Our top 10 indicators of a great relationship with pole and aerial training

In honour of celebrating starting to feel summery, I wanted to have a little check in with Momentum’s top 10 markers of a positive relationship with exercise.

I have written about these before, in social media posts and my weekly Friday email. Hence I thought these musings also deserve a more eternal spot on the blog! And just like going over some basics in class, I feel it’s sometimes nice to have a little look at the foundations and see how they are.

So here goes, in no particular order, what I deem is indicative of a positive relationship with exercise and how we interact with our pole and aerial training.

Also note please that you do not have to score 10/10, and that scoring in this instance isn’t really helpful anyway. Things change, we change, life changes, our bodies change – you get it. So view this more of a guide, and perhaps there will be a few points that resonate, and others where you think “ah interesting, what does this look like for me?”

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into it!

Our Top 10 as compiled by Momentum Pole & Aerial

1. You enjoy your chosen form of exercise and movement. Yes it may be hard at times and you find it tough to get motivated, and you will have shitty sessions but overall, you always feel better afterwards and you feel it gives you enjoyment and fun.

2. You can make it social or go introvert-mode, aka you can mould it into what you need it to be in terms of social interaction and social environment.

3. It is not equated to calories burnt or earning your food. Not just because we don’t actually burn as many calories as we think we do when we exercise (guys, talking about how easy it is to over-and underestimate here, not that we don’t burn any cals at all), but also because this can start to become a lil slippery slope into exercising as punishment. Totally awesome to exercise for weight management, and totally awesome to exercise as part of an overall weight loss or gain phase as long as we don’t get too hung up on the calories attached to physical activity.

4. You do not feel guilty when you have to miss a session. Be that life, fun, holidays, rest or injuries. regardless of the reason you may miss a class, you know you can just get right back to it as and when you can, and you do not pressure yourself unnecessarily with needing to “catch up”.

5. You do not tie your self worth to how you perform. You can have a bad class or go through a little bit of a plateau and zoom out and see the bigger picture without panicking.

6. Exercise adds to your life and doesn’t subtract from it. It fits into your schedule (even if you have to move some stuff around), but as a whole, it is a positive addition to your routine and not one that fucks you over in terms of other areas of your life.

7. It challenges you in the way you want it to. Basically saying you can be in control of how hard you want to work, and whether you want to push yourself or cruise along for a bit.

8. You enjoy the mental as well as the physical benefits of it. Better sleep, upped confidence, a lil more acceptance towards the old meatsuit, these are all things that you notice and appreciate as part of your exercise regimen.

9. It allows you to appreciate your body’s functionality and you feel good in all the awesome ways you can move and the cool stuff you can do. Moving our bodies is a privilege and we ought to enjoy it, not a punishment or a chore or a means to uncover where we are lacking, but a tool to shine light on where we are awesome.

10. It makes you feel proud, empowered, strong, sexy, badass. Yes at times it may make you feel defeated but overall, it elicits positive thoughts about you!

The Takeaways

In all this, we think the most important part is that exercise, whether it is pole, aerial, flexibility, gym, yoga, pilates, walking, hammer throwing (you get the gist), is that you enjoy it, it adds to your life, and it helps you feel at home in your body.

Happy training! xxx