Aerial arts academy in Dubai takes fitness to new heights

Gulf News

Aerial arts academy in Dubai takes fitness to new heights. Pole Fit Dubai is an aerial arts academy that offers students a fun alternative way to stay fit while exploring their acrobatic abilities. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

Transcript

00:00This might look like the start of your average fitness class, but the students at Polfit

00:09in Dubai Marina spend most of their time in the air.

00:13The two aerial artist co-owners, Michelle Amvalada, opened the centre two years ago

00:18and are passionate about sharing their acrobatic skills with anyone who's interested in learning

00:23the aerial arts.

00:25We wanted to offer an alternative fitness source for people, so something that was primarily

00:31fun and then fitness was a side effect of that, so we started with pole and from there

00:36the things that complement pole, so stretching, flexibility, dance, silks and aerials and

00:42they all kind of go hand in hand and we felt like that was something that was really missing

00:45from the market here.

00:46The fitness centre offers a variety of classes, including aerial hoop, aerial pole and aerial

00:51silk.

00:53The cost of a class ranges from 75 dirhams to 100 dirhams, a small price for those who

00:58have found themselves taken by this alternative approach to fitness.

01:02It's much more fun and sociable, you get to train with friends and things like that and

01:05you make a lot of friends doing it.

01:06I'm really passionate about this and it's a big part of my life and the community is

01:10very very important.

01:11While the centre has seen a positive response from the community, the owners have had to

01:16work at overcoming certain stigmas attached to the art of pole fitness.

01:20There are people that are a little bit more conservative that want to try silks first

01:24because in silks you can cover up a little bit more but I think that the stigma around

01:29pole definitely goes away as soon as you attend your first class because you realise that

01:32there is nothing sexy about that, that is a fitness, that is a sport, that is something

01:37that requires so much strength and it's just really admirable so I think when people see

01:42it as soon as they see it they're like wow, that's tough, I want to do it.

01:44While many of the techniques can appear risky to a casual observer, the instructors are

01:49quick to assure newcomers that safety is their first priority and they always start

01:53slowly with beginners.

01:56Touchwood has all been very safe and we make sure that the environment is very safe so

02:00that we control that.

02:02According to these practitioners, the aerial arts offer an empowering alternative to traditional

02:07gym workouts and have a positive physical and spiritual impact on their bodies.

02:12Pole and aerials is a great workout, it's a full body workout that tones all body plus

02:18increases flexibility and body awareness, it has so many positive things about it, so

02:24for example I can't go to the gym because for me a monotonous workout is not interesting.

02:30Whether it's pole or aerial, every day you learn something new and that's what keeps

02:34me going and that's what most of our students love.

02:37This is a great activity, I love dancing and then dancing on the silks requires so much

02:43focus and stamina.

02:45Basically muscles, abs, everything that you want from gym you can get it here because

02:51you need to be fit and it gets you more fit day by day.

02:54With a global community constantly developing new techniques, the routines in these aerial

02:58classes are constantly changing, providing exciting new challenges for students and instructors.

03:05Every day we have new moves and tricks and combinations being created.

03:10You can always invent moves and create moves and create different combinations of moves

03:14and that's why I find it so addictive because there's no ceiling, you can keep going, keep

03:18getting better, keep challenging yourself, so you might think that you're really good

03:22and then this new move comes up and you're like oh that just sets me back and it really

03:26gets you fired up again and really ignites that passion and makes you want to keep being better.

03:32So if you find that you're tired of exercising with your feet firmly on the ground, it might

03:36be the time to take to the sky and give the aerial arts a try.

03:40Raneen Hamdoon, DOLF News.

03:44For more information visit www.dol.gov.au

Category

Transcript

Recommended