The Science of Rest for Pole Dancers

Dr. Rosy Boa re-releases a vault episode on rest to coincide with her own offload week from pole, explaining what counts as rest, how often to schedule it, and why pole dancers often neglect it. She defines rest as a reduction in overall load that depends on an individual’s current training and life demands, notes gentle movement can still be rest, and advises avoiding pole-like pulling, leg-lifting, or intense mobility on rest days. General guidance includes at least one rest day per week and a lower-intensity deload week about once a month, with reduced load before major events. She outlines overtraining, citing sports medicine literature, with physical and mental warning signs (worsening soreness, performance decline, injuries, frequent illness, sleep disruption, appetite/weight/period changes, mood shifts, irritability, depression, fatigue). She describes the fitness-fatigue model, emphasizes sickness isn’t rest, recommends 6–8 hours sleep with consistent timing, and concludes that rest is essential for long-term pole health. Are you a pole nerd interested in trying out online pole classes with Slink Through Strength? We’d love to have you! Use the code “podcast” for 10% off the Intro Pack and try out all of our unique online pole classes: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog/25a67bd1/?productId=1828315&clearCart=true  Citations: Herring, S. A., Ben Kibler, W., Putukian, M., Berkoff, D. J., Bytomski, J., Carson, E., ... & Coppel, D. (2019). Load, overload, and recovery in the athlete: Select issues for the team physician-A consensus statement. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 18(4), 141-148. ⁠https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/Fu… The Fitness-Fatigue Model Revisited Implications for Planning Short- and Long-Term Training Chiu, Loren Z.F. MS, CSCS; Barnes, Jacque L. Strength and Conditioning Journal 25(6):p 42-51, December 2003. ⁠https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/pag… Chapters: 00:00 Welcome and Offload Week 01:41 Why Rest Matters in Pole 03:21 What Counts as Rest 06:41 How Often to Rest and Deload 07:59 Overtraining Warning Signs 19:59 Fitness Fatigue Model Explained 22:50 Quick Q and A on Rest 26:19 Key Takeaways and Wrap Up