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What to eat for better pole performance and flexibility – pole diet
Hi folks, I’m new to Studio Veena but have been having lessons at my local studio on and off for a while now. Hoping you can help with a question:
Does anyone have any ideas or tips on what to eat to improve: (a) strength, and/or (b) flexibility?
To be clear, I do not want to or need to lose any weight – my BMI is at the lower end of the healthy range, and to be honest I would rather gain some weight (ideally more muscle!)
My issue is that I am naturally lean and rather “sinewy”. My muscles are tight, and although I am reasonably strong for my size there are areas where I know I am weak and I am struggling to make gains in terms of strength and flexibility. I also feel my muscles are slow to recover from training sessions and I’m wondering if diet may be to blame.
Overall, I think I have a relatively healthy diet: I eat a balance of protein, carbs and fat, try to have as many veggies as I can with every meal. I drink lots of fruit and veggie juices, and eat a variety of meats and fish. I usually have eggs for breakfast, cooked food at lunch and dinner. In terms of “vices”, I usually have 2 milky coffees a day, drink a moderate amount of alcohol (not every day, usually a couple of drinks each night on the weekend) and eat chocolate regularly (I usually have a small bar every day.) I’ve also just started taking magnesium, calcium and vitamin C and D.
I have had low level IBS for a few years now so it’s possible that this is affecting my ability to get the best of out my diet, but there’s no obvious cause (tests have confirmed no coeliac disease or lactose intolerance) and my blood work is normal. I have a chronic history of eating disorders (was anorexic for 2 years, bulimic for 10…) but have amazingly managed to beat this last year (partly, I think, thanks to taking up pole!!)
Any suggestions / tips / ideas would be gratefully received!
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8 Replies
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First off I’m not a doctor, dietician or fitness professional. Just a girl who really likes to dance on a pole, so please take all this with a grain a salt.
From what your describing your diet does sound pretty healthy. It sounds like you are eating a similar diet to what I used to eat. I was eating plenty of fruits, veggies, carbs, lean proteins and using small amounts of fats. I also tried to eat a wide variety in hopes of getting all the good nutrients.
I was also drinking two milky coffees and snacking on small amounts chocolate. I had my giant water bottle with me everywhere I went. I felt my diet was pretty good but I always felt tired and I still suffered from IBS and also developed LPR.
It actually seemed to get worse the better I ate. I had been to many doctors and was just recently put on the FODMAP diet. Have you ever tired this? I feel so much better. My body works better and my skin even seems to look better. The diet is a bit tough as there is a lot of restrictions in the beginning.
The theory is in some people with IBS, it could be caused by certain sugars in food.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24076059
Not all people are sensitive to all the types of sugars they list and if you’ve been tested for lactose and you are not intolerant, you can skip eliminating lactose from your diet. Some of the other sugars can be tested for with a breath test according to the book I read about it.
I only recently stated this diet so I can’t say if my results will still be positive after a few years.
What made me think about it possibly being a problem for you is they talk about how these sugars pull water into your intestinal tract and I noticed after I went on the diet that I looked and felt more hydrated. I keep hearing you need to be well hydrated for muscle repair, flexibility and good health …. so maybe your mention of mild IBS might play a role in troubles your having. At the very least you could discuss it with your doctor and rule out some potential problems.
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My understanding from Men’s Health Magazine is the worst thing to do if trying to gain muscle and strength is to drink alcohol. They said drinking on the weekend will set you back from your hard workout during the week. Alcohol intake negatively affects muscle growth. I decided I would rather be strong than drink:)
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It sounds like you are paying attention to be relatively healthy already – talking to your doctor as mentioned would be really helpful to test/figure out the best thing for your personal situation. Certain things like sugar (in chocolate as well as generally everything in a package including alcohol), unethical sources of meat (for example did you know tilapia can’t be caught in the wild & are basically raised on literal poop diet or that many cows are fed candy as their nutrition – I’m sure in turn this also impacts whoever eats those animals), dairy, or wheat can affect each individual differently causing things like inflammation, irritable symptoms, or intollerance (not necessarily “allergy”). Those are some of the big ones to consider limiting and I’m sure are in the fodmap plan mentioned above. Since you’ve mentioned flexibility obviously inflammation is unwelcome & also taking care of your joints is necessary – fish oil (or veg versions) will help with both of these, cissus is also a good idea. Of course overall diet is key by limiting those irritable factors, getting your protein/aminos for recovering & strengthening muscles, and focusing on a lot of veggies + fruit.
