Cristina Peerenboom

Cristina Peerenboom co-created POUND, a rhythm-based group fitness format that has become widely distributed across gyms and studios worldwide. Working alongside Kirsten Potenza, Peerenboom developed the method from a shared background as athletes and recreational drummers dissatisfied with conventional gym routines. Their core innovation was to remove the drummer's stool, play from a squat, and treat the physical action of striking as the basis for a repeatable group workout.

POUND's founding dates to 2011. By September of that year, Peerenboom and Potenza were already demonstrating their "rockout workout" on television, using drumsticks and yoga mats in what would become the public format. The method combined low-impact and higher-intensity options—lunges, squats, floor work—with rhythmic striking using lightly weighted sticks later branded Ripstix.

Throughout 2014–2016, profiles identified Peerenboom and Potenza as POUND's creators and explained their artistic philosophy in interviews. They emphasized music, team feeling, permission to be loud, and an alternative to appearance-centered fitness culture. During this period, POUND classes spread through studios while the founders developed instructor training and home-workout products.

Peerenboom's public profile later identified her as a former founder of POUND and Ontop, and describes her current work as a DJ and co-founder of Dance Marathon, with a base in Bogotá. Her historical importance to movement culture lies in co-authoring an environment rather than a codified technique—packaging beat, repetition, dramatic gesture, and collective unison into an accessible class structure that made conditioning feel like shared performance.