Benefits of Rebounding

Health Benefits

Back Pain

Rebounding is a great way to keep your back, especially your lower back, healthy and strong. Bouncing up and down strengthens core muscles, lubricates joints, and improves balance and coordination.

For some people with back pain issues, exercise, or most any other movement for that matter, can be very difficult. To compound this problem, not working your back muscles enough can often be just as bad as overworking them.

This may come as a surprise to many people, but if your back and core muscles are weak, they can’t help to take the load off spinal discs and vertebrae. A gentle, low-impact workout such as rebounding does a great job of building the muscles in the abdomen, pelvis, and hips that are so important in supporting your back. Plus, it relaxes tight, overworked muscles and strengthens them at the same time.

The bone loss associated with osteoporosis and osteopenia can also lead to back pain. Here again, rebounding is very beneficial to this issue. When bouncing, your body experiences up to two to three times the normal g-force, which helps to rebuild bone density and alleviates issues such as bone loss. Those forces will also keep your joints loose and flexible and help fluid circulate through your discs, keeping them healthy and supplied with nutrients.

If you suffer from chronic or acute back pain, be sure to consult with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program. It’s also best to allow flare-ups of muscular pain to subside before returning to exercise so as not to aggravate the condition.

Osteoporosis and Osteopenia

Osteoporosis is a disease that reduces the density, strength, and mass of bones, making them fragile and susceptible to fractures. Osteopenia is basically pre-osteoporosis and whether a person is suffering from one or the other comes down to the severity of loss of bone density. Although it’s most common in middle-aged and older women, osteoporosis can affect both men and women of any age.

Rebounding creates up to three times normal g-force, which is just the weight-bearing resistance that your bones need to rebuild and remain strong.

Rebounding can dramatically slow or even stop the progression of osteoporosis and osteopenia but what’s even better is that it can prevent them completely. So, why wait for your bones to become brittle or for the first signs of declining density to show? Do your bones a favor and start rebounding! You’ll be rewarded with strong bones that comprise your body’s physical framework.

Lymphatic Flow

Your lymphatic network of vessels and organs is constantly cleaning up after your other biological systems. Thick, recycled body fluid called lymph fluid collects bacteria, viruses, fungi, mutated cells, and even cancer cells, filtering them as it moves through the lymph nodes. There, specialized cells called lymphocytes attack any harmful organisms.

Your lymphatic system is also responsible for clearing out the toxins in your body that you are exposed to on a regular basis. Modern living exposes us to all sort of synthetic chemicals in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the soap and lotions we put on our skin. Detoxing by using various herbs, vitamins, minerals as well as fasting and sauna sessions is all the rage these days and while detoxing is beneficial to many people, the truth is your body does a great job of this on its own. It just needs you to “jump” start it. Rebounding repeatedly opens millions of cellular valves, creating a vacuum-like pressure that pulls old lymph fluid out and fresh lymph fluid in.

When your lymphatic system becomes sluggish, unhealthy, or fails, you become vulnerable to a wide variety of illnesses and health problems, ranging from impaired immune responses and infections to inflammatory immune responses and even to cancer. Another common issue with a sluggish lymphatic system is lymphedema, which is when arms or legs become swollen with lymph fluid that can’t drain properly.

We have twice as much lymph as blood. However, we have no pump to move it like blood has the heart. Instead, the lymphatic system relies on physical movement, gravity, and muscular contraction. Thousands of years ago, the demands of hunting animals and foraging for food kept our ancestors active and their lymphatic systems healthy. Today, not so much. Nowadays, we sit in cars, in front of computers, and in from of our TVs. The problem is your lymph fluid sits too.

If you suffer from lymphoedema, consult with your doctor before starting a new exercise program. Considering that the causes, severity, and treatment of lymphoedema can vary greatly from person to person, it’s best to find out what routine will benefit you most without aggravating your condition. Another important consideration is the use of compression garments while exercising. Again, please consult with your doctor for proper use of compression garments.

