Jenni Waters hates to work out. Yet, the 29-year-old Roanoke resident maintains a flat stomach, flexibility and toned arms that would make Michelle Obama jealous.

Just three years ago, she weighed almost 100 pounds heavier.

She changed her life with pole fitness.

Growing up, Waters described herself as awkward and clumsy. At 5-foot-10-inches, she had always been considered large compared with some of her classmates, and even played running back during her junior and senior years of high school in Pawnee, Okla.

After giving birth to her son Gabriel in 2010, Waters wasn’t comfortable in her own skin. Her weight was down to 195 after reaching an all-time high of 225 pounds before she went into labor, but Waters still didn’t feel like herself.

Desperate, she tried pole fitness. Waters bought a pole for her home and began teaching herself some moves. She quickly became obsessed.

“I was poling up to three hours a day sometimes, it really became my passion,” she said.

The passion quickly turned into weight loss. Waters lost 40 pounds in three months — so much weight she said her physician thought she had cancer. She was also much more flexible and her muscles were toning. Loose skin can be a problem for many people who lose a lot of weight, but Waters hasn’t experienced that thanks to the stretching involved in poling.

“I’m everything they told me I’d never be as a child,” she now says proudly. Today she weighs about 135 pounds.

Waters’ boyfriend and mother were skeptical when she first started practicing pole fitness. But they’ve seen the changes it brought to her life.

Waters’ mother, Debbie Robinson of Catawba, explained that once people experience a class, they see that there are no moral issues.

“Since she’s started doing this I’ve been introduced into the associations she has and how it is a fitness thing, not a sex trade. It’s transformed her whole body image and her flexibility, her energy level. I don’t know how she does everything she does,” Robinson said.

She went on to explain that the activity seems to be more widely accepted in bigger cities.

“People who have been to bigger cities and seen all of these alternative things aren’t as surprised. Even ballroom dancing classes are kind of different in this area,” she said. “It’s just what you’re familiar with.”

Athleticism required

Pole fitness first gained popularity in the mid-2000s. Then, in 2010, Moses Carroll started Pole Dance America, an entity of his company MC Healthcare. MC Healthcare is a nonprofit that organizes pole competitions, health fairs and seminars that encourage people to get healthy.

Carroll, who currently acts as wellness coordinator for MC Healthcare as well as director and national manager of Pole Dance America, was introduced to the sport when he saw a pole fitness competition online.

He saw the activity as a largely untapped market in the United States. Carroll also said that it has early roots in Africa and India, where men would perform on a pole to attract women or simply for sport. Poling, however, has since become associated with the adult entertainment industry.

“If you take a vertical pole and put it in a playground, it’s just a pole that everyone’s going to play on and try to climb the fastest. If you put it in an adult arena, it turns into a stripper pole. We’re trying to open their eyes and say this is challenging,” Carroll said.

His goal with Pole Dance America competitions is to show the strength and agility the activity requires.

“These ladies and men are athletes. They do things that the average person or average athlete can’t do,” he said. “It takes a stage to make that happen, and I’m providing that stage.”

Once spectators view a competition, he said, their opinion begins to change. These competitions are about athleticism, not risque performances.

Waters agrees.

“There’s always going to be those people who think it’s all about stripping,” she said, “but we’re trying to change that.”

Making it a business

Later in 2010, Waters began teaching friends pole fitness in her apartment. During that time, she traveled around the country to workshops to learn from the pros. In February 2012, she got her certification in Pole-Ology from Star Pole Fitness in Augusta, Ga.

Fast-forward to today and Waters’ business, Arete Pole Fitness. She’s also a co-manager at Sonic Drive-In and is in the process of completing two bachelor’s degrees from National College: one in accounting and one in management.

“I always talk about how pole dancing changed my life. It’s my journey towards perfection, and that’s what ‘arete’ means,” Waters said. “In Greek, it translates to something like ‘be the best you can be.’ ”

Waters wanted to open her business because she was tired of travelling for workshops. She figured others must have the same problem.

Waters originally opened the fitness studio in Roanoke in August 2012. In November, Waters moved her studio to Salem after a landlord dispute.

Since the move, she has gained attention after offering daily deals for classes on various group saving sites.

“A lot of people didn’t know we existed. It’s all been really positive,” Waters said. “We’ve gotten a lot of new people coming to check it out and a lot of them come back.”

Currently a variety of pole classes — including beginner and intermediate classes, stretching classes, burlesque classes and more — are held at various times Monday through Saturday. Waters also has five apprentices, two of whom will help her start teaching classes soon: Melanie Pierce, 27, of Salem, and Shealynn Murphy, 23, of Roanoke.

Bruises are badges

The students at Arete are varied. Two men are currently taking classes, and Waters’ oldest student is 64. She also hosts pole parties and will soon host a sorority from Washington and Lee University for a bonding fitness session. Students as young as 14 can participate under the supervision of a parent or guardian.

Many of her students are surprised how fun and invigorating pole fitness can be. Once they learn some basics, they’ll also start noticing some changes to their bodies after taking one class a week for a month, Waters said.

“Things get easier each week. If you struggled with a move one week, the next time it’s surprisingly easier,” said Murphy, an apprentice. “I’ve never had muscles before. I’m definitely more toned.”

Watching a class in Arete is mesmerizing, but not in a sensual way — it’s not all about bare skin.

“You evolve out of your clothes and then back into them,” Waters joked.

Most beginner students start out barefoot in a T-shirt and shorts, but gradually begin wearing less clothing as they get into positions that require them to grip the pole with their body. Once their muscles get stronger and they need less grip to hold them up, they gradually start wearing more clothes again.

And don’t be alarmed at the number of bruises you spot in a pole class; those are hard-earned “accomplishment bruises,” as Murphy says. The bruises are a result of flipping around on the pole and learning the different grips.

“We see the bruises as badges of honor,” Waters said.

In the future, Waters hopes to spruce up her studio, which currently houses six poles, various mirrors and a trophy case with her awards and certificates, including the 2012 Horizon Award from The Park, a Roanoke nightclub, which honors the best talent for the year. The award means she also gets to perform on the last Friday of each month at the club. She also won the Miss Creativity Award from Pole Dance America, which holds state and national competitions.

Over the coming year, Waters said she hopes to add decorations, more mirrors around the studio and more trophies to the case. She said she also hopes the number of students increases, too.

“I hate the gym, and I’m really a lazy person, but I love this,” Waters said. “I want to inspire other people to push themselves.”

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