC – for a pec exercise, what about doing push-ups with your hands on the floor as your feet/legs are still locked on the pole as you do a superman-style dismount from an invert? That would work your pecs if your body is angled pretty horizontal, and if you do push-ups as your body is still angled up the pole a little vertically (i.e. decline push-ups), you might work the upper fibres of your pecs, also incorporating your delts as you do the pole-assisted push-up? Could this be a similar type idea to an incline dumbell press which all the lads in my regular gym do to try to get the bulky pec muscles??!
Also, would anybody agree with me that a shoulder mount (esp. with straight legs) seems similar to a what they call a pull-over in the gym? And as far as I know it, a (dumbell or cable) pull-over in the gym, although usually prescribed for the back muscles, also targets the pec muscles (as well as the see-saw looking muscles at the side of the chest/ribs, I think, which when you can see them, are really the embodiment of the term "ripped" for me!!)
I’m now trying to think of some pole exercise that would be similar to a flye-type exercise for the chest (e.g. dumbell flyes) … but I cant think of one.. and some dips… hhhmmm I wonder if it’s possible from a position such as the Chinese pole pose at 2:15-2:20 in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaB_0LUGfjQ" https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_bounce.gif !!! That would be super-cool!!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_bounce.gif Or even the hold alone must be good for the pecs!! and triceps of course.
Having said all that (I’m in a long-winded writing mood today!!), I hear that some guys find it hard to bulk up their pec mucles especially if they are tall,lean and/or not naturally "bulky". But that’s ok… myself I’m not mad into super-pec muscles on a man!! Just a lean, mean, defined look!! That is all! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif
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i agree with you guys- i think we should celebrate our bodies instead of tear them down https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif i say that but i definitely need to live by it more…..but i think you all are beautiful!!!!
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I just wanted to chip in and give my two cents. I am currently studying to be a personal trainer and have coincidentally just completed a unit on body composition and exercise plans. As people have been saying, we are all a combination of ectomorph, endomorph or mesomorph and it sounds to me (although I don’t know you personally so can’t give you specific advice)like you are a mesomorph with some endomorphic traits. This is not a bad thing. This means that you are able to build muscle easily and become stronger in less time! If you were totally an endomorph, it is unlikely that you would be able to see much muscle tone because there would probably be a lot more fat on your arms. Additionally, endomorphs tend to store their fat around their abdomens which you haven’t said is happening.
Another thing to consider is your makeup of muscle fibres. There are two (broad) types of muscle fibres- fast twitch and slow twitch. (or Type I and Type II). We are born with a set concentration of muscle fibres which explains why some people are more long and lean like Veena and others are more muscular. Type II fibres are great for strength and power, but not so good for endurance whereas type I muscle fibres are great for endurance but not so great for power. We all have a combination of fibres.
I also think there is definitely some truth to people using different muscles to perform different moves. This is the case with any exercise and why peoples’ dominant side is usually larger than their other side. If you are really worried about having larger arms (which I recommend not to worry if you can because we are all beautiful and look at the amazing tricks those arms can do!)try engaging your core muscles more because you would be surprised just how much of a large role they play in all movements. It will definitely take a significant amount of weight off your arms.
But to conclude, I just wanted to say that you look beautiful! and that what’s a little bit of fat when we are healthy and can hang upside down off a 45mm pole!
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Muscle is not built on top of fat. That’s just not the arrangement of things. From deep to superficial the arrangement is bone, muscle, superficial fascia – where the fat is, and then the skin.
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I never knew it before pole, but apparently I gain muscle pretty easily! At first I was alarmed, but I’m starting to warm up to my lumpy, muscley self. I love being strong, and having defined abs at 40 after living a mainly sedentary and overweight life is kinda cool. (My pic is from a year ago, I’ve gotten more muscley since, but I kinda hope I’ve maxed out now…)
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I know this is an old thread but my arms and shoulders definitely became more muscular as a direct result of pole! Personally if I had a bit wider hips, I wouldn’t care at all but with my long lean hipped body, I too hope that they’ve maxed out their musculature! Not giving up pole for sure, but I’m
Not trying to bust out of my medium shirts either Lol! My waist is ripped, it’s just my arms keeping me from wearing All small shirts! -
I was just listening to a radio interview with ballerina Misty Copeland. A man called in to ask about how to reassure his wife, who diets to combat her natural tendency to build muscle with exercise. And I remembered reading this post the other day, the most recent of many in this forum, and I just felt mad. And then suddenly I felt like I’d had an epiphany.
What if all of us who think women who build muscle easily are an aberration are just wrong? What if this is as much cultural confirmation bias as it is actual science. Maybe us muscly ladies are the minority, maybe. But I bet if they actually tested this, they would find that we are way more common than our thin-seeking society realizes. We all feel like we are part of maybe 3% of unlucky women who bulk up, but what if it is really 35% or 40%? Imagine if all the women who were so busy dieting and avoiding lifting heavy weights actually just did what they wanted and let their bodies do what came naturally? I wonder what percentage it would be then. Maybe we’d find that its not all that much less than the number of men who build muscle easily (because despite stereotypes about them, a lot of men have to work really hard to put on muscle). Surely then we’d all have to acknowledge that women like us are not aberrations. We are just a large part of the normal spectrum of beauty that also includes those women who eat whatever they want and still look like supermodels.
Maybe this whole not wanting to believe that its entirely normal for women to be strong is just a cultural prejudice of very recent history, when the luxuries of a tiny noble class became the luxuries of a broad middle class and everyone suddenly needed to do a lot less physical labor. Only a couple of hundred years ago (and still today in many developing countries), the norm is for women to do huge amounts of physical labor, carrying babies and endless buckets of water, toiling bent over in the fields or pounding up grain by hand. Sure women have *on average* smaller frames and less muscle mass than men, but surely being strong was still evolutionarily selected for in women, just as in men, and we got stronger and stronger over time. Men would have wanted strong wives to survive childbirth and help them eke out of a living. What good would a waif wife have done you for most of human history?
It seems like a tragedy that we have all accepted this notion that it’s more normal for women to be thin and dainty. I call bullshit on the whole thing. Like men, we were supposed to be strong!
We can’t change change societal norms overnight, but we can at least try to be proud of our own strength, however it manifests in our bodies, and pass that message on to our daughters. And as polers we are the right people to do that, because we know exactly what amazing things our bodies can do.
Alright, rant over. Thanks for listening.
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