Arthritis

Arthritis is a condition that affects the cartilage between bones. Though there are over 100 variations of the disease, one of the symptoms they all have in common is joint pain. The reason for this is that arthritis causes the cartilage, a firm but flexible tissue that acts as a protective buffer between bones, to become inflamed and wear away. The loss of cartilage leads to friction between the adjoining bones, wearing them down and causing discomfort or pain in the arthritis sufferer.

Exercise can be one of the best treatments for arthritis, which may seem counterintuitive when you consider that arthritis is a disease characterized by movement pain. Exercise helps by strengthening the muscles that surround the affected joints, providing additional support and relief for the damaged cartilage. Exercise can also help with weight control, further reducing stress on the joints.

Weight Management

Rebounding is an extremely efficient calorie burner. Studies show that this form of cardiovascular exercise raises your metabolic rate for up to 24 hours after you get off your rebounder, whether you’re working, relaxing, or even sleeping.

Wouldn’t it be great if one workout equaled 10 pounds lost? Yes, it would be great, but this is not realty. Research shows that steady, gradual weight loss (between one and two pounds a week) sets you on the path to keeping it off. As the names imply, crash diets and quick programs are not a permanent fix. Staying in shape is about adopting a lifestyle that includes long-term changes in daily exercise and eating habits.

Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the fastest growing chronic disease in the United States. Although the exact cause of the condition characterized by high blood sugar levels remains unknown, genetic factors, weight issues, and physical inactivity have been shown to contribute to its onset and progression.

Rebounding provides the kind of aerobic exercise that helps to prevent diabetes and reduce its symptoms. Whether you’re a diabetic who takes insulin or not, rebounding assists in regulating your levels of the hormone by lowering blood sugar and increasing your cells’ ability to absorb glucose—both during and after your routine. In fact, this effect lasts for up to 24 hours.

A moderate-intensity, low-impact rebounding workout is one of the safest, most beneficial type of cardiovascular exercise for just about everyone, but for people with diabetes it has even greater benefits. If exercise becomes too intense, it’s recognized by your body as stress, and hormones instruct our bodies to increase blood sugar levels to provide added fuel for muscles, which is something that diabetics should avoid.

People with diabetes are also prone to vascular damage in their eyes (retinopathy) and nerve damage in their feet (peripheral neuropathy), which can be brought on by high-impact exercise. A gentle, yet highly effective rebounding session will help you to keep healthy, fit and injury-free.

Of course, the health benefits of rebounding for diabetics don’t end there. You’ll also be lowering your chances of heart disease and stroke, burning calories to control your weight, boosting energy levels, and sleeping better. Rebounding is also great for preventing or halting the progression of osteopenia and osteoporosis, which are also diabetes-related conditions.

In general, if you have diabetes, remember to monitor your blood sugar levels before, during, and after exercise to make sure they don’t go too high or too low.

If you have diabetes or prediabetes, please consult with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program. This is particularly important for diabetics, since the disease, its side-effects, and its treatment can vary greatly from person to person.

Cardiovascular & Circulatory Health

Aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise is one of the best things you can do to improve the health of your heart. The Mayo Clinic and NHS suggest 30 minutes of aerobic activity five times a week, although you can still achieve some of the benefits of cardio conditioning in less time.

Another option, which gives you the same results, is to break that time down into ten-minute sessions spread throughout the day. This is ideal for rebounders. Short, incremental workouts are not only energizing and invigorating, but they also add up to wonderful long-term health and fitness gains, including a more efficient cardiovascular system. So, leave your rebounder out where you’ll see it and be reminded to take a few quick “bounce” breaks throughout the day.

High blood pressure is known as the silent killer because it rarely has obvious symptoms. But some 62,000 deaths from strokes and heart attack occur because it’s either not controlled or not diagnosed. However, high blood pressure is easily controlled with a few lifestyle changes including eating more healthily, keeping extra weight off, and above all else, exercising. Physical activity is key to cardiovascular health because it increases the strength and resilience of the heart muscle, arteries and blood vessels.

