Some people say running is a way to let go. The wind in your hair, as your feet pound the pavement, passing strollers and dodging leashes. I am not one of those people.

Sure, I log some time on the treadmill in my basement, but do I enjoy it? No. I just don’t get it. Treadmills and I have a long, complicated relationship that has left me with both physical and emotional scars. That’s the reason I decided to drag my butt out of bed, last Friday morning, to take the Cardio Pump class at 7:30 a.m. at Ryerson’s MAC.

Cardio that doesn’t mean I have to stare at the red blinking numbers, ever-so-slowly ticking down, seems like a good thing to me, and instructor Stephanie Yankovich agrees. 

“We’re able to get away from the monotonous treadmill cardio,” she said. “And we sneak in strength training when you’re not looking.”

Yankovich, who also teaches kettlebell, Bosu and ViPR classes at Ryerson, sets up the class in interval-based circuits, tailoring the workouts for the number of students who show up.

Since there were four of us that day, each of us were given a different exercise that we did for one minute. When the minute was up, we moved to the next exercise, eventually completing the entire circuit. Most times, we did each whole circuit twice.

Although there were exercises I love to hate — I’m looking at you, mountain climbers — the way circuits were set up really got me to push myself. If I was doing it by myself, there would be no way I would be doing a full minute of squat jumps. 

Yankovich includes a lot of different and fun equipment into the workout, like rope ladders for agility training (think football-style drills) and a ground and pound punching bag named Frank, where, donning gloves and straddling the bag, we got to punch to our heart’s content. 

“I like to introduce people to equipment they haven’t used before,” Yankovich said. “I hope it makes them interested in taking classes with that equipment in the future.”

I was especially happy to try the slam ball, a heavy ball that has no bounce. Raising the ball above our heads, we slammed it into the ground as hard as possible, making sure to use our core muscles. 

All the exercises are done fast, to raise your heart rate, giving it the cardio component.

Although Yankovich has only been teaching the class for less than a month, she said she’s made the class her own by choosing cardio exercises she likes to do.

If you’re like me and dread the beeping and monotony of a treadmill, I recommend checking out the class. But, if you’re one of those people who just can’t get enough of running, then more power to you. Stick with what you love.