Poles provide proper physicality

MOSES LAKE - These ladies work hard - not for the money - but for improved health and lifestyles.

Erika Ritchie, of Moses Lake, and her - shall we say "unique" - style of exercise has married working out and fun together for many basin residents.

Ritchie operates Polaris Dance Fitness Studio, 416 S. Western Ave., Suite F, in Moses Lake, and teaches woman basic moves on stripper poles.

She teaches class six times a week, and her revolution in dance can burn up to 250 calories an hour, all well having fun and feeling sexy.

"A lot of women get distracted with the everyday - the house, the kids, the job - but they also have a sexy side, too," Ritchie said. "This helps you tap into the sexy side when you're working out."

Teresa McHargue, of Ephrata, grew up with jazz, tap and ballet lessons.

She recently traded in pointe and tap shoes for pole dancing and the health benefits that come with.

"I just got motivated by doing it," she said. "I've lost 25 pounds and gained muscle mass, plus it was a major boost in my self confidence."

But that body shift comes with a hefty physical tag.

"The next day you're, like, 'Oh my God, what did I do?'" McHargue said. "It's a full-body workout. We really let ourselves fly."

And these ladies do plenty: spins, twirls, and pirouettes, all while working muscles throughout all four limbs and strengthening their bodies' cores.

Even a few men have worked the poles since Ritchie started three years ago.

"It's a strength workout because you're using your body as resistance," she said. "Plus, you also get some cardio out of it, too."

And while she may be electrifying without trying - well, a lot of effort does go into it - Ritchie has worked with women of all ages and body types.

"I've taught everyone from 18-60, all shapes and all sizes," she said. "I love when I can help somebody accomplish a personal goal of theirs."

"It doesn't matter about your body size. Once you get in there, you feel extremely confident," Cammy Zabala, of Ephrata, said. "It would be about body size only if you wanted it to, but it's not about that."

"I've had girls that have lost weight and change their body shapes, and it's very empowering for women, I find," Ritchie said.

Her average class is around five, but can swell up to 12 students at their peak.

And her students have to not only master tricks, spins and twirls: They have to make it look effortless, too.

It's clearly not as easy as it looks.

"Usually the first time is the worst," Ritchie said. "Things that you don't even think could hurt, hurt."

But for those who have stuck with the routine, they've found several benefits.

"It makes working out fun," Alyssa Yruegas, of Moses Lake, said. "I don't like working out at home and I don't like the gym, but when I come here, I know I'm going to work out.

"Once you come here and realize the muscles that you have to use and the strength you have to use, you have a whole different outlook on what this class is about."

And though the more experienced ladies make it look effortless, Yruegas said that the pole is not as difficult to use as most people think.

"Everybody that comes in here say they couldn't do that," she said. "But sure enough, they end up doing that."

While Ritchie enjoys the athletic aspects of pole dancing, she does realize that she is much more demurer than what the general public might think.

"Pole dancing comes from stripping," she said. "So every time that you have to introduce that to a person as a sport, their immediate though is, 'Isn't that scandalous?'"

"There are different things about this class, but that's what makes it fun," Yruegas said. "It makes it so you want to work out instead of thinking of it as something you have to do."