Tips and Advice for Plus Size Pole Dancers
Welcome back to another episode of Science of Slink!
This week Dr. Rosy Boa explores the science and social aspects of pole dancing, focusing on how the practice can be inclusive for all body types. She discusses why it’s essential to find supportive instructors and environments that uplift, not shame, and acknowledge that experiences may differ for polers in larger bodies. She looks at the different physical challenges a plus size poler may face and gives her personal recommendations on poles and pole wear. From increased stickiness and skin sensitivity to heat management and grip aids, she shares practical tips to enhance pole practice for plus size polers. Safety is key, so she highlights research on heat-related risks and injury prevention, especially for those adapting to new physical loads. This episode breaks down the myths and challenges while celebrating pole dancing as an empowering practice for all.
Learn more and take class with Rosy online at https://www.slinkthroughstrength.com/
Citations:
Howe, A. S., & Boden, B. P. (2007). Heat-related illness in athletes. The American journal of sports medicine, 35(8), 1384-1395.
Wyndham CH. Heat stroke and hyperthermia in marathon runners.
Ann NY Acad Sci. 1977;301:128-138.
Kaplan, T. A., Digel, S. L., Scavo, V. A., & Arellana, S. B. (1995). Effect of obesity on injury risk in high school football players. Clinical journal of sport medicine, 5(1), 43-47.
Wilder, R. P., & Cicchetti, M. (2009). Common injuries in athletes with obesity and diabetes. Clinics in sports medicine, 28(3), 441-453.
Transcript:
Hello, and welcome to Science of Slink, the evidence based pole podcast with me, Rosy Boa Dr. Rosy Boa, science doctor, non medical doctor online pole dance teacher, pole dancer, personal trainer, a big nerd. And today I've got a topic that I've actually been looking forward to doing an episode on for a while.
I've been shuffling stuff away in my, my file. And finally, I was like, I feel like I have enough stuff in my file. So today I'm going to be talking about some of the challenges faced by plus size pole dancers. So pole dancers who are in larger bodies.
And I don't think there's, like, any, like, hard and fast rule for, like, what doesn't doesn't count as plus size, depending on, like, you know, what sizing chart you're using. Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not but it's something that I think a lot about.
I think all bodies have a place in pole. And I think that if your body is larger, there are just some things you should keep in mind.
There's some stuff you should know about and I'm going to tell it to you. So let's get going.
So I'm going to start by talking about just some of the social components, just some, some things that like I want you to know and to take and put in your, your pocket, your best pocket and have.
And then we're going to talk about like very specific brass tacks. Here's some things that will look and will feel different. Some recommendations. I got some research that'll be relevant for you. And a little bit about pole wear, because this is something that I struggle with which is that some pole brands just do not have the size range.
I've got a couple of recommendations for you and also talking about poles and weight limits and safety. I sort of put those at the end because they may not be relevant for everybody if you're dancing in the studio, but if you're a home poler, I think it's good to know about.
So let's hop into it. So first of all I strongly believe the pole can be for everybody.
If you want to pole dance, you should pole dance. You do not have to work with instructors who make you feel bad about your body. In fact, I actively encourage you not to, right? And this doesn't necessarily have to be that they're like bullying you, or mocking you, or, you know, making fun of you, or anything like that.
Although I hope that if that is happening, you would leave immediately. And, and to not go back. But, you know, if you are not being accommodated, and not just accommodated, but included in whatever is happening, if you don't have options, if you are not being seen as an individual, and, you know, celebrated for who you are, and helped to succeed, that's, that's not okay. That is the job of pole dance teacher. And I hope that you have access to that. And if you don't, I hope you can find a place where you do.
There should be no fat shaming. There should be no fat shaming at your studio. There should be no fat shaming in any fitness space, ideally.
But I do know that it does happen. And I just want to be very clear that it is not appropriate. No pole dance teacher should ever tell you to change the size of your body. Personally, I don't think fitness professionals, period, should tell you to change the size of your body. I think that's a decision you should be having with your doctor if necessary.
And I don't want to get too much into the science of it but again, just as a fitness professional, as a personal trainer, I don't recommend weight loss. I don't, I think the evidence and the research is pretty clear that it is not a great thing to aim for, unless again, specifically your medical provider has told you that it is the right decision for you and you have, you know support with it.
