One of my most favorite ways to exercise is to jump on a trampoline. Whether it’s the trampoline park we have in town, the big trampoline in the backyard, or the mini trampoline we have in the basement to round out our home gym. They all have one thing in common: They make exercise feel fun, like playing!
It turns out that jumping on a trampoline has great health benefits. The official name of the exercise is called “Rebounding”, which is just a fancy way to describe the act of jumping on a trampoline 🙂
The benefits of rebounding are so impressive that NASA actually did a study on it and published some pretty spectacular information on it. (1) Their focus was on restoring bone loss that happens when Astronauts return from space. They can lose up to 15% of their bone density and muscle mass in a 2 week period, so that is a huge issue. They had historically used a treadmill to help restore the losses, but found the trampoline to be essentially as effective, with a lot less trauma to the body. This has huge implications for people who want to build bone density without all of the pounding of things like running. Especially for women who are concerned with bone loss as it relates to Osteoporosis. Many of those women prefer the gentler option.
Here are some of the other benefits of Rebounding. I don’t have a scientific article for these, but based on my research and experience, these are some of the reasons you should consider adding this type of exercise to your routine:
- Improved lymphatic function which helps your body flush out toxins
- Helps with skeletal health and bone density
- Provides benefits similar to running without the increased impact and risk of injury
- Helps stimulate mitochondrial production (which is responsible for energy production)
- Improves balance by stimulating the middle ear
- Helps with circulation and increased oxygen production
- Improves muscle tone throughout the body
So, how do you get the benefits from rebounding. Most sources suggest 15 minutes per day or more for maximum benefit. The benefits seem to be realized if the exercise happens all at once or in short bursts throughout the day. Here are a few suggestions I have:
- Work rebounding into your existing workout schedule. If you usually run or walk on a treadmill, swap some of that out for the rebounder.
- Use the trampoline between strength sets to create an interval or circuit type of workout. There has been research done that suggests that you actually see strength gains when you incorporate jumping between sets. For an example, add a minute of jumping between strength exercises like squats, lunges, pushups or pull ups.
- Take breaks throughout the day and hop on the trampoline. This can be a great way to break up a bunch of sitting. I will try to do this during the work day if I am sitting in front of my computer a lot.
- I work jumping in to help me get my 10,000 step per day goal. Jumping will get your step count up, so if I’m falling short later in the day, I’ll hop on and get some more steps.
I hope you found this interesting. I really enjoy the rebounder and I think you will to. It’s a great way to incorporate fun exercise into your life.
If I can be of any help to you on your health journey, please reach out to me!
Dr. Jeni
(1) https://www.reboundtherapy.org/edu/root/rebound%20therapy%20study%20and%20research/NASA_Studies_Rebounding.pdf
