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I didn’t find I had a deeply problematic posture (anterior pelvis tilt) until a couple years ago, age 50, and even my chiropractor is only finding out now, because I’ve been exerting myself so hard to hide it. Since even the experts can miss things, I’d recommend asking loads of questions and follow-throughs, making sure the corrective exercises not only look right but FEEL the way they’re supposed to, to make sure you’re using the right muscles. Everyone I’ve heard who has “fixed” their posture reports it as a life-transforming experience, so I’m still gunning. Good luck!

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I soooo sympathize with the posters who hate their jobs. Even with my fancy degree (research scientist in physics and neuroscience) and reasonably cushy jobs, I’ve had some miserable times and awful bosses. But over the last few years I’ve lucked out, getting paid to give advice and come up with cool ideas (mostly computer algorithms) rather than do real work.

I’ve secretly fantasized about being a pole instructor too, but only after I fulfill my earlier fantasy of becoming good at it. (My hunch, by the way, is that doing pole is a great way to regain a literal sense of self-control by actually controlling one’s own body in amazing ways…that’s a great antidote to frustration).

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I’ve taken up pole in part to try undoing the damage of a few dozen years of weight training, mostly machines. I loved the intense feeling of isolating just a few muscles at a time, and it’s fun to think just about intensity and not stabilization or self-protection. And it makes you look real good, real fast. But unfortunately that approach also means you don’t integrate that muscle with others, you don’t explore your range of motion, you don’t learn coordination. (My biceps were so disproportionately strong, and inflexible, that withing months of starting pole I tore one biceps tendon on each side).

As long as you stick to free weights, like at home, you’ll probably be fine. And if you do lots of different and interesting exercises, and keep your posture perfect, it will probably make you an even more awesome dancer. Just don’t do what the guys do. Good luck!

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Autumn Sky: Thanks for the motion-vs-control description…it sounds a lot like what my wife says. When your core is engaged, is it automatic, or do you need to concentrate on it? Does it feel different than in normal life?

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I’ve been fascinated by this thread, but wonder: does the “dress as skimpy as you like” philosophy for sexy classes apply to men as well?

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Sundcarrie, thanks! Your story confirms the need for single-sex intro classes, because pole is a challenging enough new activity without adding body-consciousness on top. But in the posts above, experienced people sound pretty chill with co-ed all around. Does anyone think there a need for single-sex non-intro classes?

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litlbit: you asked about men’s thoughts/feelings regarding initial class experiences, especially regarding form-fitting shorts. While men I know don’t talk about such things non-jokingly (really!), I’ll venture a guess: they’re worried about erections.

Not unreasonably, either. Lots of hip-opening warmups, upper-thigh stimulation, sexy songs, and extremely attractive, scantily dressed women nearby, plus the fascination the mere possibility of public exposure has on the imagination (that’s basic but unavoidable psychology). In my case it wasn’t a problem: my classmates told me explicitly I should wear booty-shorts to grab the pole, and erections are apparently no big deal, just another physiological response, like sweat or stiff nipples. But like you, I have noticed men not as comfortable with the process. Hope you can help them!

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I’m a guy who loves pole…may I weigh in?

The timing is perfect: I just got back from an evening drinking with some top-notch pole instructors from New York and Northern California, after a weekend of truly awesome workshops and last evening’s pro exhibition. All the classes were co-ed: dance classes, spinny class, flexy class, everything, and I’m glad of it.

Yes, I’m one of the few straight guys around (51 years old, married, 2 kids). As far as I can tell, pole feels just as fun to me, in basically the same ways, as it does to women, including the straddle-pops and bodywaves (male and female bodies aren’t all that different; for both of us stretching and moving feels GOOD!). Of course doing flamboyant tricks semi-naked a few meters from similarly-dressed people can challenge your self-image, but all we students are in the same room practicing the same tricks, and if any of those amazing women are worried that I notice how good they look and how gracefully they move, they haven’t yet gotten word to me. I love watching everyone practice and perform; in class one woman today said she liked how I look (she said she was jealous of my abs …). I do some moves well, some ungainly, a mixture of klutz and showoff, maybe stronger and less flexible than the women, but overall pretty much the same, and all of us know it…I tell you, co-ed classes absolutely can *work*, and I feel amazingly close to the people I’ve danced with.

I think pole is a wonderful sport both for body-awareness and self-expression, one of the few which freely mixes strength, flexibility, momentum, performance, and sexiness. I can totally understand if some people need a single-sex environment to discover pole, but please don’t make it sound wrong for a man to enjoy pole in the same way a women does.