Should aerialists run?

The fitness world is divided into two camps: those who run, and those who don't. Most people are firmly on one side of the fence or another. Although health benefits and drawbacks are often given as reasons, I find it tends to just come down to personal preference. Still, if you are an aerialist considering taking up jogging, you should weigh the pros and cons pretty seriously.

As a pole instructor and four-time marathoner, I find myself in a good position to advise students on their running habits and aspirations. I ran distances for years, and several of those years alongside aerial training, so I've been through it all. Here's what I've learned, first-hand and from observing my classmates and students.

Pro: Running will make you lose weight. As a person who's been through all kinds of diets and exercise throughout my lifetime, my thinnest, leanest body has always coincided with distance jogging. Whenever I take up a running regimen, I lose weight. I can do pole, circus, walking, circuit training, power lifting, and dance classes, but none of these shed the pounds for me like running does. I can diet obsessively and train hard, but I will still be at a much higher body fat percentage than when I am marathon training. In theory, there are many ways to lose weight. In my experience however, on all occasions, running works the best. 

Con: Running will destroy your flexibility. Back when I was a NYCA/Firefly student and running marathons, there were two other marathoners in my class. Whenever we all bent over for hip flexor stretches, the three of us would look at each other and laugh. We were literally the only three people in the class who couldn't get to the floor. This was no coincidence. Running is horrible for your flexibility. If your poling is going to suffer because you can't get a center split, chose another sport.

Pro: Running is amazing for your mental health. Most exercises are full of ups and downs. Aerial acrobatics especially are rife with frustrations. We have good days and bad days. We feel elated when we conquer a new trick, peeved and irritable when we can't. Running, on the other hand, is almost always a mood lifter. You can have fought with your boyfriend, boss, and mom all on the same day, then go for a jog in the park and feel like a million bucks. Really, what's more important than happiness?

Con: Distance running takes up a lot of time. If you are running marathons or half-marathons, you will have days when you are out on the trail two, three, even four hours at a time. If you have a day job and are poling or circusing as a hobby, you are probably already really, really busy. The time and energy spent in the park will likely cut directly into your poling time. This is OK if you are poling as a casual fun thing to do, but if you have set goals for yourself, time spent running might be a considerable setback.

Pro: Endurance. If you're moving your poling from doing a few tricks and sequences to performing an entire routine, you need some serious aerobic and anaerobic endurance. Running is a simple way to achieve that. You might need to do more HIIT than straightforward jogging, to get your heart rate up where it needs to be. But it's good to be able to train yourself to relax and breathe while you're doing strenuous things on the ground, rather than wait 'til your in the air.

Con: The weather. While running is the perfect way to enjoy a beautiful day, a beautiful day is not always what you get. Running in the cold or rain could weaken your immune system, and running under a heat wave isn't good for you either. You don't want to catch cold or have a stroke. On the other hand, restricting your jogging to nice days only is not really a good training plan. Of course there's always the treadmill, but if you are running for any sort of distances, that can be tedious. Hope there's a good Simpsons rerun on the gym TV.

Pro: Running works different muscles than aerial. Because pole and other apparatuses depend mostly on upper body and core strength, running can be an excellent complement. You will be using your quads and glutes a lot, which are relatively neglected when we are swinging around in the air. By running, you can tire out muscles that won't interfere with your poling, and create balance in your body.

Con: Injuries. You won't get as many injuries running as you will in the circus, but it can still happen. Knee complaints are common, and hip, IT band, and foot pain happen to the best of us. While sore glutes shouldn't mess up your aerial work too much, a pulled muscle needs to be rested, period. So it's still possible that running injuries can keep you off of the pole for awhile.

So, my dear aerialist, is running right for you? It depends on your priorities.

Are you overweight? Is your performance inhibited by extra pounds? After all, in aerial acrobatics, we are working with our body weight. Dropping some extra weight is one of the most efficient ways to improve performance, and overall health. And running is, for me and many people I've worked with, the most effective way to lose weight.

Are you training to become a professional performer or elite competitor in the near future? You will have to find some other way to keep thin. You need your flexibility in this profession.

