Mom-to-be hasn’t let pregnancy stop her from pole dancing in 7-inch heels

By Brelaun Douglas via SWNS

This gymnastic mom-to-be hasn’t let pregnancy stop her -- from pole dancing.

Kristen Leigh, 33, is five months pregnant (at time of writing in June 2021), but that doesn’t stop her from strapping on her seven-inch heels to get a gyrating pole workout.

“I just absolutely love it. I love the community and how supportive everybody is,"said physical therapist Kristen, from the Bay Area, California.

“For me personally, who did dance for so long, I love the constant exploration of ways I can move my body.

"It really challenges me to think of how I move my body in a different way and learning skills and tricks is really rewarding."

Kristen began pole dancing in 2014 after visiting a strip club in Portland.

“One of the dancers was doing really amazing contortionist style tricks with lots of strength and that made me really want to try it," she said.

“I was too shy to go alone but once some of my friends suggested it, we went and I fell in love.”

Kristen began performing in 2016 with Bay Area Company Flux Vertical Theatre and began competing in 2017.

When COVID-19 shut down studios, she began training on a pole in her home, but didn’t have the same space or safety precautions to train the way she could in a studio.

Missing out on the same level of training made her more cautious about how she chooses to train and what tricks she attempts now that she’s pregnant and studios are back open.

“When studios re-opened, they weren’t allowed to spot us because of social distancing," Kristen explained.

“Because they weren’t allowed to spot us, I didn’t feel comfortable doing aerial and more challenging tricks that I would have been doing before. So now I do more choreography."

The mom-to-be encourages people to support dance companies and pole dancers, and to try the pole at least once.

“Anything that involves moving your body, muscles, joints and raising your heart rate is physical fitness,” she said.

“If you do what you enjoy and with people you like you’re going to love it more, so find what you enjoy.”

Kristen said she plans to continue pole at some level throughout the entirety of her pregnancy.

“Of course, there’s going to be things I can’t do like laying on my stomach or inversions,” she added.

“But as long as I can still dance around the base of the pole then I’m going to do it. Though I’ll probably switch to wearing socks at some point.”