POUND fitness: Channel your inner drummer while you work out – LAist
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All summer long we’ve been bringing you out-of-the-box workouts available in the Southern California area. First, Take Two’s Alex Cohen gave pole dancing a spin, then she was bouncing off the walls with the newest trampoline workout fad.
But this time, it was Take Two’s Libby Denkmann’s turn to get in on the fun. For her fitness experience, Libby got to head over to Crunch gym in Burbank, for a workout with a beat.
POUND “is the world’s first cardio jam session inspired by the infectious, energizing and sweat-dripping fun of playing the drums.” Libby picked up POUND’s lime green weighted drumsticks and gave it a try.
She met up with Natalie West, a POUND fit instructor, who was her drumming guide throughout the whole experience.
Highlights
Natalie: “So in that first track, we saw a lot of what we call our set position, which is really our home base in POUND. Your feet are a little wider than shoulder distance apart when we’re squatting down we want to make sure all of the weight is in the heels. We’re holding our ripstix like a remote control, your thumbs are on top of the stick, so that way in normal drumming, a lot of your drummers are going to use your wrist, you need to keep loose wrists to keep the beat.
In POUND, however, we want to extend that arm and we’re pumping from the elbow. So when you’re pumping both of them when you feel the wrist, you’re really only feeling that impact in the wrist when you start to pump from the elbow you’re going to feel it in the arms, you’re going to start to feel it in the core.”
Natalie: “So, we’re going to be squatting while we’re hitting so we’re using our arms, we’re using our legs if we’re pumping out it’s like a chest press, but we’re using the ripstix instead. So, we’re getting a little bit of everything in that warm-up, starting to warm-up those muscle groups.”
Natalie: “We do over 15,000 repetitions and pumps in a class, in a 45-minute class. Don’t be scared, you’re going to let your inner rockstar out, you’re not even going to notice, you’re not going to feel it. It’s like stress release. It’s therapy. Hitting the ground that many times actually starts to feel really good.”
Libby: “Natalie, I’m a little scared.”
Natalie: “Don’t be scared, it’s going to be great.”
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.
LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network.