That said, right being in a bigger body is going to make things look different. It's going to make things feel different. And also there are other things that you have to worry about that maybe, you know, a smaller polar wouldn't have to. So let's talk about some of them. So the first thing to know and to think about is generally, the larger your body, and in particular, you know, the larger, the more fat you have on your pole contact points, the stickier you will be. And this can be a little bit of a mixed blessing, right? Benefit, a pole sit may be a rest position for you, right? Because you can sort of like catch and grab on your skin and you've got enough, you know, sort of tissue under there to hold you up and just chill and hang out, right?
So it can definitely be a benefit. However, that does mean that sometimes when you want to slide on the pole, things can be a little bit more challenging. So I think a great example here is Superman. So a lot of Superman transitions in order to actually feel in a stable position, right, where you have your balance, you can hang out in it, your hips will often need to slide down the pole significantly.
And if you have very sticky inner thighs, right? Especially if you tend to carry weight there that can be very challenging and that's just something to know. Or I recently talked about on Instagram, the transition from seated with your torso behind the pole to seated with your torso wrapped forward around the pole.
The transition that's often taught reaching up over cup grip hand, thumb down with the outside hand over your head and then threading through can be very challenging, particularly if you tend to carry weight on the outside of your arms. Those can stick on the pole. That's something I really struggle with.
I also have very short arms, which, you know, exacerbate that for me. Or, you know, even just something like setting up for a pole crunch, right? If you've got a lot of belly, if you've got a lot of chest, you may have to like kind of twist and contort. I have a much harder time to find a position where you can have your chest to the ceiling rather than being rocking into the pole.
By the way, my recommendation for there is try moving your hand up and down relative to your torso to find a position that's really strong for you. If you do have a chest, you can sort of go underneath your chest, you can even lift your chest and sort of tuck under there. And you can also, with your outside hand, take a cup grip hand thumb down overhead.
So just like that transition from sit, I mentioned that. Not necessarily always the best transition for SIT, but if you're really having trouble getting across your chest, that removes your chest from your equation. So that can be an option for working on like pole crunches and things like that. It's not easier in terms of how much grip you can get, but if the other option is that you can't grip the pole at all, two hands are better than one when it comes to stability on the pole, right?
I think we all know that. So yeah, you're probably going to be more sticky. That also probably means you're going to have a little bit more intense of a burn sensation at the beginning, that pressure, that drag of the skin. So generally the more flesh you have, the more sort of mobile it is in a, in a whole contact point.
Again the more. pressure and burn there will be. Not always, right? I think elbow pit is a great example of something where people tend not to carry a lot of flesh, but that can have quite a bit of burn for folks. But I mean, the flip side of that is you do have more cushioning. So things like a pole climb, right?
If you have a little bit more fat if you've got a little bit more muscle on the front of your shin, it's a little bit more cushioning. Yes, you'll get the pressure. Yes, you'll get the burn, but you're not going to get the sort of the grinding into the bone that folks who don't have as much there might struggle with, right?
So you know, pros and cons is just going to be different. Just know that those are things that are going to happen for you. If you do tend to find that you are too sticky and you would like to be a little bit less sticky I recommend using a chalk based grip or so you could just use like climbing chalk EnviroGrip I quite like, that's a chalk based grip and like an alcohol suspension Liquid chalk, which is basically the same thing, leaves a little bit sort of like more of a tacky layer.
All those things can help you with sliding if you are too sticky, especially if you're sweating and you're sticky because you're like a little bit sweaty. Another thing that you might try out, particularly if you have access to both, you may prefer a slightly bigger pole. 45 centimeters Used to be, back in the day, the standard pole was 50 millimeters.
Did I say centimeters? It's millimeters. 50 millimeters, which is about two inches. And if you find that you are much stickier, a wider diameter pole will help to, you know, spread that pressure a little bit more. It will be harder to grip because it's larger. So particularly if you have smaller hands, you might want to stick with a 45 or even go to a 40.
You can definitely also find those. But if you're finding, you know, you're really sticky and you'd like to distribute the pressure a little bit more, you may like a 50 worth trying out if you have an option to try it. Personally, I've spent so much time on 45s that 50s just feel too chunky for me.
Right. I go in for a grab. Also, I have very small hands and I have a hard time hanging out. So that's my preference. I prefer 45, but you might like 50s.
Speaking of sweating, something very important to keep in mind, if you have more body fat, you are going to be more prone to heat related illnesses. So keep a very close eye on it.
