There are times when many of us dread exercising. We look at it as a chore rather than a fun approach to staying healthy. That's why more people are looking for unique ways to get the heart pumping and muscles toned. Drumming, both traditional and modern, is catching on as a workout for the mind, body and soul. CCTV's May Lee tried out some classes where you can literally pound away the pounds.

Yuta Kato makes Taiko drumming look easy. This centuries-old musical art form, first introduced to Japan through Korean and Chinese influence, takes years to master. But this class at the Taiko Institute in Torrance, California is full of newbies including your's truly, who are looking for an off-beat way to workout and Taiko does not disappoint.

Physicist-turned-Taiko teacher Chris Bergstrom swears by the transformative power of drumming.

"I have seen people come in that are kind of down, searching for something. Here, through Taiko, not only do they have the physicality and the music, they meet people and they have fun, and they have this regular thing that's good for them, so in that holistic sense, I have seen transformation for sure," Chris said.

But if you're more of a music-loving, heart-pumping, rock star wanna-be, then POUND is right up your alley. Pound is an intense workout using weighted drumsticks called Ripstix. And as the name suggests, there's a LOT of pounding throughout the 45-minute class.

I did not know what to expect, but that was really fun and hard.

Kirsten Potenza created Pound with her friend and fellow drummer Christina Peerenboom after one of them had to squat while playing the drums.

"There's a very therapeutic experience that you go thru, because you're hitting something for 45 minutes.We've seen people transform inside and out. Weight loss, they feel empowered, they feel confident again,"  Potenza said.

For pound, you get to feel like a rock star which is super fun.

I've lost 60-ish pounds since I started pounding, not just with pound, but it was a supplement with everything else I was doing.

So far pound is taught in 35 countries. Plans are in the works to tap the market in Asia, or should I say, Pound the market