Fudge on Pole Pressure (Alexandria & Logan Circle)

Pole Pressure, Landmark Mall, 5801 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA & 1322 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC

So...pole...yeah.

We went to two classes.  Both were the free intro classes, one in Alexandria and one in downtown DC.  I'm glad we did both and in that order.

The class at Alex was a good work out at the beginning.  We did some mat/floor exercises and some chair exercises.  Those were a decent work out.  The pole - not so much, but it was fun.  The poles at the Alex are vaguely reminiscent of childhood playground tether ball poles (in the days before people worried about things like playground safety).  Remember the poles that were cemented into the middle of old tires?  They were kind of like that.  Definitely more stable, but didn't necessarily feel that way.  There were one and half instructors to the class (one who was definitely the instructor and the other who obviously worked there and was often called upon to give instruction).  They were both incredibly friendly and obviously loved what they do.  They spent a lot of time going around and showing each person in the class how to do the pole moves.  It was a very social and fun class, but definitely disorganized.  The class was in the back of a dance or workout studio of some kind.  The way it was set up, it definitely felt like an afterthought.  It kind of like something organized in someone's garage: fun, but not very professional.

The class on 14th Street was way more professional, but less of a workout.  In that class we did floor/mat, pole, and aerial hoop.  The hoop was really an afterthought and each person was able to have one go at it.  Still, fun to try.  The poles were permanent.  Attached from floor to ceiling.  I definitely got the sense, however, that the class was designed to show you more of what you could do if you took more classes and less what you are able to do now.  A lot of the moves were really uncomfortable because I felt like my bones were grinding into the floor or pole and there wasn't a whole lot of instruction.  Definitely no personal instruction like at the Alex location.  Also, some of the stuff was quite painful given the limited ankle stiffness I still deal with.

All in all, I'd rather do pilates, zumba, or yoga, so I will probably not pursue pole any further.  That said, it was a fun experiment!