CUISINE

-By Sanjana Gupta Taduri

FITNESS | Fitness in a New Light Fitness in a New Light

Be it just to develop muscular strength or hone athletic skills, aid weight management and improve health, or enhance physical fitness and overall health, exercise is no longer a chore. In today’s world of infinite fitness options, everyone is gravitating toward more fun workouts and is open to experimenting in the fitness arena. After all, working out doesn’t have to be not-fun stressful. If you are someone who thinks squats, lunges, push-ups, weights, and resistance machines are not for them, we bring you a few fun workout options to build muscle mass, and amplify your flexibility and strength.

- By Sindhura Repaka

Pole dancer Instagram: @kakarpound_pole In this article, we bring to you a 26-year-old pole dance trainer, Pound Kakar, originally from Mumbai, who has been in Hyderabad for about 15 years ago now. She is currently pioneering the art of pole dancing in Hyderabad, to spread the word about its benefits as a fitness routine. Apart from her hobby turned profession pole dancing, she enjoys indulging in some physical activity, whether it be badminton, swimming, flexibility training, or anything involving movement. Let’s hear more about pole dancing and her journey with this art form from her.

When and how were you introduced to pole?

Pole Dancing was introduced to me as a fitness routine in 2018 when I came across an article that spoke about its popularity rising in India. I was looking to take up a physical activity after more than 10 years of a break from sports or any kind of fitness routine. Since I was going through a rough patch back then, I thought of diverting my energies into doing something that could offer me at least a little

POLE DANCE

Combining dance and acrobatics, pole dance is a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and dedicated dance studios. Pole dance is a form of exercise that can be used as both an aerobic and anaerobic workout and requires significant muscular endurance, strength and coordination. These forms of exercise increase core and general body strength by using the body itself as resistance while toning the body as a whole. A pole dancer’s exercise regimen in class begins with strength training, dance-based moves, squats, pushups, and sit-ups and gradually works its way up to the spins, climbs, and inversions.

bit of happiness or a sense of achievement of some sort. I knew that I had taken a long break from sports and I also realized how much I missed playing them, as they helped me keep my stresses away in my childhood. I decided to go ahead and learn Pole Dancing after more than 10 years of taking a break from any kind of physical activity. However, when I looked up “pole dance classes near me" on Google, I couldn’t find anything in Hyderabad. So, I took up 2 classes in Mumbai. A few days before my birthday, my father asked me what I wanted as a birthday gift. I usually always say “no" to everything, but I asked for a pole that year, and he got me one. What made you choose pole as a career?

I remember getting my first invert – called the “chopper”. I trained myself to get that one move every day of my pole journey, and the day I finally managed to invert, I just stayed in there for a minute and thought to myself, “this is it, now there’s no looking back!” and that was when I decided to quit my job and completely focus on pole dancing. I already had it at the back of my mind, to start my own studio, when I realized that apart from physically benefiting me, it also allowed me so much more self-confidence and acceptance of my body. Tell us something about your fitness journey. Many step back from pole because they think, they lack flexibility and core strength, what would you say on that?

My actual journey into fitness started with pole dancing. As a child, my mother encouraged us to take up at least one co-curricular activity after school hours, and I would usually prefer something that involved a lot of physical exertion like swimming or dancing. I was a very active child and enjoyed anything that involved moving around, running and the regular monkeying around. I was an extremely skinny child, and during my growing up years was bullied a lot for my weight. That was when sports took a back seat and I started obsessing over the way I looked. I tried hitting the gym in between to gain some muscle, but I didn’t enjoy it as much and would always get super anxious about losing weight. But when I found pole, I enjoyed it so much that I overcame all my body image issues and starting accepting and loving my body the way it was, for listening to me and doing so much to help me grow in this art form. When I started my pole journey, I had little to no arm strength. I couldn’t pull myself up on the pole and constantly struggled with sliding off it. I couldn’t carry my own body weight. But my consistency and love for my art was what motivated me to build