May 25, 2010
By DENISE CROSBY
Oh, what a difference three years can make.

When I interviewed Kristin Hubbard in April of 2007, her pole dancing business was just getting off the ground -- so to speak -- as she worked out of her basement, but harbored loftier goals.

Today, her Tease Studio in Naperville is so popular, the 38-year-old mother has now opened her third dance floor just to keep up with the demand.
A lot can happen in three years. And no one knows that better than yours truly.
After writing the column about this sexy new fitness trend, I actually wanted to buy my own pole and start doing a little swinging and swaying in the privacy of my garage. I was newly single, still limber and only had to touch up the gray at my temples a couple times a year.

That was back in the day. And speaking of ...
"I've got lots of pain in the lower spine," I whine to my doctor later that same year, hoping he'd declare my problems could all be cured by a few visits to a good chiropractor.
Instead, he orders me to walk a few steps away from him, analyzes the movement, then announces it's nothing more than arthritis. "You're getting older," he tells me matter-of-factly. "We're all getting older."

Eighteen months later, the good news only continues; beginning stages of osteoporosis.
Somehow, I think my days of dancing with the poles are over, even before they begin. And I've got more than mere physical ailments holding me down.

It's not that I've turned flabby. But the hard reality is, I'm just not that hip anymore.
Two years ago when the first "Sex and the City" came out, I gladly photo-shopped my mug into the middle of a publicity shot of Carrie and Company we ran in the paper. I dragged my significant other to the hit movie. I even threw on a clingy dress, bought a pair of gladiator pumps and dined at the same swanky Manhattan restaurant where Carrie Bradshaw's rehearsal dinner was filmed.
But just as it takes effort to keep in shape, it takes work to stay hip. You have to keep building your posse of cool girlfriends, pretend to enjoy alcohol-laden fruit and/or fruit-laden alcohol, watch the "Bachelorette," read "Twilight" novels and stay up later than 10 p.m. on weekends.

So what do I blame -- bad back or no hip?

When I caught up this week with the still-perky Hubbard, she was adamant I'm not too far gone on either front. The certified fitness expert says she's had lots of clients with back pain who have seen dramatic improvements because pole dancing is so effective at strengthening the all-important core. Plenty of women "your age" are climbing the pole and having a ball, she insists.
Plus, Hubbard claims, many of her students come in shy, uncertain, with no idea who Robert Pattinson is, and "I've seen them change 100 percent."

OK, so maybe there's hope for the hip after all. I'm not rushing out to buy a pole, but I tell Hubbard I'll consider a class or two. Even if it's a swing and a miss, at least I can say I was in the game.

Pole dancing in Naperville... a workout to remember.

I must admit, when I decided to explore pole dancing for my column, I had no idea what to expect. I went in to this assignment with a bit of skepticism, after all, pole dancing? A common reaction, but I quickly changed my attitude once I met Kristin Hubbard, owner of Tease Dance and Fitness in Naperville and experienced a class. The fitness industry has never been stifled when it comes to exercise innovation, and pole dancing is no exception.

A classically trained dancer, Kristin found herself seeking the right kind of fitness program shortly after delivering her first child. Like every other new mom, Kristin wanted to find someplace to recover her pre-baby body. She happened upon a Fitness Pole Dancing class in Los Angeles (where she lived at the time), and fell in love with it. When she and her family relocated to Naperville, she couldn't find pole dancing classes locally, so she started her own. Being certified through Cooper Clinic as a Personal Trainer, Kristin decided to teach pole dancing classes for friends and family and that passion for dancing has evolved into a thriving business.

"Tease is three things combined," Hubbard says. "Finding your bliss through your body, a challenging but really fun workout, and the 'Tease sisterhood.' These three elements come together and create an incredibly powerful experience for each woman, which is what makes each class so special."

When you enter the Tease studio, what little light there is comes from two sources, candles and a single chandelier which hangs from a "tent like" ceiling in the center of the room. The studio includes four dance poles and while the instructor sits below the brightest light in the room, the students are placed around the perimeter of the room where there is less light. This is done intentionally to help students feel more comfortable and less self-conscious. As a student, I appreciated that, given my personal trepidation .

The class begins with a 45-minute floor stretching sequence including some yoga and Pilates moves. From there it's on to the pole. Kristin taught movements that, although you wouldn't practice them everyday - though she encourages you to - the various movements challenged my body. With climbs and spins, my upper body was working overtime. Even with the challenge, Kristin did a great job of making the class fun.

However, Kristin told me that she kicked up the level of the class for my benefit; I think I appreciated that.

