The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise each week for weight loss and other health benefits.
Can pole dancing help lose weight? Pole dancing more than 75 minutes a week at high intensity will help you lose fat eventually by burning calories. However, you might end up gaining weight and tone your body due to the increased muscle from the training that many Reddit users shared.
Experts in Healthline.com recommend at least 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week If you're looking for substantial weight loss (5 percent of your body weight or more).
According to Angela Edwards, owner of PoleLaTeaz, said:
Women who are 40-50 pounds overweight usually lose weight in 6-8 weeks with pole dance fitness.
From MedicalDaily.com, pole dancing fitness can contribute to significant weight loss for individuals when combined with other fat-burning exercises. In one single class, you can burn as many as 250 calories which is the equivalent of a good gym session.
Pole Dancing for Weight Loss compared to other dances
250 calories burnt from pole dancing is more than ballet, ballroom, or salsa dancing. It is less than break dancing, hip hop dancing, swing, or disco dancing but much safer than those dances.
You can also perform pole dancing at your own time and preference, without any partner. It does require a special pole but it uses your weight to intensify the workout.
This new and fun form of fitness encourages ladies to wear their stilettos while they break a sweat and dance because it helps challenge the body.
Emma Ayres of Sass also shared in https://sassandclacks.co.uk/
I'll admit, I started doing pole dance because I wanted to lose weight, after I got bored with weightlifting and kickboxing. But as time went by and I spent more time in the studio, and more time as part of our wonderful community, I started to realise that my actual goal wasn't to lose weight. It wasn't to shrink.
- How much weight can you lose with pole dancing
A pound of fat is around 3,500 calories of energy. 250 calories from 1 hour of pole dancing equaled to 0.07 pounds of fat only.
It looked very demoralizing but your body will also burn more fats with the increased metabolism and you can only lose real fat by exercising unless your body metabolism can burn more calories than you input usually which is rare.
- How long does it take to lose weight pole dancing?
To lose one pound a week (a healthy and sustainable amount) you would need to create a 3,500 calorie deficit over the course of a week. Given pole dancing one hour per week only give you 250 calories, you need 14 weeks or 14 one-hour pole dancing session to lose 1 pound.
The problem is that many people in Reddit shared that they gained muscle mass. A Reddit user berrieunfunnie shared about gaining 15-20lbs in 5 years of relaxed training. Another user lilfunky1 shared about gaining 20lbs in a year.
Another Reddit user ShortyColombo shared about maintaining the same weight with 2 sessions in pole dancing a week for a year.
Conclusion
Pole dancing taxes the muscles in the entire body and you are always moving – making it a great isometric and cardiovascular exercise wrapped into one. If you want to tone your body, pole dancing is a great choice. You can burn as many calories in a 30-minute session as you would doing aerobics and calisthenics, and this will lead to significant weight loss over several months.
If you just want to lose weight and not bulk up muscle, you will have to find an alternative exercise and diet.