‘I Weigh 220 Pounds and I Never Liked Working Out—Until I Tried Pole Dancing’

This article was written as told to Kara Wahlgren and provided by our partners at Prevention.

Jada Hudson, 25, had tried (and hated!) nearly every fitness class she could find. Then she got up the nerve to take a pole fitness class—even though, at 220 pounds, she doubted she could master the gravity-defying holds and inversions that other women were doing. With a little practice, she found muscles she didn’t know she had and was inspired her to create an international community of curvy pole enthusiasts. (Lose up to 25 pounds in 2 months—and look more radiant than ever—with Prevention’s new Younger In 8 Weeks plan!)

Before I took my first pole fitness class, I tried Zumba, aqua fit, and kickboxing. I even hired a personal trainer. Whatever exercise you can think of, I tried it. But I never truly enjoyed any of it. I have a coworker who loves to run—she’ll get up early and run for several miles. I would always ask her, “Is that really fun for you?!” It was hard to believe that exercise could be anything other than a chore.

Then in 2014, while handling the social media for my mom’s nonprofit, I launched a 30–day health and fitness challenge. On the third day, I challenged everyone to try an unconventional workout—aerial yoga, aqua fit, or anything other than just going to the gym. Really, I’d been thinking about trying pole fitness for over a year, and I created that particular challenge to give myself the push to try it.