K ristin says, "Pole dancing is a big step out of the bo x for most women. But when these women come into their own ... it's a force of nature. Pole dancing has an interesting past that most people don't even know about. It began in the circus; men and women would dance on the poles that held up the tents. It wasn't until the 1980's that the pole came to gentlemen's clubs. But that's what people know."

What people don't know is that it's certainly a workout, 90 minutes of stretching and strengthening. For me, I must confess, I was pleasantly surprised and appropriately challenged.

So, is pole dancing for you? I would encourage you to check out a class, if you're looking for something very different. Tease offers classes Level 1 through Level 7 - something for everyone.

For more information visit www.teasedan ceandfitness.com or you can call 630-901-9697. Tease Dance and Fitness is at 1841 Wherli Road in Naperville. New classes begin Sunday.

1. We got up earlyish, walked to her studio in downtown Naperville, Illinois, and dove into a pretty intense workout. About halfway through, it dawned on me that I was training with one of the real elites in our business and was delighted at my great luck of having this opportunity. There was Nicki sweating next to me as she counted out reps, cued me on f orm and kept me going with her abundance of energy and humor. My muscles were trembling when we finished the creative cardio-strength circuit work.

1. Nicki writes a weekly fitness column for a local newspaper. This week she chose to research and report on a local pole fitness enterprise that has opened in Naperville. A few hours after our morning workout, we drove over to Tease Dance and Fitness and were warmly welcomed by owner Kristin Hubbard. Kristin’s philosophy for women is to “Be Confident; Be Sexy; Be Strong,” and I definitely got the sense that she lives and breathes it. At first glance, her space appears to be the polar opposite of Nicki’s. It’s open, it’s dark—it’s sensuous with wafts of lilac and patchouli wafting through the candle-lit studio. There are 5 poles in the room forming a “circle” with an old antique chandelier softly illuminating the c ent er and colorful, silky material forming an exotic “tent” overhead. But then it dawned on me that, beneath the surface, this space wasn't so unlike Nicki's afterall. It also is a "safe" environment for women. It was dark, comfortable and pretty. It was so unlike a regular fitne ss facility that I could see why so many women who otherwise would never set foot in a gym would feel unintimidated about being here. 

Click here to read a great 2009 article about us!

Dancing with the Poles

By MEG DEDOLPH Staff writer

For women who find step aerobics boring and spin class a snore, there are a couple of area businesses bringing pole dancing to the suburbs. The classes remove the seedier elements from the activity and focus on exercise, camaraderie and good, clean fun, said teacher Kristin Hubbard of Naperville."They've lifted me up so much and helped me become a woman again," Fazekas said of taking cl asses at Tease Workout. Hubbard's business, Tease Workout, expanded almost faster than she could manage. She started teaching classes in her basement, with about 18 students, last September. Now, less than a year later, she has more than 100 students and has outgrown her renovated garage. She'll be offering classes in a storefront in the University Commons shopping center down the s street from her house, starting this month. Small groups Despite the bigger space, she doesn't want the classes to get bigger. No w, they have about a half-dozen students each, and that's small enough so the students can form a bond with each other, she said. “"I want to share this with more women, but I don't want to push it,&qu ot;” she said. “"It's already done way more than I was ready for. Th at's been tough.̶ 1; Had she known demand would be so great, she wouldn't have renovated her 400-square-foot garage, adding a wood floor, mirrors and pale yellow walls, as well as the three floor-to-ceil ing poles. The family parks their vehicles in the driveway. “"I had no idea at all, otherwise I would have been prepared for it,"” she said. “"I wouldn’'t have spent $20,000 to turn this into a really nice garage.” New locat ion To prepare the rental space, she moved the three poles and did some redecorating. She plans to use a small conference room for child care for moms who enrolled in her daytime classes. The classes include 45 minutes of a Pilates-style workout, including abdominal exercises, before the members start learning a pole routine. “"We work on self-esteem and uplifting each other,” she said. “"The end of class is when we dance and everyone's screaming and telling everyone how great t hey are.” Hubbard, a personal trainer who also taught classes at the f ormer Naper Olympic Health Club, offers about 14 classes a week and has hired several teachers to help with the workload a d. The eight-week sessions cost $200, and Hubbard has had no trouble finding willing students. “"We don't advertise, it's all word-of-mouth,” she said. “"The majority of the women in here are soccer moms. They've got the husband an d the kids and they've lost touch with their sensuality and want to get in shape –- and this is definitely more fun than any kickboxing class.” `Newest rage’- Carolyn Trisilla of Aurora, who owns Friskey Business, caters to a slightly different segment of the market. Rather than running pole-dancing classes from a studio, she sends consultants to in-home parties. Many of them are bachelorette parties, at least during the summer, but she's been hired for other gatherings, including a bunco party. “"It's a different kind of party, it's fun for all our friends to get around, and everyone's hooting and hollering,” she said. She has 10 consultants, and handl es two or three parties a week on her own. Trisilla plans to add more consultants, up to 30, by the end of the summer. “"I definitely want to grow a little bit more with the c onsultants and see where it goes from there,” she said. “"I have one consultant in Iowa, one in Indiana and the rest are just around here.” Trisilla said the climate seems to be right for pole dancing classes now. “"With it being on Oprah, everyone wants to do it, everyone wants to try it,” she said. “"It's the newest rage.”"
 
