Pole dancing - the latest way to keep fit!

WELLINGTON - Pole dancing is no more restricted to strip clubs and bars - it is fast is fast becoming recognised as a legitimate sport.

The first Central Pole Dancing Championships are currently going on in Wellington.

Melissa Dodson, 38, said she came from a yoga and Pilates background, and started pole dancing two years ago as an interesting way of staying healthy.

“Anything but the gym,” Stuff.co.nz quoted her as saying.

“It’s a real challenge for women in terms of their upper body strength, it’s quite unique,” she said, while practising moves including the superman and fireman’s spin,” she added.

Competitive pole dancing was a sleaze-free zone, she said.

“There are some very strict rules - no G-strings allowed.”

Sofia McLean, the event manager, said the participants were coming from as far as Queenstown.

“New Zealand is really behind the eight-ball, so to speak, when it comes to the understanding and establishment of pole as a true fitness and form of sport,” she said.

There were even moves to make pole dancing an Olympic sport. Dodson said Olympic recognition would a great boost for the sport.

“It does have that X-factor,” she added. (ANI)