While any type of exercise or physical movement is beneficial for the heart, rebounding is particularly effective. While you are rebounding, you’ll notice your heart start to beat harder and faster, just like any other type of exercise. However, with the heart beating harder and faster coupled with the increased g-force that the heart experiences only during rebounding (remember, every cell in the human body is going between normal g-force, weightlessness, and increased g-force with every bounce), this makes rebounding a cardiovascular exercise like no other.

The stronger and healthier a heart becomes, the fewer times per minute it will need to beat to circulate blood and oxygen because each contraction (the act of pushing blood through the body) will be stronger and more forceful.

Whatever your age, weight, or current physical condition, you can get the gentle, moderate-intensity workout you need with a rebounder. Just remember to start off slowly. A few minutes cardiovascular exercise a day is all it takes to radically improve your overall health, well-being and quality of life. Of course, how much of a workout (duration and intensity) is right for you personally depends on your health and physical condition. Please consult with your doctor as to what type of exercise program is best suited to your needs, especially if you have an existing cardiovascular condition.

Stress Management

Exercise isn’t most people’s idea of relaxation, especially for those who’ve been on their feet all day. But it’s actually one of the best ways to alleviate stress.

Stress isn’t just a burden, it can be a killer, with side effects ranging from headaches, insomnia, and weight gain to mental health and physical problems, including heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes. Because busy, modern-day lifestyles leave little time or energy to take care of ourselves, managing stress can become stressful itself.

A few minutes of rebounding at the end of a hard day can make you feel like a new person. It increases blood flow to underused muscles, loosens overused ones, and triggers the release of endorphins, which are a type of hormone made and stored in your pituitary gland but are released during activities such as exercise. When these endorphins are received by your brain, they produce a calming, sometimes even euphoric effect. By simply shifting your focus to a physical task like rebounding, tension melts away and your head soon feels clearer.

There’s something naturally soothing about rebounding, both physically and emotionally. Maybe it’s just that a change of pace is as good as a rest as bouncing is different from our normal daily movements. Some think it triggers unconscious memories of being in the womb or cradle. Whatever the reason, rebounding leaves the body and mind at peace.

On a biological level, the automatic contraction and relaxation of the muscles improves blood flow, boosting your body’s oxygen levels with rejuvenating effects. Rebounding also relaxes tense muscles and lubricates your joints, massaging away the day’s cares.

When life gets stressful, exercise is often one of the first things to do. That’s because both the causes of stress (overwork, changes in your environment, as well as physical or emotional trauma) and its results (depression, lack of sleep, eating disorders, unhealthy weight gain or loss) can make it very difficult to find the time or the energy to work out.

Just a few minutes of rebounding each day can make a big difference. Try to keep your rebounder out where you can see it so that you remember to grab a few moments of healthy, revitalizing exercise whenever you get the chance.

While it’s well known that the root cause of stress is emotional, managing life’s daily stresses can and should involve the body. Physical fitness goes hand-in-hand with mental fitness.

Immune System Support

A truly brilliant design, the immune system is a complex and efficient network of processes links major organs, tissues, and billions of specialized cells. It’s capable of identifying millions of potential pathogens and implementing strategies to combat them. However, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be compromised by illness, medication, or environmental pollutants. When this happens, the best way to rebuild your defenses is to provide your body with what it needs most to make a recovery—a healthy diet and lifestyle that includes moderate but effective aerobic exercise.

Rebounding is a great way to improve your body’s defenses, especially as aerobic exercise is one of the key aspects of immune support. Plus, it’s a lot gentler than jogging.

The reason rebounding gives your immune system such a boost is that it effectively raises your metabolism and enhances cardiovascular and lymphatic circulation. This increased flow moves lymphocytes and antibodies faster through your body, ridding it of impurities and invaders.

