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From: Roger Zoul on 12 Aug 2008 11:11
Yeah, baby, Yeah!!

> Pole dancing helps strip off pounds
>
> Story Highlights
>
> * Pole dancing tricks function as weight training, studio owner says
>
> * Participant says she's more confident about her body because of pole
> dancing
>
> * The classes are women-only, and many participants wear stilettos
>
> By Judy Fortin
> CNN Medical Correspondent
> ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The lights were turned down low and the music
> was=
>
> pulsing as Kimberly Wright made her way toward a 16-foot tall dance pole
> to=
>
> do some tricks.
>
> Wright is not an exotic dancer in a strip club. She's a 38-year-old mother
> of two from Atlanta, Georgia, looking to get in a decent workout.
>
> "It works the abs, oh my goodness, muscles I didn't even know I had,"
> Wright chuckled.
>
> On this night, Wright is among more than a dozen women of all shapes and
> sizes -- no men allowed -- attending a beginner class at PoleLaTeaz, an
> Atlanta dance studio owned by Angela Edwards.
>
> "We get preachers' wives, teachers, nurses, accountants, lawyers, anyone
> between the age of 18 and 70," Edwards said. "It's not boring...you get to
> wear fun clothes, listen to good music...and release your inner sexpot."
>
> If online listings across the country are an indication, the popularity of
> pole dancing is spreading across the country from Southern California to
> Chicago to the Bible Belt.
>
> A former labor and delivery nurse, Edwards opened her own studio two years
> ago and now has 400 students. She plans to add another location in the
> fall.
>
> Edwards demonstrated a few moves during an advanced class later in the
> evening.
>
> She climbed to the top a pole and, clenching her inner thighs, hung upside
> down. Watch Edwards demonstrate pole dancing =BB
>
> "The dancing part is where you get the cardiovascular benefits," she said.
> Then there's "pole-tricking," or doing specific movements balancing your
> body weight against the pole, such as the "fireman spin."
>
> "That's where you get the weight lifting and weight training," Edwards
> said.
>
> She mentioned that there is a risk of injury so regardless of their
> experience, all students start the class with a half-hour warmup using
> Pilates-like stretches.
>
> Thick mats are placed near the poles as students practice new "tricks,"
> and=
>
> Edwards encouraged dancers to modify their moves depending on their
> abilities.
>
> "You see good results," Edwards said. "We have women who come in here 40
> to=
>
> 50 pounds overweight and they drop it in about six to eight months and
> they=
>
> get great, nice, hourglass curves."
>
> Cicely Rogers is one of those women who have seen results.
>
> "I started last August and I've gone down two dress sizes. I've lost 20
> pounds and I feel awesome," she said.
>
> The critical care nurse at an Atlanta hospital admitted that she hurt all
> over after the first few sessions of pole dancing.
>
> There's another benefit, Rogers said. "This made me feel better about my
> body. I used to be nervous about my body and try to hide it. Now I'm a lot
> more open and confident. I stand up straight and feel good about myself."
>
> Rogers is one of the few women wearing shorts and a tank top. Many other
> students are scantily dressed in lingerie-like outfits.
>
> Almost everyone strapped on stilettos when the dancing got under way. Some
> of the women said it added to the atmosphere of the class.
>
> "It makes you feel sensual. It makes you feel sexy," said Antigone
> Locklear, 42, of Atlanta.
>
> Wright said feeling sexy is part of the reason she attended class. Now
> she's waiting for her husband to install her own dance pole at home.
>
> She smiled. "You know what? I am sexy and yes, pole dancing does put you
> in=
>
> the mood."
>
>


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