Male Pole Dancing – Moving Towards Fitness and Olympic Athletic Competition

Evgeny Greshilov , Champion Pole Dancer

Pole dancing, both male and female, has been for a few years emerging from simply erotic entertainment to a full fledged sport. In that same period, male pole dancing has seen both popularity and acceptance growing. The routines require both art in body movement and also extreme control of muscles closely associated with gymnastic skills.

Efforts continue by proponents of the sport to have it entered as a n Olympic competitive event. There are still biases around it considering the origins of discipline. However, it seems as more and more men participate in it, the elevation of pole dancing into an official sport is getting more respectable. There are major competitions throughout the world including world competitions. Perhaps it is a commentary on the heavily male dominated powers that exist in sports overall or the minor use of male pole dancing in erotic shows. There are exceptions. However, this is good news for women who use pole dancing for health and fitness purposes. The de-sexualizing of the it could break through the ceiling for female pole dancing athletes.

Although there have been some push back from some women who don’t want men in what has been an exclusive female domain, the trend is for inclusivity. This will be good overall for the sport.

With the upper body strength of men, it adds a unique element to pole dancing similar to gymnastics. Training is rigorous not only for form but requires major strength training.

Most routines are accompanied by music and allows the men to brings a story to their routine similar to some other performance sports.

There are few instances of male pole dancers who follow the more traditional erotic route, as in the example of gay porn star, Kirk Cummings, aka Pole dancer Zach Mackenzie. Cummings demonstrates the considerable athletic skills required.

Kirk Cummings

It is always exciting to see the emergence of another sport where the ultimate in skill and human endurance is required. Pole dancing , male and female, have my deepest respect.