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Frankly, this is an absolutely loaded question. There are HUGE amounts of conjecture and unscientifically based ideas out there, all of them circling the fitness community like vultures, and many of them hovering around the general populace (especially women) as well.
So, you COULD eat more protein, but it might also be bad for your kidneys for some reason.
You COULD eat more carbs, but obviously carbs are evil and we should all hate them.
You COULD introduce more fat into your diet, but that might make you fat because obviously that’s how human physiology works.Yes, I’m being sarcastic, but honestly… have you not heard those sorts of things before? I certainly have, and I often avoid stuff like that like the plague!
I’m very scientifically minded when it comes to things like nutrition, and I will be swayed very easily, as long as serious and peer-reviewed scientific study has been shown to fly in the face of current understanding. I believe in science, and I know that most of the things out there, the recommendations by very many people, are not based in science.
I also have not seen any serious, peer-reviewed studies proving that BMI is what we should be using as any sort of measurement of health, especially when it comes to people who are engaging in frequent athletic activity. It’s the same as using just your weight as a measurement of health: We are all aware (hopefully) that you can appear very physically small, but the scale would indicate that you weigh a lot, because you are well-muscled. Appearing small is not necessarily a bad thing, and appearing large is not necessarily a bad thing, either.
The things medical science does show is this: Protein is used for muscle repair, primarily, and is a poor source of energy, so having some in your diet will help you repair muscles and make gains, but it should definitely not be the only thing you eat.
Carbohydrates (carbs, for short) are your MAIN source of energy, easily broken down by the body, but does not generally go toward muscle building, unless you count the energy it takes to do the work to make your muscles stronger.
Fats are important as they are also an excellent source of energy, but they are slow to break down, so you cannot subsist on them alone.We also know that people generally respond differently to similar types of exercise, depending on genetics. Some people will “bulk up,” and others will not. This is generally not affected by higher reps or higher weight, or lower of either of those.
Increasing flexibility takes time, and you must work at it frequently to see honest improvement. Personally, I see improvement in my hamstrings if I lightly stretch them each day, but often lose quite a lot of flexibility if I miss one or two of those days.
Being careful not to overstretch (which is, stretching to the point of feeling actual pain) is also key, as overstretching can cause injury, and injury can lead to shortening of the muscles.Personally, I have really enjoyed Girls Gone Strong (https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/) for much of my information, and in particular for nutrition, this post: https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/back-to-the-basics-nutrition-101/
My best direct advice would be to experiment and learn what works for you. If you feel great eating the way you do now, then keep it up! If you do not, or notice that you don’t feel as good after eating certain foods, take note, and experiment with changing it up and seeing if you can make improvements.
No one’s physiology is the same. There are NO hard and fast rules to diet, exercise, and achieving the results you want.
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In the lessons I give you some tips on diet for both strength and flexibility! One of the easiest things you can do is eat colorful meals that include lots of veggies. Remember that REST is equally important to growth both in strength and flexibility so don’t skimp on that.
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http://www.learn-pole-dancing.com/the-pole-diet.html this is an ebook about pole dancer’s diet.. It’s free!
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Thanks for sharing:)
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Hi All, thanks for your suggestions and helpful comments. I’ll look at the various references and links you’ve given in more detail. I know I’m never going to bulk up massively – is just not my body type – but I am sure there are things I can do to improve my muscle recovery after pole sessions. Thanks also to Veena for letting me know that lessons include nutrition tips! For a start, I plan to cut my weekend drinking back where I can! If anyone has further comments feel free to chip in!
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