Guys & Pole - Michael from Altitude North Shore

Continuing on the celebration train of our AWESOME male polers... we’re onto our second blog post to our ‘Guys & Pole’ series! We’re super excited to introduce you to one of our North Island students...

Introducing Michael from the Altitude North Shore studio, with us for nearly 1 year!

3 of my friends I work with had been doing it for a year or so and were saying how much they loved it and all the good things it's done for them. So when one of the charity beginner classes came up I had try it out, and I had a blast.

Got thinking about it all a bit more, and thought that it would be a great way to get me excited about exercise again, try new things and help me workout and hopefully overcome some of the body and self-confidence issues I have had throughout my life

Initially the whole thing was a bit daunting, being the only guy in a class is scary in a very specific sort of way. But once I got over that and started the class I realised that I had underestimated how challenging the classes would be

I can't wait to come to each class now. I'm leaving work early and arriving late to social events to get to the classes. I love the atmosphere, I love the classes, I love the instructors, and I'm especially loving the difference I'm seeing in myself, physically and mentally. I'm still mostly doing level 1 classes, but have started doing some level 1/2 and next week doing my 1st level 2. So really excited to see what this stage brings

I would say do it before you judge it. Men are too often told don't do things because it's "not what men do" but that cuts them off from a huge variety of amazing experiences and people. It is an amazing form of exercise, it gives you a very different connection to your body that you can't get from the gym, and it actually makes exercise sociable and fun while still being a challenge.