T-R PHOTO BY SUSANNA MEYER —  Over a dozen community members participated in the Saturday morning Pound in the Park fitness class at West End Park. Pound is a form of aerobic exercise that combines fitness with music and the drumsticks class participants are holding are weighted, giving them a workout as they pound out the beat of various songs.

The cool, cloudy weather Saturday morning was the perfect backdrop to work up a sweat at the Pound in the Park fitness class, and over a dozen people joined in the fun at West End Park for the unique exercise experience.

The Pound class — presented by Marshalltown Parks and Recreation and taught by Sarah Perry and Shelby Shipley — is a fitness course centering around aerobics with a musical flair. Each person attending the event was given a pair of weighted drumsticks, and during the class, music with heavy beats was played so the attendees could pound out the rhythm as they worked out.

Perry, who has been a licensed Pound instructor for about five years, said the fast pace and loud quality set Pound apart from other fitness classes. In a single 45-minute workout session, there are approximately 15,000 strikes with the drumsticks, and each song played has a different routine attached to it.

Usually, West End Park is reserved for weekly Yoga in the Park classes on Saturday mornings, but Heidi Draisey, one of the organizers of Yoga in the Park, asked Perry to come in to shake up the routine a little bit. She was glad to help.

“We were invited by Heidi to fill in for a Saturday and give it a shot, and what better way to start the weekend I guess? It’ll get loud and pretty exciting on a Saturday morning,” Perry said.

Generally, Perry teaches evening Pound classes at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but those classes are currently on hold for the summer. Thus, the Saturday class was a good opportunity to introduce the unique form of exercise to a new group of people.

When Perry first started teaching Pound five years ago, she jumped into it after teaching Zumba classes for a period of time. She discovered that she really enjoyed it and wanted to share Pound with the Marshalltown community.

“Pound was just kind of new and exciting, and it looks really cool. I mean, to be honest, like, it looks really cool, it’s represented by a lightning bolt and again, it’s really loud. You use current, updated music and it’s got great beats and you just feel really invigorated,” Perry said. “I’m excited to see some new people and see their expressions when they get to try this for the first time.”

Draisey said she wanted to bring in Perry to provide some variety for the community, and she also wanted to show off some of the night programming that is usually available.

“I really love being involved in the community and bringing healthy programming to the community, and what better way than to invite some of the programming that’s at night?” Draisey asked. “It’s a chance to kind of do a class swap and get them in here so we can bring people down from their regular classes to experience this park and maybe come back to Yoga in the Park. And then of course, allow our Yoga in the Park attendees to check this really awesome energetic class out.”

While Pound in the Park was a one-time event, regular evening Pound classes at the Coliseum taught by Perry or Shipley will be coming back this fall. To learn more about those classes, visit https://www.marshalltown-ia.gov/641/POUND.

——

Contact Susanna Meyer at 641-753-6611 or smeyer@timesrepublican.com.