Just last week one of my dance class mates, TJ, mentioned that she was going to a dress up party, but had to find something to cover her 'Beefy' arms with... This got me thinking. Almost everyone I know has some sort of issue with some part of their body. And while I started pole dancing to lose weight and tone up, a whole new set of issues have cropped up.
I read a blog post by Michelle Shimmy from Australia a while back, in which she comments that she sometimes feels like the Incredible Hulk when she wears tailored clothing from her pre-pole dance days (http://shimmypolediary.blogspot.com/2012/05/pole-dancer-problems-support-is-here.html). I can totally relate. Even when I picked up weight while studying, I never had to buy any article of clothing bigger than a medium or size 34. Now, my arms have developed a life of their own! I know I should be lucky that I do not have flabby arms, and yet, it really makes life difficult clothing wise, especially when it comes to jackets. I LOVE form-fitting clothes, but it's becoming increasingly more difficult to find clothes that fit around both my arms and the rest of me... I was absolutely mortified the first time I had to buy a 'large' blouse (even though I knew it was a notoriously small brand of clothing) just so that my biceps and shoulders fit comfortably, while the rest of the blouse hung like a bag without showing any form - my shape had somehow gone from curvy to rectangular!
I think it comes down to, no matter who you are, at some point you will feel uncomfortable in your pole body. Whether you were skinny and now have to compensate for new muscles, or whether you've lost weight but still somehow managed to end up with bigger arms and shoulders than what you started with, or even those (very few) who are somewhat ashamed of being stronger than almost every male person you know. But I guess eventually you have to make peace with the fact that you will never again look the same or necessarily fit into the same clothes as what you used to. It's a small price to pay for the buff bodies we see on stage at events like IPC or the various international Miss Pole Dance comps. In the mean time, I know I'm doing everything in my power to define these new-found muscles...
(Not entirely sure where this pic is from, but it always makes me think of us strong-armed lasses in pole class... :D )
So true! I have to buy clothes that are one size bigger these days JUST because my arms and shoulders got so huge.
ReplyDeleteMy pet peeve: my ass muscles are bigger and stronger. I tore a pair of pants right down the middle yesterday because of my rippling glutes. :P
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