If you’ve heard of pole fitness before but assumed it would just be a class full of people pouting in the mirror while gyrating against a pole, think again.

This workout trend has become pretty damn huge in the fitness world over the past few years, and once you’ve learned more about it, the reasons people love it so much become clear.

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1. It’s a full body workout

Pole fitness is an awesome form of exercise which works various muscle groups simultaneously. In fact, after your first class you’ll probably feel muscles aching that you didn’t even know you had! People who have been doing pole fitness for a while might make it look easy, but don’t let that fool you - it’s hard work, and you’ll burn tons of energy while increasing your strength and toning up.

2. You’ll have fun

Okay, so yes it is an effective full body workout, but one of the great things about pole fitness is you don’t actually feel like you’re working out because you’re too busy having fun! It’s not the kind of fitness class where you feel the need to keep reminding yourself of your goals to make sure you don’t end up leaving early - you just feel like you’re playing. Seriously, you get to learn a new skill while having fun along the way. The fact your body shape and strength improves over time is just an awesome bonus.

3. It helps you believe in yourself

The physical benefits of pole fitness are clear, but what you may not realise until you join a class is how good it is for your mental strength too. From day one you start setting yourself mini goals to achieve certain moves, and with each move you achieve over time your confidence grows and you start realising you are capable of far more than you originally thought. Pole fitness works wonders for your self-esteem!

4. You can boost your body confidence

There’s something about pole fitness that makes you look at your body in a completely different way. Maybe it’s because you start to realise how strong your body can be and that makes you proud of it. Or maybe the fact you spend a lot of time wearing tiny shorts and vest tops (because you need exposed skin to grip to the pole) eventually helps you overcome your body hang-ups. Either way, pole fitness is an awesome way to improve your body confidence.

5. You become part of the ‘pole family’

This may sound lame, but don’t worry - you’re not being initiated into some kind of cult. It’s just that the pole fitness community is one of the unsung benefits of taking up this hobby. You might think a pole fitness class would be full of women who glare at each other - like we’ve all experienced at some point in a nightclub, but it’s actually a really supportive workout environment. Because you spend each class ‘spotting’ each other, you need to trust your classmates, so you quickly develop friendships, and before you know it you’re planning doubles moves to work on together.

So what can you expect from your first pole fitness class?

First of all, don’t worry if you’ve never tried it before - pole fitness classes tend to be taught with groups of students who are all at the same level, so you can progress safely together.

In your first class you’ll probably spend about 10 minutes doing a warm up, before learning a few beginner moves to basically get you used to spinning around the pole or maybe holding a sitting position on it. Nobody is going to expect you to start going upside down in your first class, so just relax, have fun and find out for yourself why this is such a huge fitness trend right now!

'Words by Natalie Roberts'