Today we’d like to introduce you to Camila Sanchez
Hi Camila, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m an electrical engineer, orchestral musician, and group fitness instructor. I’m from San Antonio, but studied at Rice University. After graduating, I moved back to San Antonio for work but never had a positive relationship with health, fitness, and body image. I decided to change that and tried some DVDs of a group fitness class called POUND. Because POUND combined music and fitness, it really drew my attention since I had a musical background already. Since then, I turned around my health and decided to share that love/experience with others by teaching group fitness classes at several local gyms including Crunch Fitness and Gold’s Gym, where I currently teach both POUND and Zumba. When I’m not teaching, I’ve enjoyed learning a variety of different movement styles including taking KPOP dance lessons, bouldering, yoga, and even learning Salsa On 2.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s definitely been difficult. Building a class for a format that most people haven’t heard of (POUND) is extremely challenging, and in many ways, I feel the pressure to put my best foot forward to show people that there is a lot to love about the format. I’ve gone through teaching at various gyms and failing before really finding a home at my current gyms for teaching both POUND and Zumba.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m definitely most well known for teaching POUND in San Antonio. I spend a lot of time intentionally planning each POUND class to make sure that it’s fun/challenging, but also accessible for all levels. Before they try the class for the first time, a lot of people always tell me that they are worried because they aren’t coordinated, or don’t have rhythm. But I do my best to make sure that everyone feels comfortable joining the beat, and usually after people try it, they are able to catch on because everyone is doing the movement together, so they get that audio & visual feedback from everyone in the room when we strike the ground with the ripstix.
At the other end of the spectrum, I’ve also been releasing video game covers on viola on YouTube/Spotify/other platforms. I’ll drop a link to my YouTube in case that is of any interest, then I can expand on that as well.
Any big plans?
I’m very excited to try to continue to grow as an instructor and continue to share a love of movement with everyone. My hope is to choreograph more POUND and Zumba tracks so that everyone can continue to be challenged but still get to enjoy very recognizable music! I’ll also be attending a POUND cancer fundraiser event in Colorado where I hope I will get the chance to learn a lot and maybe bring back some ways to give back to the San Antonio community via similar fundraisers/events.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dynostix/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@animevivi/