If you decide that jogging is the right choice for you, here are some pointers:

• It doesn't have to be all distances all the time. HIIT is an effective way to lose weight. Although I have to say that it is much more manageable on a treadmill, where you can control your speed. It can be too hard while running in the great outdoors to lose your concentration.
• Stretch like crazy. You can't just stretch like a runner, soothing your calves before and after your workout. You need to stretch like a dancer. It will be time-consuming, but if your flexibility matters to you, you need to do this.
• Get foam rollers and massage balls. I have these "barbells" from Trigger Point Therapy, which work WONDERS on overworked calves.
• See a professional for help with your body. I had an IT band problem cured after one Feldenkreis session. I also visited a studio in NY that works with a lot of aerialists and dancers. Doing things like this is a cash and time investment, but it's important that you keep yourself aligned.
• Go ahead and run a marathon. If you are an aerialist, you are probably already an overachiever. Running a marathon is a good life goal. But you can stop after one. Marathons have excellent marketing, and it's easy to get sucked into trying to beat your "PR" and seeing the world's greatest cities via mass running. That's fine if that's what you want, but you don't have to fall for the hype. Again: if you are an aerialist, you probably have the self-discipline to stick to a training regimen without such an extreme goal.

I describe myself as a former runner. I like to say that I ran four marathons, but I "retired." I decided that it was interfering with my flexibility too much. I am not a flexible person and never will be, but I care about the aerial arts enough to prioritize them. Plus, it's fun to look out the window on a freezing, snowy day and say, "Guess what? I don't have to go running!" But I don't regret a minute I spent in Central Park or along the Seine or the Charles River. I was happy, I was skinny, and I got to eat a lot of spaghetti.

Image from tipshealth.net

Things not to say to a fitness pole dancer

Confession: I kind of hate telling people I do pole. Of course I'm not ashamed! I mean I have this whole website and blog and twitter and everything! It's just, you know, people jump to conclusions about your career choices-- and more often, they have really stupid, not funny, heard-it-a-million-times-before jokes.

In case you know a poler, or would like to know a poler, or are a poler and would like to share this article with your more uncouth friends, here is my list of comments that you shouldn't make to pole dancers. You are not funny, we are not amused, let's move on.

"You take pole dancing classes? What, preparing for a career change? HA!"

Pole dancing is a sport in and of itself, separate from stripping. Some strippers are also pole dancers. Most are not. Some pole dancers are also strippers. Most are not. Incidentally, I've never had a student who was taking pole dance to prepare to audition as a stripper. I've had strippers as students, but never aspiring strippers. If you've ever been to a strip club, you know that pole skills are not, not, not at all required to work in one.


"Heheh, you said POLE, heheheh... *stupid penis euphemism*"

Oh wow, pole is a euphemism for penis? Really? Gee! Have you read Freud? EVERYTHING is a euphemism for dongs! After about one week of pole dancing, we really are sick of the penis jokes.

"Are you a stripper?"

Most people who are strippers don't like to talk about it. So unless they're "out," most people will say no whether it's true or not. Might as well not make an awkward situation. If you really wanna know, wait for them to volunteer the information-- or at least wait for better evidence before you go prying.

*watches someone perform superhuman feats of strength* "Wow! You're really FLEXIBLE!!"

OK, this is a legitimate compliment. In and of itself, it's not harmful. Here's my problem: I am NOT flexible. I am really, really strong. 9 out of 10 men recognize that when they see me dance. But there's always that 10th guy who can't recognize a strong woman for what she is. They'd rather covertly sexualize my skills by fantasizing about me putting my legs behind my head than admitting that they might not beat me in a fight. So, by all means, compliment someone on their flexibility if its appropriate. But if you can't admire a woman's strength, you're spectating at the wrong event.


"Yeah, if I was 100 pounds I'd be able to throw myself around like that, too!"

That's something akin to the "flexible" subversion, and likewise something of a compliment ("You're skinny!" I'll take it!). But it's similarly downplaying a woman's strength, while making light of your own weakness. Maybe you're not weak, but you're probably making the comment because you felt somewhat intimidated watching a woman perform and thinking to yourself, "Holy crap, I can't do that." I understand the bodyweight issue, but please understand that we're not this strong because we're skinny, we're this strong because we're strong.

"Shhhh! There are children present!"

