In Pound Fit, the rhythm rules. Being rhythmically challenged myself, I’m worried this is going to be Grade 6 music class all over again with Mr. Tombler yelling at me for being off beat with my tuba.
But my worrying is all for naught. I meet up with instructor Karlee Vukets at the Underground Dance Centre, which is literally underground, on Richmond Street West and she hands me my “Ripstix.”

Pound Fit was created by Kirsten Potenza and Cristina Peerenboom, who are both recreational drummers and former athletes. 

They relied on stability-based exercises, such as Pilates, to keep their bodies aligned, symmetrical and lean, but they were bored. They longed to reignite the fun in exercise. 

It wasn’t until they were forced to drum without a stool and squat over the drum kit that they realized drumming and exercise could be one and the same.

The pals spent three months hashing out fast-paced but simple routines focusing on squats and lunges. 

In a 50-minute class, participants smash a mat on the floor with the quarter-pound Ripstix (double the weight of an average drumstick) an average of 15,000 — yes, 15,000 — times.

What began as one class in Los Angeles in 2011 has now reached 35 countries with a network of more than 7,000 instructors. 

Pound Fit is new to Toronto, and Vukets’ is the only class offered.

The workout is far more intense than you might imagine — you’re almost always in a squatting position or engaging your core muscles, all the while pounding to the beat of the tracks.

I catch on pretty quickly to the moves, like the Lock and Squat. It begins in a deep plié, where I extend one of the Ripstix in front of me and the other behind my head. 

I pulse lower into my plié as I reach my arm back behind my head. This three-part move tones the inner thighs, glutes, shoulders, biceps and triceps.

There’s also the Balancin’ Bass. This variation of the classic boat pose is ideal for strengthening the core, cinching the waistline and mobilizing the important muscles of the hip flexor group. 

It begins with me balancing on my sit bones with my knees bent. My pointed toes graze the ground and my arms are over my head. 

Then, while keeping my trunk stable, I slowly draw my legs upward, bring my toes to the sky and the Ripstix down toward the outside of my thighs.

The Pound Fit class is every Thursday at noon at the Underground and is suitable for every age and drumming ability.

For me, the class was exhilarating and it flew by. I left wanting more.