This story comes from our January 2018 issue. For more content like this, subscribe to the magazine.
Even if you’re not a dancer, when the music calls, you have to move.
Connie Mullen first learned about Pound Rockout Workout at a fitness conference a few years back. “Pound intrigued me. I love to move,” she says of the drumming-inspired fitness class. After trying Pound, she thought, “I have to teach this class.” Mullen earned her certification in a daylong training class in New York, then returned to South Florida where she’s been teaching the class for four years at Organic Movements in Boca Raton.
Pound is a total body “cardio jam session” that uses weighted Ripstix, or drumsticks, to help participants burn up to 900 calories per hour. The Ripstix weigh a quarter-pound each, but the resistance is challenging. Students “drum” above their heads, on the ground and side-to-side, guaranteeing plenty of repetitions and muscle movement.
Connie Mullen
“There’s about 15,000 hits per class,” Mullen says. “You don’t even realize you’re exercising.”
This, in part, is the beauty of Pound: keeping the mind distracted with Ripstix while using various muscle groups choreographed to a two-, three- or four-minute song.
“You want to challenge your body to avoid plateaus,” Mullen says. The workouts target abs, back, arms, chest and legs with hardly any true “dance” moves; lunges and squats are commonplace, though.
Mullen plays a mix of hip-hop, rock and pop to meet the musical tastes of her class members, changing tunes every couple weeks or so.
No matter your level of fitness, Pound is designed for anyone at any age. Studies show that drumming has powerful, positive effects on the body: reduced anxiety and stress, better focus and concentration skills, lower blood pressure and even improved decision-making abilities. Mullen has students from 6 to 96 years old at her classes.
“Health is a variety of shapes and sizes,” she says. “I try to interact with people where they are.”
ORGANIC MOVEMENTS, 2400 Boca Raton Blvd., Suite 12, Boca Raton; 561/395-6111
This story comes from our January 2018 issue. For more content like this, subscribe to the magazine.