So specifically for heat exhaustion and heat stroke, heat exhaustion is less severe. severe than heatstroke. If it's left untreated and you just sort of keep working, it can become heatstroke, which is potentially a life threatening condition, right? So watching out for things like dizziness, lightheadedness, racing heartbeat stopping sweating, right?
Like if you were sweating and then it sort of like stops, suddenly feeling cold when it's hot. All of those things are like, pretty common. big, big red flags and you want to, you know, take it down a notch immediately. And again, the more sort of like insulating fat you have the, the sort of the lower, the temperature it is that you are at risk for this.
It is going to vary, you know, based on humidity, wet bulb, wet bulb, temperature you know, all of that. All that stuff. There's other factors as well. I can't be like, you know, this is the specific temperature, which becomes an issue. In general for the entire population, if the temperature is above 80 degrees, I don't know what that is in centigrade.
Sorry. 80 degrees Fahrenheit is when you start to see elevated risk. And particularly again, if you do carry a little bit more fat. It's going to be a higher risk for you sooner. So really keep an eye on that. The flip side is tends to, you're not going to have as much of an issue with cold related illnesses, but we tend to do pole indoors.
So I find that that doesn't tend to be quite as much of an issue. But hey, if you're really interested in like I don't know, long distance swimming having more body fat can be really helpful there because you get you get a little bit more, you know, insulation against the cold, but. Not actually something that I want to do personally, so you know, so heat related injuries, heat related illnesses, something to keep in mind also potentially greater risk for tendinopathies.
Now, it's interesting, the I am sometimes frustrated by, I'm frustrated often by research on particularly larger bodied athletes because a big part of the issue is that of studies looking at people with larger bodies tend to use BMI as a stand in for you know, having more adipose tissue.
It's not a very good standard, particularly if you're looking at athletes and different body composition measurements are used. There's no like gold standard that everybody's using in their research. So it's really hard to do apples to apples.
But some of the studies that have been done looking at sort of within a group of athletes that are training together looking at whether or not athletes who have larger bodies tend to get injured more have found that, nope, they don't.
There really isn't an effect there. So Kaplan et al. 1995 looked at high school football players and was like, okay, is being, you know, bigger a risk factor for getting injured? And the answer is no, that doesn't seem to be. But looking specifically at larger athletes who have been injured it does seem that there's a little bit of a higher incidence of tendinopathies in particular, particularly in the upper and lower limbs.
I will say I think that there's a latent variable there where people tend to be drawn to athletic pursuits that feel a little bit easier for them from the beginning. So I think that people tend to self sort by body type a little bit into the athletic pursuit that is most delightful for them, particularly if coaches aren't actively working to be inclusive and create, you know, a community with a large variety of body proportions.
But that's just what it is, right? Like you ever look at a bunch of Olympic athletes, you can sort of like, you can tell who the swimmers are, you can tell who the rowers are, you can tell who the shot putters are, right? There are specific body types that are going to just be better at specific competitive athletic events.
And that's just human genetics. That's how it works. So anyway, like I said, I think there's a latent variable of who wants to do what. But something to keep in mind, potentially higher risk for tendinopathies, which we know is something that already happens a lot in pole dancers, particularly in the shoulder.
So really taking your time, really working on moving, you know, very carefully through your shoulder joint training, your stabilization training, and making sure that that's something that you're not skipping and that you are, you're warming up, you're working on your stabilizers, all that good stuff.
Also something to keep in mind you are going to be lifting more absolute weight. Pole is body weight, which means that if your body weight is higher, you are just lifting more Again, frustratingly, a lot of the research that's looked at sort of like body size and strength doesn't actually control for muscle mass. So again, I think an area where there's just like a lot of space for more research that has as its starting point that human bodies are just going to be different from each other and that it's helpful to know how different types of bodies respond to training rather than trying to change everybody's body to be exactly the same, because that's not, again, not going to happen.
Not how human genetics work. But that said you're going to have to develop strength. And if you've never done strength training previously before you come to pole, just know it takes a while, right? It's going to take like a couple months before you start to notice that you're getting stronger.
And you know, the strength gains are going to take time. So it may take you a little bit longer to learn how to do things, especially if you're not coming in with a weight training background, you're not coming in with a strength training background, just cause you've got more to lift and that's fine and that's normal.
It's just going to take a little bit of extra time and you know, just know that upfront and be prepared for it.
Things to keep in mind there that I talked about generally probably going to be a little bit more sticky in a lot of your contact points. May have a little bit more sensation of pole burn and pressure, but probably a little bit less sensation of grinding into bone which in some, in some movements is just unavoidable, right?
