Class review by Toni Krasicki
Drummers have always impressed me, not just with their uncanny knack at knocking out a fine rhythm, but also their strong shoulders and bulging biceps. It’s amazing what pounding a couple of wooden sticks can do to the body. If you’re like me, and harbour an inner rockstar drummer just waiting to be unleashed, or you’re just keen to try a fun way to get fit, then POUND may be the group fitness class for you.
Launched in Los Angeles in 2011, the POUND workout was created by a couple of female drummers and fitness professionals, Kirsten Potenza and Cristina Peerenboom. Merging Pilates-inspired movements for core strength, and lots of squats and lunges to blast the lower body, the class is a fusion of cardio interval training and core work. Throw in some drumsticks to give the upper body something to do and drum your heart out. Using slightly weighted (less than a pound) plastic drumsticks called Ripstix™; you get to pound, beat and drum to varying rhythms while lunging, squatting, balancing and lifting.
An innovative way to improve coordination and agility, the combinations are easy to follow so you won’t find yourself standing around scratching your head. It’s not a dance class, although you can find your rhythm to the music (if you can hear it above the pounding) and add a hip shake if you can fit it in between everything else. But be ware, the workout is in the drumsticks: the harder you pound the harder the workout. That goes with the squats and lunges too, you really do need to work the legs so you can get low enough to pound the floor. The drumsticks also come in handy during the core tracks (there are at least three), rather than scream or cry out, you can channel your pain through your drumsticks and into the floor or the sticks themselves.
Expect to hit most body parts during the 50 to 55-minute workout, and if done properly, there’ll be some delayed muscle soreness the following day. It’s the most fun I’ve had in the aerobics room for a while, and from all the unbridled pounding, I breezed out of the room stress-less.
More information at www.poundfit.com or try a class for yourself at www.hardcandyfitness.com.au and www.ufcgymsydney.com