Aurora Beacon News...

Dancing with the poles
April 29, 2007

You'll be happy to know I'm finally taking a break from writing about kids on drugs. Today's subject: Moms on poles. Guaranteed to be a bit less serious, if not totally free of controversy. Here's the deal: It appears that pole dancing -- you know, the provocative main attraction at all those gentlemen's clubs we pretend not to notice -- has become quite the trend among the more conservative (certainly more clothed) females here in Fox Valley suburbia. Kristin Hubbard, a 35 -year-old mother of three who is a certified fitness instructor and church volunteer, started teaching pole dancing in the basement of her Naperville home last fall to 18 students. A half-year later, she boasts well more than 100 students, five instructors and blueprints for a brand new studio. And still she has trouble keeping up with the demand. "I'm going out of my mind," Hubbard says of her rapidly growing Tease Studio. "Women try (pole dancing) and see what an incredible workout it is."

Making It Their Own From Ex ercise to Hobbies to Parenting, Baby Boomers Are Putting Their Spin o n Everything

By Mary Jekielek Insprucker Daily Herald correspondent

Back in 1988, General Motors' ad campaign, "It's not your father's Oldsmobile," enticed people to purchase a newer, hipper, automobile than generations before them.

Newer and hipper seem to be the norm in several facets of a boomer's lifestyle, and we're not just talkin' trading in an Olds Ninety Eight 4-door Holiday Hardtop for a Chevy Corvette.
From replacing grandma's trip to Florida with space tourism, to casting a neon pink glow t o the golden years, it's not your father's "anything."

Exercise

Perhaps one of the mos t evident generational differences can be found in the health arena. As far back as 1982, the boomer clan quickly replaced Jack La Lanne's jumping jacks with "Jane Fonda's Workout" video and Richard Simmons' "Sweatin' to the Oldies."
Even as bone s and muscles aged, the kinder, gentler group refused to become couch potatoes as some before them. They replaced high aerobics with tai chi, yoga, and Pilates.

Moreover, although you might not p icture grandma doing pole dancing, some have embraced it as an opportunity to stay fit.
"Pole dancing appeals to some baby boomers because as th ey get older they lose some of the responsibility of family and job, so they can spend a little more time on themselves," said Kristin Hubbard, owner of Tease Workout in Naperville, which offers an eight- week pole dancing class. "Some feel it's a good way to being back some of their sensuality they fee l they've lost through menopause or breast cancer surgery."

Pole dancing as an exercise involves six levels including climbing, spinning, and i nver ting. Participants strengthen and train at their own pace.

"The health benefit of pole dancing is that it is an entire body workout with core strengthening," said Hubbard. "Using your own body weight as resistance is better than lifting weights. T he emotional and mental relaxing drops your blood pressure."
Dorene Tittle Baran, 51, of Melrose Park, knew the exercise was for her after seeing it featured on TV.

"It's so much fun and brings out my feminine and sexual side and is a great workout," said Tittle Baran. "It's a great way to get in touch and realize you can still be sexy at 50 and up. It gives me confidence to try other things I thought I couldn't do at my age

 
(c) 2007 Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.

Today's Chicago Woman

Naperville resident Kristin Hubbard, a married churchgoing mother of three, opened her Tease studio in September 2006, combining her love of Pilates, exotic dance, and pole tricks into one hardcore workout. She began with 18 students and now has more than 70, dozens of whom attest to the physical and mental benefits of pole dancing.

Perhaps it's the novelty, or perhaps it's something more. But both
Kristin Hub bard and the Knee sisters believe that “sexy fitness classes” take timid, nervous women and turn them into empowered, fit divas. Kristin can't say enough about the mental benefits women get from aerobic striptease. “"What a joy it has b een for me to see so many of my students transform from class number one, saying ‘'I’'m not sure what I'm doing here' to class number eight, saying ‘'I’'m powerful and sexy... If you only knew what I could do on a pole!’' That kind of confidence is invaluable,” Kristin says.