Like ankle climb. You got it. You got to be on the shin. You got to be on the shin. No real way around it or something like starfish, right? You have to be on the top of your foot. There's, there's no other way to get around it. So having a little bit more padding there can actually be really, really helpful but also a little bit more drag.
So just to know about that. You might possibly like a bigger pole, try a different size pole, see what you think. Keep a, keep a weather eye out for heat related injuries, especially, you know, with climate change. All of us are going to be moving in hotter climates than we were previously if we don't move.
So important to keep in mind and watch out for and monitor for yourself. Just like the room you need for your body is going to look very different, moves are probably going to look very different on you than they do on, you know, other people who have different bodies. And that's, that's fine.
Just know that that will be the case. You're lifting more weight, so it's going to take longer for you to get to the point where you can lift your body weight.
Joints might take a little bit longer to adapt, again, just because of the greater load. Potentially, there's a slightly higher risk of tendinopathies if you're in a larger body as in terms of injury risk, so something to keep an eye on but for matched athletes within a sport, it doesn't seem like having a larger body is more of a risk for, for injury overall.
All right. Let's talk about pole wear, because this is something that I struggle with a lot. My general experience has been that in particular, European manufacturers tend to have a narrower and smaller size range that honestly doesn't include me, that I am too big for.
So I've actually had really good luck with black owned brands in particular. Again, just in the U S my experience has been that they tend to have a bigger size range and I have more, more of a booty and they tend to be cut as if someone would have more of a booty. So I tend to have really good luck with those brands.
So Felonies, felony which was previously NAND Dzins. It's Ms. Felony’s brand. She's great. If you don't follow her on Instagram, you definitely should. Really, really beautiful dancer. Has a great visual aesthetic imagination that she brings to, to pole and her spaces that are very inspiring, very fun.
Really, really like them, especially their bottoms. They've got lots of cute strappy bottoms. And if you've ever seen my photos on my website from that pole shoot I did, that's what I'm wearing. I'm wearing a Felonies Felony. So one of my favorite pole brands, highly recommend them. Also heard really good things about Naughty Goddess.
But the last two S's are X's and that's Poundcake's brand. Again, if you don't know Poundcake, Pound Cake is great. You should definitely follow her. Again, larger, larger size range. So definitely a good place to go for that.
I haven't actually gotten anything from them, but I've heard that RAR, R A R R in Australia is pretty good.
And they have a pretty good size range just from looking at their website. That might be a good place to check out. And there's, you know, there are other options as well, but those are ones that, you know, I have, I've heard good things about from multiple people. Slash. I really enjoy also a good place to check is swimwear, particularly this coming out in late fall here in the northern hemisphere. Great time to go looking for swimwear. Swimwear can be great polewear. Just definitely make sure that the crotch of anything that you're wearing is wide enough to just cover everything. Um, If that's what you're going for.
I know there's much more, a little bit more common in burlesque to have custom pieces made for you to your measurements.
But I mean, those are, those are always going to fit great because they're made for you. So that can also be an option, particularly for performance pieces, or if you're looking for something very specific. All the links are down there. None of these are sponsored by the way.
They're just like free. It's my recommendations.
And finally, thinking about safety, pole and weight limits. The specific weight limit of your pole is going to depend on how it was manufactured, who it was manufactured by, and how you have it installed. So, my first recommendation is always, always, always to go directly to your manufacturer.
I know you can get super cheap poles online these days to question mark specifications. And I don't know, I don't, I don't trust all poles. I'll just be honest. XPOL is what I use.
They're a US company. I've danced in a lot of XPOLs over the years. They're staged poles. It's kind of like the standard one here in the US. They do lollipops as well, which is a lira on top of a pole. They're great
lupits. I've danced on lupits a lot as well. They're European. Again, great high quality.
Expo actually has load tests on their website. So for the expert, which I believe is what I have, I think I have an expert and not an export. It was load tested up to 326 pounds. Editing Rosy popping in here. I did a bad job reading. It is, in fact, 326. Kilograms, not pounds, which is 718 pounds which is over twice as much. So apologies for being bad at reading, but I have corrected it before you heard it. So it doesn't matter, does it? That's pretty high. If this is something that you are worried about, talk to your manufacturer.
