I’ll be real: I like the idea of exercising way, way more than actually sweating it out at the gym. Over the years, I’ve tried group classes, exercise DVDs, P90X, jogging, even a Bollywood Boot Camp — and while they were varying degrees of fun, there weren’t any I really looked forward to. It was more of a “take your medicine” situation; a necessary evil so I could fit into my jeans.

Then I heard about Pound. It didn’t seem like the workout series for me — the 5-DVD set came with a set of drumsticks and required you to drum to the beat of the instructors. Rhythm is not my thing. Nor is coordinated movement. If there’s a beat, I can find it for a good 10-12 seconds, and then somehow, I’m a clap behind everyone else. So initially, I dismissed the whole thing.

But, given how easily I get bored of the same ol’ workout routines, I finally caved one morning and tried it out. I rolled out a yoga mat to absorb the shock (and some noise) from beating the drumsticks on the ground, decided not to smack the sticks together out of courtesy for my neighbors, and told myself that no one else would know how horribly out-of-step I was when the inevitable occurred.

True to form, I definitely fell out of sync. Continually. But I had a blast. You’re so focused on mastering the moves and keeping the beat that you don’t realize you’re doing nonstop squats and lunges. I actually found myself looking forward to the next workout, psyched to try every routine on the DVDs.

Here’s a glimpse of what the workouts are like:

The DVD set is not cheap by any means (it’s $80 for the drumsticks, er, Ripstix, and DVD set), but it’s cheaper than a gym membership. Pound workouts are also offered as group fitness classes all across the country, so you could always sign up for one to try it out before buying the series, if you’re interested.

 

 

Photo: Pound Rockout Workout

Note: This is not a sponsored or paid post. I did receive the DVD set for free through work, but Pound is not aware of my review, nor did they influence it in any way.