Fitness Benefits of Rebounding

Muscle Strength & Toning (and more)

With each bounce on a rebounder, you go from experiencing weightlessness to as much as three times normal g-force. Your muscles respond to this by alternately flexing and relaxing, strengthening and toning them naturally and efficiently. And since all 638 of your muscles are engaged, no area of your body is left out. However, rebounding goes well beyond just muscles getting a workout. Your joints, ligaments, and tendons are getting their workout too. Here is where rebounding really shines. In no way am I criticizing traditional weight training. I do some of this type of training myself. However, one must be very careful with weight training, especially when looking to increase weight. Ligaments and tendons can be built up with weight training just like muscles, but they build up at a much slower rate. This is mostly due to the fact that ligaments and tendons do not receive near the amount of blood flow that muscles do. Ever notice the number of torn ACLs, MCLs, Achilles’ tendons that professional athletes suffer, especially in football? I am of the opinion that this happens most often when the muscles are built up, but the supporting ligaments are tendons are not quite as built up as the muscles they support.

Ever hear of eccentric (negative) and concentric (positive) muscle training. Negative (eccentric) muscle contractions occur while lengthening those muscles under tension, as in lowering a barbell during a biceps curl. The upward part of the curl is the positive (concentric) movement, during which the muscles contract.

Eccentric exercise requires less energy than concentric, which is why you can hold and lower 40% more weight than you can lift. Not only does the increased tension break muscles down and rebuild them more efficiently, but negative loading also makes you less tired than positive loading. In fact, it can increase your metabolic rate up to nine percent more than concentric exercise and will leave you feeling energized for hours after working out. With rebounding, you get both types of muscle contractions: positive during your upward motion and negative during descent.

Now, let’s talk about isometric and isotonic exercise with regards to rebounding. I have already talked about isometric and isotonic exercise on the intro page so please read that if you are unfamiliar with these two types of resistance exercise. Now, with regards to rebounding, we can utilize both isometric and isotonic while rebounding. Here’s an example: while rebounding, hold both of your arms straight out at your sides like an airplane. It won’t be long before you’ll start feeling your shoulder muscles burning. Because you’re holding your arms in a static position, you’re performing an isometric exercise while rebounding. In this scenario, your shoulders are receiving targeted g-force weight resistance because of their positioning while rebounding. However, the rest of the body is still engaged! Can you see why rebounding is such an efficient form of exercise? Now, try doing a biceps curl and constantly move your arms through the full range of motion while rebounding. You will not have any weights in your hands. Rather, just make a fist and squeeze. Before you know it, your biceps and forearms will be burning. Because you’re doing a biceps curl in this scenario, you’re performing an isotonic exercise while rebounding. Remember, you’re doing a biceps curl without any weights in your hands but because of the g-force weight resistance at the bottom of the bounce, you’re going to feel like you were, in fact, holding weights. In this scenario, your biceps received targeted g-force weight resistance because you were performing a curl while rebounding, but here again, the rest of your body was still engaged! This takes “full body workouts” to an entirely new level!

Cardiovascular Fitness

Rebounding is proven to be a better exercise than running. Recent studies have not only confirmed that rebounding is more effective than running for reaching target heart rates, increasing cardio strength, and engaging muscles, but that it also reduces fat 50% faster. And even though rebounding burns more energy than running, many people feel it is less fatiguing and hence, would exercise longer. Being a low-impact exercise, it avoids the strain on knees, joints, and cartilage that tends to befall runners.

Aerobic exercise (also known as cardio) is a relatively low-intensity physical exercise that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. Aerobic literally means “living in air” and refers to the use of oxygen to adequately meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism. Where sufficiently supported by aerobic metabolism, light to moderate intensity activities can generally be performed for extended periods of time. The intensity should be between 60 and 85 percent of maximum heart rate. It is this type of moderate, regular physical activity that’s so much fun on a rebounder and that’s best for you. This kind of lower-intensity workout is just what the doctor ordered for getting into shape, lowering blood pressure and sugar levels, as well as burning excess body fat and keeping cholesterol under control. So, you don’t have to push yourself to the limits to reach your health goals. In fact, you don’t even need to take your pulse to check you’re not overdoing it. Rather, being able to hold a conversation is just as good an indicator.