Gaia, actually, it's a Brazilian brand, G A I A that I've heard good things about. Dance song maybe once or twice. They have a couple of interesting options that don't require you to necessarily go into the ceiling joists, which a lot of the US ones do.
I think lupits permanent mountain do require you to go in the ceiling joists. I know X Poles do. Where, I think this was actually pretty new, it's like a railing that you attach sort of like across your ceiling. And then the poles on the rail and you can move it back and forth. Obviously, not while you're using it.
But I believe that is specifically designed for concrete walls. So if you're living in an apartment where you've got concrete, that might be a good option for you. They're Brazilian, I think that's a little bit more common. I think in the U. S. we tend to have drywall more often. I do not think it will work on drywall.
You could, of course, also have a stage pole.
And again, specific weight ratings are really going to depend. This is just going to be me telling you to talk to the manufacturer directly quite a bit which is what a lot of them will suggest on their websites, right? It's going to be like.
That said if you are regularly checking your tension right. So I recommend at least in the spring and the fall, especially if you have a tension mounted pole adjusting, and I mean like take it to, it's all the way like not installed anymore and install it again to the proper pressure that will alleviate the majority of issues that I see most of the issues that I see When there's a big swing in temperature, in particular in the fall, when it starts getting cooler and as it gets colder, metal contracts and that, you know, pressure that was sufficient in the summer.
Oh, now suddenly it's much colder, especially if you're a particularly tall pole, that contraction can be enough that it can begin to slip. So definitely something to keep an eye out on. Always check your pressure, always check your tension. And then. Plan on, even if it seems like it's fine, readjusting it every spring, every fall, you know, when you have your first big temperature swing, that's my recommendation.
That said, I have not had the experience of having a pole fail because of weight, right? Like I've never had a, again, from a reputable brand, I properly installed pole, even a tension pole failing because of the amount of weight that's been put on it. And I have worked with some very large bodied students and it has never been an issue.
So I do not think that it is something that should keep you from doing pole. If it is something that you are worried about, go for permanent mounted pole. Permanent mounted will generally be able to handle more forces. It also depends on what you're doing, right? If you're doing, you know, a lot of Phoenixes, right.
Where you're putting like a lot of pressure on the pole that's orthogonal to the base. Then that will just be more pressure on the system than if you're doing something like a pole spins right next to the pole. Right. Or using it to do climbs and stuff.
So something to keep in mind. Again, Like I said, I have never seen a pole fail because of weight, and I have worked with, you know, very large students. So I wouldn't worry about it unduly as long as you are certain that the pole is from a reputable manufacturer and has been installed correctly.
That's all I've got for you today.
I think these things are relevant for everyone, but specifically speaking to plus size students here just want to be clear, you don't have to deal, right? Like if someone's being a fatphobic asshole to you, You can just leave and I encourage you to, and that is not just part of being a pole dancer or something, like you don't have to be hazed to do a hobby.
That's not correct or acceptable. And I hope that you're not dealing with that. And if you are just know fuck them. You can leave and I encourage you to. Lots of things will feel and look a little different. Lots of things to keep in mind. Definitely keep an eye out for your, your body temperature, potentially heat exhaustion, anything like that. You know, take it slow. Know that things might take a little bit longer just cause you're lifting more. That's fine. Everything is going to take as long as it takes for the person who's doing it. And that amount of time is going to vary tremendously.
And it's not just body, you know, build or weight that comes into it. It's also like prior experience and how much stress do you have in your life and how good is your sleep? Are there other health issues you're dealing with? Do you have a disability? Are you dealing with chronic pain of some kind? What's your job? Like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Everyone's life is like a rich, a rich stew. And everything in the stew is going to have an effect with how you can show up to the pole. So don't, don't beat yourself up for things being the way they are. Be nice to yourself. Just appreciate that things are going to take however long they take and that's fine. Let's just see how it goes.
A couple pole recommendations:
I've done a little bit of thought about like pole and weight limits and things to think about. If you're worried, Try for a permanent pole stick to stick to brands that are reputable. I didn't mention it, but fit to flaunt. I have also heard very good things about, I haven't danced on one of those, but I do know that they are particularly for folks in the U S a good place to get powder coated poles.
If you're really looking for powder coating, that's potentially an option.
All right, that's what I got for you today. I hope you've got some food for thought. You've got some stuff you can think about that might make your pole journey a little bit easier.
Help you feel a little bit better in your body, a little bit better about where you are right now. And I look forward to talking to you very, very soon. Bye.
