If your idea of a workout looks more like head-banging at a rock concert than logging miles on a treadmill, then POUND may just be your fitness spirit animal. There is nothing quite like a good POUND workout: the high energy, the loud music and the most fun sweat you’ve worked up in your life. Headlining the POUND movement are Kirsten Potenza and Cristina Peerenboom, real-life best friends, business partners and all around badasses. These girls are both recreational drummers and fitness buffs – and they’ve married the two in an experience that is literally taking the world by storm. The concept behind this killer workout is simple yet genius: a full-body cardio jam session using weighted Ripstix to drum-session members slim in a 45-minute calorie-blasting blowout. And the rockin’ POUND playlists that range from hip hop to dubstep to your favorite hard rock hits? They’re sure to bring out the inner Travis Barker in anyone.
We consider ourselves group fitness connoisseurs – or at least junkies – so when we say that there is nothing like a good POUND session, we mean business. Kirsten and Cristina ooze coolness in the most authentic way, like the awesome older sister of your best friend who you idolized as a kid. Get in on the action at select gyms like Crunch and private studios from L.A. to Sydney – or, if you’re the type who’d rather pound it out at home, check out their backstage pass or newly released Album 1: Sweat, Sculpt, Rock. Get to know these raucous rockers for yourself below, then enter our giveaway to win a “Rockout Workout” of your own – Ripstix included!
Name:
Kirsten Potenza and Cristina Peerenboom.
Claim To Fame:
Creators of POUND – Rockout. Workout.™
My Specialty:
Kirsten: Hopefully being an entrepreneur!
Cristina: Being awkward. And occasionally doing Ripstix stick tricks.
Moment I fell in love with fitness:
Kirsten: I fell in love with sports when I was 5 years old, the first time I stepped onto an ice skating rink. I fell in love with fitness when Cristina and I taught our very first class. It was the first time fitness felt right.
Cristina: The day Kirsten and I taught our first informal class.
Favorite class to take when not teaching:
Kirsten and Cristina: POUND – our instructors are so inspiring and fun! – and any masculine-style dance class.
When you leave my class, you feel:
Kirsten: Empowered, strong and full of positive energy…and sweaty.
Cristina: Sweaty, elated, energized and empowered.
My secret weapon:
Kirsten: Going with my gut. I always listen to that thing.
Cristina: Siri.
Go-to workout gear:
Kirsten: Our new POUNDline hoodie, Rebecca Michaels or Split 59 leggings and Nike FlyKnit kicks!
Cristina: Leggings from Rebecca Michaels and a POUND POSSE tee!
In my gym bag:
Kirsten: Frends Headphones, Eos Lip Balm
, Aveda tinted moisturizer and Ripstix!
Cristina: Ripstix, Frends headphones, and a keychain with a zillion keys and keychains on it.
Biggest inspiration:
Kirsten: My mom and dad – two of the most innovative, creative and hard working people I know. My boyfriend, Jeremy. Our incredible instructors. And, of course, Cristina – C-BOOM!
Cristina: Bill Nye and Bob Ross. And Kirsten.
Favorite workout move:
Cristina: The pelvic bridge (aka T and A position in POUND…it stands for thighs and ass, by the way.)
Kirsten: I second that!
Fave post-workout snack:
Kirsten: Coconut water and sesame honey almonds.
Cristina: Greek yogurt with berries.
Favorite way to hydrate:
Kirsten and Cristina: The Starbucks “POUND Special,” which we hope is a real “thing” someday: a humongous-sized unsweetened iced black tea, Cool Lime Refresher, and water. We fill up the empty cup with h20 for the rest of the day. (And also pee excessively for the rest of the day.)
When I'm not POUNDing, I'm:
Kirsten: Cooking, listening to music, decorating or getting outdoors!
Cristina: Hanging with the man and exploring West LA.
Fave quick workout outside the studio:
Kirsten: My bike ride to work everyday! C. and I also have 5-minute dance parties, where we dance as crazy as we can for an entire song…it gets weird…and sweaty.
Cristina: Power walking through a sketchy neighborhood.
Latest healthy obsession:
Kirsten and Cristina: Juicing! And we’re in luck – Pressed just opened up a few blocks from our houses! Wahoo!
Current Mantra:
Kirsten: Everything is as it should be.
Cristina: Listen more, speak less.
Win A Rockout Workout!
One lucky reader will win a copy of the two-disc POUND: Rockout. Workout. DVD, complete with a pair of Ripsticks! Like both the Chalkboard and POUND Facebook pages, and leave a comment telling us what makes you feel like a rockstar!
Giveaway ends 1/31/14 at 5pm PST Rock on!
