POUND® is the world’s first cardio jam session inspired by the infectious, energising and sweat-dripping fun of playing the drums, and it’s fab! So how does it work? POUND® uses Ripstix, which are lightly weighted drumsticks engineered specifically for exercise, and transforms drumming into a really effective workout. Ripstix add 1/4 pound of weight to each movement which throws the body off balance, making you contract your core muscles. They intensify each position with light resistance that works the shoulders, biceps, triceps, forearms and back. With a Ripstick in each hand you become the music and get a full body workout that combines cardio, conditioning and strength training with Yoga and Pilates inspired movements. It’s exhilarating, slightly tribal and appeals to your inner animal (come on, you know it’s in there).
Successful ventures are born of passion, and pound is no exception. It’s co-founders Kirsten Potenza and Christina Peerenboom had a passion for music but not for fitness, so they determined to find a way to combine the two, to capture the experience of being a musician and transplant that feeling into a workout. This was Los Angeles 2010, and since then Pound has exploded around the globe. They say, “POUND fitness classes are a place where the rhythm rules. Where the beat becomes us. At every age and any stage. Movement Musicians are born. We are a family of Fitness Rebels born to stand out, make noise and disrupt norms. We turn workouts into Jam Sessions and balance into a lifestyle. We’re not afraid to turn up the volume -in class, as humans, or in life.”
Absolutely not! The best thing is it is perfect for all fitness levels, it transcends age and gender and it brings you back to life after a tough day. Unlike many exercise options, it’s not a chore. It’s fantastic fun, you get to sing along, rock out with great people and work your whole body without noticing (well, until you try and get out of bed the next day!). If you don’t enjoy leg workouts at the gym the a POUND class could be for you! The leg exercises incorporated into the routines are super effective!
As if just rocking up and having fun isn’t reward enough, you get a whole lot of other benefits. You can burn around 900 calories an hour (although classes are around 50 minutes). Wow! That’s more than 3 Mars bars! You’ll strengthen and sculpt muscles you didn’t know you had, improve your rhythm, timing, coordination, speed, agility, endurance, knock inches off your waistline, slim your thighs, and strengthen your connective tissue and infrastructural muscles. The rhythm of drumming permeates the entire brain to improve focus, increase decision making skills, lower blood pressure, relieve stress, and decrease chronic pain. And on top of all that you get to become a real life rock god or goddess. What are you waiting for?
