Benefits of Jumping on a Mini Trampoline or Rebounding

The technical name for jumping on a trampoline or mini trampoline or mini-trampoline is rebounding. I have read a whole book on rebounding. If you do it, you can call yourself a rebounder. There are experts on rebounding called reboundologists.

There are even certified reboundologists although some may say that they are certifiable (officially recognized as needing treatment for a mental disorder). I learned about this when I was learning about herbology or herbalism. An herbalist told me that she would get people taking herbs at the same time that she sold them a mini trampoline. Before this I used to teach trampolining at a summer camp that is also rebounding but they are doing it for fun, not health benefits.

They would use both of them and getting amazing benefits including losing weight. When I learned more about rebounding I saw that they would get someone who was paralyzed below the waist to sit on the rebounder (another name for mini trampoline) while someone else jumped on it. Explaining this requires a little bit of physics.

When the full force of gravity is on you, it is called 1 G. Here is what Wikipedia says:

For example, the 1 g force on an object sitting on the Earth's surface is caused by mechanical force exerted in the upward direction by the ground, keeping the object from going into free-fall.

Objects allowed to free-fall in an inertial trajectory under the influence of gravitation-only, feel no g-force acceleration, a condition known as zero-g (which means zero g-force).

So when someone stands on the rebounder, they are under 1 g or 1-g force. When they start jumping and are falling the the body has zero g-force on it. When they land on the rebounder they continue to go down until it starts to go up and at that point they are supposed to be at 2-g force.

This force is on all the muscles in the body and all the cells in the body. The cells are supposed to expand when there is a zero g-force on them and they contract when they have a 2-g force on them. So they say that this exercise exercises all the muscles and cells in your body.

Wikipedia has a page about rebound exercise. It says:

Rebound exercise (or “Rebounding”) is a type of elastically leveraged low-impact exercise usually performed on a device known as a rebounder—sometimes called a "mini-trampoline"—which is directly descended from regular sports or athletic trampolines.

Even though it is low-impact, people with back or neck injuries or problems need to approach it with caution and tell your doctor about it first to be on the safe side. This webpage also talks about 5 benefits.

1. It says that it strengthens the cells.

2. It increases lymph flow and immune system function. I know all about this. The heart pumps blood to all the cells in the body. Some of the blood comes back but most of it becomes lymph fluid and movement or exercise drives the pumping of it back towards the heart. It joins with the blood right before the blood enters the heart. Also the lymph fluid is cleaned on the way back and that strengthens the immune system. Dirty blood weakens the immune system. On the video below the guy gives more information about the lymphatic system right at the beginning of the video. He says that he did it every day when he had cancer so he no longer has it.

3. It improves cardiovascular and respiratory function.

4. It is said to improve Physical Strength, Muscular Development, Coordination, Flexibility and Balance.

5. Because the rebounder absorbs most of the force, unlike when you are running and jumping, it makes it easier on the body than many other activities.

Then it talks about the NASA study that was done on rebounding. You can click on it and read about it yourself if you want. It says:

• for similar levels of heart rate and oxygen consumption, the magnitude of the bio mechanical stimuli is greater with jumping on a trampoline than with running, a finding that might help identify acceleration parameters needed for the design of remedial procedures to avert deconditioning in persons exposed to weightlessness."
• "The external work output at equivalent levels of oxygen uptake were significantly greater while trampolining than running. The greatest difference was about 68%.”

So rebounding is not some ridiculous, new age hippy stuff if it was studied by NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

In the book that I read, a guy had children that played on the trampoline a lot. Like I said above, that is also rebounding. In school one of his boys entered a competition to see who could do the most sit-ups. This son of his never did a sit-up and he won this contest. If you touch your abs while rebounding, you will feel that those muscles are contracting.

There is an article called The Benefits of Rebound Exercise: 33 Ways the Body Responds. It says:

Rebounding lowers circulating cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Rebounding allows for deeper and easier relaxation and sleep.

Rebounding causes core muscles and large muscle groups to contract, resulting in the rhythmic compression of the veins and arteries, which more effectively moves fluids, both blood and lymphatic, through the body and back to the heart, lowering peripheral blood pressure and lightening the heart's load.

Rebounding curtails fatigue and menstrual discomfort for women.

Rebounding enhances digestion and elimination processes.

Rebounding minimizes the number of colds, allergies, digestive disturbances, and abdominal problems.

This exercise helps the colon to work better. Above I explained how this helps the immune system that fights of cold and the flu.

After seeing the video below abounding and cellulite, I searched for more information. They say that people cannot do anything about cellulite, it is a fact of life. Here is an article on Daily Mail called Cellulite: Is This the Cure. It has on it other things that may be able to help cellulite. Rebounding is unique enough to do something that was considered impossible. It says:

Yinka maintains that none of the traditional body-toning exercises such as aerobics or weight training are effective in strengthening the connective tissue which becomes misshapen by toxins.

She says: 'Traditional aerobic exercise focuses on the heart, lungs and arteries, while strength-training exercises improve only the tone of the muscles. Neither specifically target cellulite.'

Yinka has discovered that exercising on a mini trampoline - a technique known as 'rebounding', which is popular in the U.S. - is the only way to strengthen ligaments, tendons and connective tissue to improve cellulite as well as toning muscles.

'I advised Barbara to build up her routine from ten minutes once or twice a day to half an hour a day.

Even Dr. Mercola (D.O.) says that rebounding can help cellulite. He has an article called The Most Effective Strategies for Eliminating Cellulite. It says:

A mini trampoline or rebounder subjects your body to gravitational pulls ranging from zero at the top of each bounce to 2 to 3 times the force of gravity at the bottom, depending on how high you jump. And, unlike jogging on hard surfaces which stresses your ankles and knees, rebounding helps protect against this stress so it's easy on the joints.

Some of the benefits rebounding offers include circulating oxygen and nutrients to tissues and organs, and promoting increased muscle strength.

Here is another article called How To Get Rid of Cellulite for Good. It has more tips but here is something that it says:

Rebounding on a mini trampoline is Ah-mazing for cellulite. It stimulates the lymphatic system and helps to tone and smooth the skin! When the lymphatic system isn’t working properly, fluid accumulates around cells, which, in some cases, can result in up to fifteen pounds of excess weight. This fluid prevents nutrients from entering cells, depriving them of the nourishment they need. Stagnant fluid that accumulates in your legs can bind to fat cells that become swollen—resulting in cellulite and varicose veins. Your cells get a deep squeeze from all that bouncing, which helps move toxins out. No other exercise that I know of yields the dimple-dashing, cellulite-slashing benefits regular rebounding offers.