Poi Fitness:The Next Evolution
I finished my swimming career at the South American Championships in April of 2000. The sport of swimming gave me so much: athleticism, metal toughness,great frienships and a college scholarship but after that tournament I was ready for new challenges. I proceeded to try triathlons, running, kickboxing, soccer, and even rock climbing but it was not until 2002 that I found my the activity that was going to take over my training schedule: fire dancing.
I saw my first fire show at the House of Blues in Chicago when along with a group of friends we went to watch another friend perform. It was a magical experience and soon after I was completely hooked. As a Kinesiology major (Science of Human Movement) I was thrilled to have found an activity that allowed me to explore infinite ways to move, I also enjoy the performance arts element which made it even more interesting to me. The conditioning component was fantastic as well since poi fitness is best when practiced to music and incorporates dancing.
After 8 years of poi practice and many more as a fitness pro I am ready to take poi fitness into the mainstream. I understand that lighting things on fire is not for everyone but neither is surfing, rock climbing, skateboarding, snowboarding or marathon running. Also to think that fire dancing is the ultimate end of poi fitness is like saying that marathon running is the ultimate end of running.
Here are some important benefits of poi fitness:
-Increases thoracic spine mobility, lumbar spine stability and hip mobility, elements that can significantly lower risk for back pain.
-Increases scapular stability which decreases risk for shoulder pain.
-Amazing core developer.
-Develops balance and stability.
-Increases total body coordination.
-Fantastic cardiovascular and muscular conditioning, specially on intermediate and advance stages.
-Promotes neurogenesis (birth of new brain cells)
-Increases total body control and integrates movement patters.
-It feels like play not work.
While I do not expect everyone who reads this blog to try poi fitness I would like you to be aware of this form of exercise because it is unfair to keep it a secret. Poi fitness has improved my life and that of so many others. If you are looking to step out of the fitness box and do something fun and effective then poi fitness might be for you.
Now, if you are ready to give poi fitness a try I am going to show you a few videos I filmed on the basics of poi spinning. Keep in mind that the possibilities of movement are infinite so you can spend your whole life learning new ways to move and spin poi.
First of the planes of movement:
The second video shows split time movement:
Next we work on Crossovers:
The next video shows how to do the front weave:
And the back weave:
If you want to learn more about poi fitness as well other fitness videos check out our Youtube Channel:
If you are in the South Florida area and want to learn how to spin poi then Kimerafitness is your best option. There are not to many fire dancers with Kinesiology degrees, top level strength and conditioning certifications, a rich athletic performance background and over a decade of experience training and coaching people. I am proud to be a member of the strength training and the performance arts communities and hope to bridge the gap between the two. I hope this blog inspires you to learn a little more about this fantastic fitness opportunity. Here is a link to where you can learn more about poi and purchase your first poi set:
If you have any questions about poi fitness let me know, I will try to keep the answers short 
Luis
