The Masochist Diaries

Pole dancing, like many other sports, is an activity for a masochist. Firstly, it is physically demanding and hence muscle fatigue and cramping, along with shortness of breath, are to be expected. Also, it is easy to get injured, especially in the beginning, as the muscles that you use, and the moves that you do, are really nothing like any daily activity, or even the more traditional sports. I've injured my lower back two times when I was learning to get upside down on the pole; it is easy to get overzealous and stop listening to your body. Furthermore, you get an influx of adrenaline and endorphins while on the pole learning new moves, so often times, an injury is not noticed until the next day. While preparing for a competition, I strained my right wrist during practice, but didn't feel the pain (read: so weak, can't even lift up a teacup) until the next morning. Back, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and hands are the most common injuries in this sport.

I've found that because there are not as many repetitive motions in pole, the injuries that you do get tend to heal much faster. With track, I ran the risk (no pun intended) to be out for a complete season as hurting an ACL, a hamstring, or a meniscus and not noticing/treating it in time makes the injury much more extensive due to the repetitive motions required for running. With pole, excluding your dominant shoulder/wrist/hand, the injuries tend to heal over a weekend, or maximum a week. This doesn't mean you are safe, as you can still strain something pretty badly and be out for months, but my general tendency seems to be more injuries, but less time required to heal. Most injuries I get stem from my stubborn nature and inability to stop while I'm ahead - overworking. As I said above, it is important to really listen to your body and know when to push, and when to get shoved.

In addition to the serious stuff, there are also the battle scars of pole dancing:

• Blisters: remember spending hours on the monkey bars, and coming home to your parents sporting blisters on your palms? You'll get to do it all over again if you start pole! The hands take quiet a beating, especially while developing your grip or getting used to new moves. The blisters do eventually go away only because they get replaced by callouses. If you are a primped up, well manicure, high maintenance, chihuahua carrying, hair sprayed piece of work, pole is definitely not for you. (Although, I just described elements of many of the ladies at my studio, so I don't know how much truth that statement holds...basically, kiss your soft hands good bye.)
• Bruises: these are common as you spend a lot of time crashing into the pole or falling to the floor. Also, the nature of the sport is getting pressure off your feet, and onto some other part of your body as you hang on a vertical brass bar, and since the rest of your body is not used to pressure, you get bruises. Spins or moves that require leg holds (fallen angel, x-grabs, knee holds) are well known culprits.
• Pole Burn: this one is my personal favourite. Hanging off the pole by your elbow, back of the knee, or your thighs may look pretty, but feels utterly horrific, especially when you are starting out. You are basically taking your skin and making it stick to the brass through muscle pressure and natural friction. The nerve endings literally feel like they are burning. Some famous culprits: skydiver, jack-knife, chopsticks, and of course drops.
• Scratches: to this day, I am unclear as to how I get scratched on the pole. The pole itself should be smooth and polished, but I suppose when you are in the midst of twisting yourself into a pretzel (yes, there is a pole move called that), you don't notice when you start drawing blood. Once, I somehow managed to scratch the inside of my thigh with my high-heel while getting into the helicopter (another pole move), and I remember while doing some floor spins, my right arm went rogue on me and I scratched my forehead o_O When I went to Burning Man back in 2010, there were so many poles there, I practiced every day, but paid for it the next morning through millions of tiny scratches. I'm still mystified as to what the source of those was; perhaps something in the playa dust?
• Flesh Wounds: I'm not kidding you. This all goes back to the fact that you are really not used to putting much pressure on anything on your body other than your feet, so if, for example, you are practicing your shoulder mount, the spot where the pole connects to your shoulder, is going to get very sore. For the first few months of that move, I had an all out flesh wound that I'd cover up with some make up so that my dates wouldn't notice. When I practiced Cowgirl spin into shoulder mount, I literally drew blood. "Umm, you should probably stop doing whatever you were doing, because you are bleeding," someone at the studio said to me, and sure enough, looking in the mirror, there was a stream of crimson tricking down my back...

So, although pole will turn you into a streamlined flexible muscly machine, it will also make you look like a victim of an abusive boyfriend, at least for the time periods when you are learning new moves. If only there were someone out there smart enough to create a material that has the texture of human skin, yet is very durable, and still light enough to support being active, so we can protect our sensitive bits. HINT HINT NUDGE NUDGE. I promise you I'll get you a nice little niche market for your troubles ;)