Over the summer, one of the first things I immediately did when I got home from studying abroad was rejoining my gym. Here’s the tea… They warn you about the freshman 15 but no one mentions the studying abroad weight. So, as soon as I rejoined, I was there attending 1-2 classes every day, 7 days a week. Personally, I am much more motivated to go to a fitness class for an hour to get a great workout than wandering around the gym alone, going from machine to machine, thinking to myself, “Now what?”
I first started going to fitness classes as a freshman at SHU. Specifically, Amber’s Zumba class. Since then, I was obsessed and I joined my gym the summer after freshman year and started going to classes regularly at home too. One Tuesday morning this summer, I went to what I thought was Zumba but was pleasantly surprised by the schedule change and that it was now a Pound Class.
I had never heard of Pound before this moment so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was handed two bright green drumsticks and that was that. The very motivating and passionate teacher named Heather started the class explaining how to hold the sticks properly and sampled a few different moves and stances. Then she said, “As long as you’re moving something, you’re doing it right” and the class started.
As answered by google, “Pound® is the world’s first cardio jam session inspired by the infectious, energizing and sweat-dripping fun of playing the drums. Using Ripstix®, lightly-weighted drumsticks engineered specifically for exercise, POUND® transforms drumming into an incredibly effective way of working out.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at myself for most of the first-class but I absolutely loved it and had a blast air-drumming my heart out. The music is great, I felt the burn (believe me, you will feel it as you’re in a squat for a majority of the hour), and it was different and unique from any old workout routine. After the class, I told my cousin who I sometimes go to the gym with and she was THRILLED they had it at our gym because it turns out that she had been going to Pound at her college and missed it while she was at home. So, we started going for the rest of the summer before we started work even though it was at 8:30 a.m. Then, when I was home for Columbus break, I was super excited to see that my gym added a night class to the schedule.
So, if you’re looking for a switch up to your normal workout or for something fun that is also exercise, I definitely recommend trying a Pound class. Even if you laugh at yourself and think you’re bad at it, I promise you’ll eventually get the hang of it and have a good time. I hope someone at or around SHU reads this and considers adding Pound to the Bobby Valentine Center schedule for a potential Pioneer Pound class.