I don't know about you, but jumping around on a mini trampoline for longer than 5-10 minutes sounds like the most boring workout ever, so I don't really use rebounding to take the place of my daily, hour-long workout. Instead, I try to make sure and jump for 5-10 minutes at least once a day...and on a "bonus day" I'll jump twice, in the morning and then when I get home from work. Whoa whoa...watch out now, two jump sessions, talk about waking up that lymphatic system!
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| It's rebounding time! |
Other benefits that come from rebounding include:
- zero-impact exercise that won't stress the joints
- full body workout
- strengthens abdominal muscles
- enhances digestion and elimination
- helps burn calories
- helps decrease your resting heart rate
- circulates oxygen to tissues and muscles in the body
- helps promote relaxation
- improves quality of sleep
The list goes on and on...but enough science rambling, let's get into the basics of rebounding.
How to rebound:
- Step on your mini-trampoline
- Jump up and down
- Repeat daily
Easy enough right? Well, if you want to see a visual, here's me jumping around in this week's video...be sure to watch until the end so you can see the other person in my house who likes to rebound!
Now if you're a "health investigator" like me, you probably have some questions and hopefully I can answer them.
Does it matter what type of rebounder you use?
As I said, I got mine from Wal-Mart for $20 at the time, now it's up to $30...but really it's up to you. There are lots of fancy rebounders on the market and if you're game to drop $60-100 on one, then by all means go for it. But if you just want to give rebounding a try, I suggest you try one like mine. Heck, you might end up using it for years! Just a note, mine came with a counter to count my jumps, which was cool, but it broke after a month or so. It also came with resistance bands, which I've never really used...I just like the simple jumping.
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| My simple rebounder. |
How ever long you want to or can stand. As I said before, I usually jump for about 5-10 minutes before or after my daily workout
How do you jump?
I like to mix it up with this one...no point in jumping the exact same way for 10 whole minutes! So I will move my arms around open and close my feet and legs, and do all kinds of different jumps from big to small to keep it entertaining. This is where you can cater it to your fitness level. Maybe you are hardcore with your cardio, so I bet you could jump fast and do lots of additional movements, where as someone who is just getting into working out would maybe just jump slowly with small, gentle movements.
How to make the time go by faster while your jumping?
Jump to some music or while you're watching TV, or you could count like I do (thanks counter that came with my rebounder for getting me stuck on this habit!). For some reason I love doing reps of 200 on the trampoline...I have no idea why I started doing it years ago, and like to jump to that number. So each time my feet hit the trampoline, I count. Once I get to 200, I take a break and start again. I continue this till I'm tired.
Any tips for someone just getting started?
Start slow. As with any new sport or physical activity, you'll probably be rip-roaring and ready to go the first time you jump because it will feel so good, so go for it...but only a little. If you go all out the first time you jump, you will be sore in places you never thought you would just by jumping on a trampoline. Personally, if I go a long period of time without jumping and then I get back into it, my lower abs get so sore from the rebounding...and yet I never would have though that I was using my abs while jumping! I guess that just goes to show that rebounding really is one rocking workout for your whole body!
But to get more specific, if you're a beginner, I'd ease in by just doing 100 jumps or less that first day and then see how you feel. Maybe you can increase it the next and or maybe you need to scale it back. Also, depending on your physical activity level, 100 may be way to much for you, so start small and slow and then work yourself up to more.
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| I love incorporating my arms into my rebounding. It really makes it feel like a "full body workout!" |
When in the day should I do rebounding?
Whenever you want. Maybe you would like to start your day to some jumping, or right before lunch you could squeeze in a little "jump session" whatever works for you is fine. As long as your at least jumping once a day for 5-10 minutes it doesn't really matter. I said before I like to do it before or after a workout, depending on the type of workout I do to help me warm up or cool down.
But sometimes I use rebounding as a way to take a break from what I'm working on. Like a blog post for example! Maybe I've been sitting at my laptop for a long time and I can feel my body start to get tight, my eyes starting to hurt and my ideas starting to get stagnant...that's when I know it's time to jump. So I'll head down to my basement, jump for about 5 minutes or so, and come back to work feeling refreshed, awake, and revived. In fact, I've come up with many good ideas, blog posts and recipes while rebounding...so thanks little $30 Wal-Mart mini-trampoline, you rock!
Word to the Wise:
Ladies, this is probably common sense, but you'll probably want to be sure and wear a sports bra when you're rebounding...it's so much more comfortable this way, for obvious reasons. Nursing mamas, I'm talking to you too! ( :
So what do you think?
Does rebounding sound like something you could easily add into your daily routine, if you're not doing it already? Maybe it could take the place of your workout, or maybe it could just be used to give you a "break" from your work. I sure would love one in my preschool classroom...maybe someday. I bet my students would love that. Too bad they would have to always be kicking me off of it!
Have you ever done rebounding? Do you like it? How do you make it work with your daily routine? Do you have a favorite mini-trampoline? Any health benefits you've seen come from rebounding? Share below!
Happy jumping!
- Frugally Sustainable as part of the "Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Blog Hop