Click For Lesson Article
Jesse Rutherford

Across the country, instructors listed with Click for Lessons have seen their class sizes grow over the las t year; all those contacted share philosophies of positive reinforcement, openness to all body types, and policies against teaching stripping to enter the sex industry.'You're in a safe place, says Kristin Hubbard of Tease Workout in Naperville, Illinois, near Chicago, whose student roster jumped from eighteen to seventy in just six months. “'I have quite a few younger students who come first to build their confidence and second for the workout. It's an awesome way to get in shape . . . It's ninety minutes and it just flies by—- it's more like playing.” Angela Reininga, owner of Pole Velocity, also in the Chicago area, attests to the fitness a spect of the classes: “'Pole dancing was great for me because I was always sort of weak,' she confides with a laugh, “'but this has really improved my upper body strength!”

Sexy's back at pole dancing classes

Lauren Heist
Beep Staff Writer

You've never heard of a fat stripper, have you? While that may have something to do with drugs or diets (can't really say because I'm not a stripper), it most certainly has something to do with the fact that pole dancing is a killer workout. Sure, it looks easy to do a sexy strut and swing around a pole, but those risqué routines take major muscle strength. “'You use your own body weight to pull yourself up on the pole,” explains Kristin Hubbard, 35, who teach pole dancing at Tease Workout in Naperville.

Irene Yurovsky, 23, of Franklin Park, says she got interested in pole dancing after seeing it in a bunch of nightclubs she frequents, but o nce she started taking classes in February, she realized how much it works out your arms and abdominal muscles. But she says to be good at pole dancing, you just have to try it.'In some ways it's physica l but in a lot of ways it's mental,” says Yurovsky, who's now training to become a pole dancing instructor. “'I thi nk it's just kind of letting yourself go and having fun.”

Exotic dancers have bee n us ing poles for years in their routines, but the idea of turning a exoti c dance into a mainstream fitness class is a recent phenomenon.

Pole dancing classes only started emerging in the Chicago area around 2005. Hubbard started classes in September 2006 with 18 students and now has more than 100 students.“'It's very popular because it's fun,” DeBouver says. “'You're getting a whole- body workout and you're building confidence.” Hubbard says women come “to turn the world off and awake the sexual and sensual creature inside us.”
< br> Hubbard says everyone leaves a pole dancing class feeling empowered. “'You don't have to do this for money or a man,” Hubbard says. “'There's validity in being sexy for yourself.”'

Business Thrives Despite Gloomy Economy

ExplorersGroup

Despite the ‘'doom and gloom' stories currently being heard as a result of a difficult economy, Naperville-based Tease Workout continues to grow and thrive. The bus iness, which originally started in owner Kristin Hubbard's basement, has outgrown three locations and is now located in a studio on Wehrli Road in southeast Naperville. The business recently held a ribbon cutting event through the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the success of the new location.

In response the demand, Kristin has added three new instructor s, bringing Tease's total to 10 teachers. Tease Workout offers 17 classes a week at six different skill levels.

"Women will spend money to take care of themselves and have some ‘'me time'; even though the economy isn't the greatest,” says Hubbard. “'They are taking a healthy approach to living by being proactive against life's daily st ressor's.”

Class attendee Peggy (last name withheld for privacy) raves, “'Tease is a great class and a terrific workout! It makes me feel incredibly sexy!'”

Another student, Jennifer agrees: “'It's truly a wonderful experience and I really enjoy working with Kristin.”'

Tease Workout's growth has also demanded more from the company's web site. Tease hired Daria Corbett's Design Garden to completely overhaul www.teaseworkout.com to keep up with customer demand. The new web site features a beautiful new look, online payments, a retail store and class schedule.
Because we've grown,” adds Kristin, “'we needed a more professional, easy-to-use web site. It's a great problem to have!”In addition to its new location and web site, Tease Workout is adding new classes to its repertoire as well. In addition t o its standard 90 minute pole dancing workout classes, Tease is now offering 60 minute lunchtime “Quickie” workouts, along with “Teaser” classes; Teasers are stand-along classes designed to give women who are curious a chance to try the Tease Workout before committing to a full eight-week session. Response to Te asers has been overwhelming.

"Teaser classes are packed,&rdquo ; exclaims Hubbard. “Women love the chance t o try before they buy, and almost everyone who tries a Teaser signs up for a class.” Tease Workout has added private women-only lap dance and striptease classes and parties, too.

So despite words like ‘sluggish,’slow, and lag ging being used so commonly today, Tease Workout is a fresh, exciting business that's moving fast and furious to the head of the class!

Established in 2006, Tease Workout offers fun, challenging, women-only workouts that strengthen th e body, mind and spirit by combining pole dancing and Pilates into one amazing workout. Participants discover how to be strong, be confident, be beautiful. For more information, please visit www.Teasedanceandfitness..com or call (630) 901-9697.