Children pole dance now. Pole is not inherently sexual. Kids love poles. Watch them on a subway car, spinning around and trying to climb.

"Wanna come pole dance for me in my bedroom?"

Pick-up line FAIL. No sex for you.


I'd love to hear some more pet peeve comments from other polers. Please share!!

Pic from Maverick Entertainment.

Check out my new rig!

NOW it's home! Got my pole set up! My dad and I did it today. Now I can train and teach!!

Like my last home pole setup, it could be better. It's mostly an issue of the sharply vaulted ceiling. Basically, it's easy when doing inversions to be like, OH! There's a ceiling there! Gotcha! And it's close to the fan at the top. But I opted for that rather than have it close to stuff on the floor, which can be really dangerous to bump into when spinning or dismounting. (I once broke a toe dismounting from a "straight edge" elbow grip and slamming my foot on a desk chair on the way down.) This layout may have its annoyances but it's not dangerous.

I got the vaulted ceiling adapter from Platinum Stages in the mail. We were really confused because the piece didn't seem to pivot. My dad was convinced that we'd been sent the wrong piece. I figured there was a trick to it, so I called and asked. All I had to say was, "I need some tech support for my vaulted ceiling adapter," and the guy was like, "OHHH, because it doesn't seem to pivot? People call about this all the time and think they've been sent the wrong thing!" So he explained how it worked and we fixed it.

Then I was like, um, why don't they have instructions for this? OOH WAIT! I'm getting my masters in technical writing!! (ie, writing user manuals.) I SHOULD WRITE THE INSTRUCTIONS!! So I emailed them and offered to do it in exchange for store credit. They haven't written back yet, but I hope they do, because I think it would be a good deal for both of us.

Had my mom take a couple pictures just to show you the setup. Yeah it's embarrassing that I'll be teaching in my room at my parents' house for awhile, but it's actually a lot better than my teeny tiny Manhattan apartment!

Already got to train a little bit. We are experimenting with leaving the carpet under it. So far it seems perfectly secure, and I love that I can fall and it doesn't hurt as much!! If we need to later we can cut out the carpet around the base. They were going to tear the carpet up eventually anyways.

Come on by and check out the new rig soon! Would love to meet some new students!!

Why a Pseudonym?

Welcome!

So I've suddenly created this new website, Twitter, and now blog for myself. Because I needed to post under a new name.

It's a little weird for me. I'm a very private person who lives very publicly. On one hand, I hate prying questions, never talk about what I consider personal matters, often refuse to answer basic questions even by people who know me.

On the other hand, I'm a writer, a performer, a prolific tweeter, and a long-time blogger. I've had a lot of websites, I write press releases and send them to newspapers, and I don't shy away from talking about day-to-day life on my many platforms.

So most people who know me know I teach aerial pole. It's been a big part of my life for many years. So why the sudden pseudonymity?

Well, I am more a teacher than a performer, so I didn't usually have to use a stage name. I mostly taught people I knew, friends and friends of friends, so I never had to advertise. People knew me from aerial acrobatics and my general wide social circle.

Now I moved to a new city-- well, it's sort of an old city 'cause I lived here when I was a teenager, but that was a long time ago-- and I need to start over. So all of a sudden I'm having to advertise and reach out and connect and put myself out there in a way I didn't have to before.

I do way too many things. I have a pretty serious music career, many day jobs, and I'm currently in school for another career. I'm up for two jobs so far in my new city-- one in a church, the other in a high school. So even though I'm relatively open about doing pole, it's not the first thing I want people to see when they Google my name.

Not because I'm ashamed of it, but because I don't want to confuse people who might think I'm less serious a musician and writer because I also have another career in aerial pole. And because there are some sheltered, conservative people who don't understand that pole dancing and stripping are two different things, and might not want anything to do with me, or want me near their children. I have no problem educating them, but I'd prefer to do so in person, rather than be prejudged by them based on pictures of me standing on the ceiling in a bikini.

A lot of pole dancers and other aerialists use pseudonyms, but they don't usually switch over to one this late in their careers, which is why I felt like I owed my many contacts an explanation.

Anyways, I have a lot of things to blog about, so watch this space in the near future for my thoughts on pole and its sister aerial arts.

Pic by Valkyrie NYC.