Pound, the dandiya style workout

The new workout taking the West by storm seems to be like a more vigorous form of dandiya.

The new workout, Pound — dandiya minus the dance, plus the squats, lunges and crunches — is taking the United States by storm. One look and it’s like our very own Dandiya, a traditional Indian dance in which participants mark rhythm with coloured sticks.

Vasikarla Srikanth, a fitness expert and choreographer, says that dandiya is an excellent form of exercise, which burns as many calories as jogging or swimming. The only difference is that Pound has less footwork. With no jumping or dancing, the workout is more of a jam session where you get to scream out as you burn those calories away.

“In context to our country, they will end up relating this to dandiya without doubt. There might be takers for this but I’m not sure that there is any one in the country certified to lead a Pound class yet. This is again one of the many recent programmes that has hit the fitness scene,” says Jegatha Muralidharan (Jags), DanceJockey and Zumba Jammer.

“Dandiya is an excellent way to lose fat, especially around the belly. Since it is a vigorous workout, it not only improves posture and digestion, but also blood circulation,” he adds. What is Pound For those who are wondering what pound is, it is a full-body cardio jam session, developed by two female drummers — Kirsten and Cristina — in the US, the workout uses drumsticks specifically designed for exercise to help participants burn up to 900 calories in a 45-minute class through intense cardio, conditioning and strength training, as well as yoga and pilates inspired moves. One slams around with a pair of 'Ripstix', which are double the weight of drumsticks.

“Being a hard-core dance and fitness enthusiast, I do try out and experiment other dance styles and fitness formats. As for my opinion on Pound, it definitely looks fun and intense. The whole concept of jamming with the illusion of playing a drum is pretty cool. Though I haven’t tried this yet, I would surely want to give it a shot. To really work with the prop and bringing music to life sounds good to me,” adds Jegatha, the only Zumba Jammer for India.

But Uttara Sharma, Power Yoga and Pilates expert, has a different take on this new concept, she says, “According to me it’s an incomplete workout and a short term fad. Pound doesn’t focus on functional movements and strength. It’s just a cardio. It’s new and unproven, people may like it in short time.”

Dandiya is an excellent form of exercise, it burns as many calories as jogging or swimming. The dance form includes exercises like shoulder press and waist rotation Vasikarla Srikanth, Choreographer