This week was a lot more regular and consistent.  There is comfort (for me at least) in a somewhat normal or regular feeling workout routine.  At this week in the process, I have really grown to understand myself better, to understand my own needs on a deeper level, and get clearer about what I really will and will not do in a normal pole dancing workout routine.

I believe that the reason most of us fail at our regular workouts is that we really don’t understand ourselves on that inner level.   In some way, our workout patterns, habits, and even choices in the type of exercise workout routine were somehow not very congruent with our inner needs and desires.  And, if your inner world doesn’t match your outer actions, then you will always be pushing yourself to do something you really don’t want to do, or can’t do.  That’s no fun.

Fun is one of the biggest benefits of pole dancing for exercise.  It is so much fun that I frequently forget how long I have been working out.  This frequently happens to my students as well.

So, this week the focal point was to reflect back on my last 8 weeks and ask myself “Is my current exercise routine a good fit for me?”  “Does it really align with my current lifestyle choices?”  “Is the routine I created for myself make me feel alive?”  And if not, what do I need to change?

Here is what I learned about myself after asking myself those same questions:

1. I had higher workout expectations than what I am genuinely willing to give. You see, I love to travel, go boating, jet skiing, hiking, camping and anything else I can get myself into.  Often times, I can’t take my pole with me.  When I started in week 1, my goal was to workout 4-5 days a week.  I have learned that 4-5 days a week would mean giving up some of my traveling and outdoor activities I love so much.  I am not willing to do that.  As of week 8 2-3 days, a week is more realistic and feels better to me.  And yes you can still get amazing results only exercising 2 days a week!  Heck, 2 days a week is all I have truly managed to actual do during this recovery series and I feel like my body looks great.  Now, if you were a person who stays at home a lot, working out 4-5 days a week would be a good fit for you.
2. I actually like the shorter 10-minute workouts better than finding time for a longer 1-2 hours workout. When I started I didn’t really put much importance on these shorter workouts because I feel like I need to do more to get the results I want.  Looking back that’s not true at all.  When I am traveling, the 10-minute workout gives me an instant sweat, it’s easy to do in a hotel room, and I start the day feeling like I did something good for my body and for my health goals.  What I learned is that once I started my mini workout, I almost always did a longer workout anyways!  Once I got started I just naturally didn’t want to stop – because my workouts are fun!  The mini workout got me over the hump most days and back on my dance pole.
3. I learned that free-styling allows for good expression, intuitive movement, and it got me out of my comfort zone, but I still prefer working in choreographed and very expressive dance routines.

This week, I have been working on my next pole dancing performance as well as using the leg exercises and stretches in the Home Pole Dancing Lessons For Everyday Woman. I also continued the dance choreography in week 6&7 pole dancing video for my friend – she is doing really well.  We are doing the Applause Ab Routine together and she is getting stronger and loving it!!  (Most of my students love this so much that they take it to the gym with their headphones!)

My eating habits are still the same, however, there was a 2 week time span where I took a rest and then I got sick that I didn’t eat well.  In fact, I ate out at restaurants a lot and consumed more carbs than I normally do.  I used some tricks on eating at certain times in a certain way to lose the few extra pounds I gained within a couple days.

I will be spending the next 2-3 weeks prepping for this performance and shooting on video for everyone to see.  You will see some of the same free-styling moves from the recovering series, along with some emotional expression relative to what is happening in my life as well as a dedication to someone.

Sometimes the strangest events happen in life and can change your emotional state overnight.  Using these events to fuel your pole dancing is a great way to increase your natural motivation to workout.

There will only be one more article written in the recovering series and the final one will post about 2-3 weeks from now and contain the final choreographed dance performance I have been working on.

Please let me know in the comments below how you feel as well as any questions you may have about using pole dancing to recover.  I will do my best to answer those questions and comments in the next article in the series.