Flexibility

Flexibility is just as important as cardiovascular health and muscle strength. Whether you’re bending over to tie your shoes, reaching up on a shelf, getting in and out your car, or cutting loose on a dance floor, if you can do any of these with ease, you can thank your flexible muscles and joints!

A gentle warm-up on a rebounder not only loosens muscles, joints, and cartilage, but also lubricates discs and vertebrae, allowing for a wider range of motion. Since most exercises on a rebounder involve moving your arms and legs in opposite directions or twisting your torso, you’ll be stretching your core muscles from abdominals to chest and strengthening them at the same time.

If you’re into yoga or your workout already includes a lot of stretching, try spending just a few minutes on a rebounder before your routine. You won’t believe the difference it makes. The gentle bounce cycle relaxes muscles, joints, and connecting tissue, making them more supple and less prone to injury. This world-class, low-impact cardiovascular workout is the perfect complement to range of motion stretching, helping to build strength and flexibility.

Balance

Balance not only makes everyday activities easier but also helps prevent injuries caused by falls and poor physical alignment. You can always work to improve control, stability and self-assurance on your feet. Many people believe that balance diminishes with age. This is not true. Balance diminishes because people, for a multitude of reasons, tend to become more sedentary with age, so it is the sedentary lifestyle, rather than age itself, that negatively affects balance. Balance is a learned skill. When you were a toddler, you learned to crawl because you learned balance and coordination. Not long after, you learned to walk because your balance and coordination developed even further. Since balance is learned and not necessary a function of age, it can thus be improved at any age.

The ground is not very giving, or forgiving, when you exercise. When you start bouncing on a rebounder’s sturdy, pliable surface, your body automatically works to keep you upright and aligned. So, while you’re bouncing away unaware, you’ll be working your full complement of 638 muscles, especially the big muscle groups in your core and lower body, legs and hips that are crucial for balance.

Now here’s where it gets really awesome. With each bounce, your cerebellum and inner ear engage, directing muscles to stabilize you. Balance is mostly a matter of brain over brawn. The cerebellum, the part of area of your brain responsible for motor control, gets more effective the more it’s challenged, so the more you rebound, the better your balance gets. Though this process can be gradual, improved posture and stability are some of the greatest benefits for an improved quality of life

Since the cerebellum is also engaged in several higher functions and cognitive activities, stimulating it through exercise is really training your brain in other areas as well. According to the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, an enhanced sense of balance speeds up brain reaction times and improves concentration and cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and comprehension. So, when your balance is improving, so are many areas of cognitive function!

Warming Up and Cooling Down

Even a 25-year-old athlete in the peak of his or her powers knows that the human body isn’t designed to go from 0 to 60 in seconds. As every athlete knows, it needs to first be primed, to be warmed up. A gentle warm-up on a rebounder will get your blood flowing and prep your body for exercise. It not only loosens muscles, joints, and cartilage but also lubricates your discs and vertebrae, dramatically reducing the risks for pulled muscles and sprained joints.

On the other side of the coin, a good cool down is just as important. Exercise increases your body’s demand for oxygen, sugars, and nutrients, and afterward it needs time to relax, strengthen, and rebuild. Ending your workout abruptly can not only cause muscles to cramp, but it puts a strain on your heart and cardiovascular system, which is not ideal and can even be dangerous if someone is predisposed to cardiovascular problems.

A few minutes of easy bouncing will transition your body into a refreshed and relaxed state and help your metabolism to normalize before you return to normal daily activities. As rebounding is a very low-impact exercise, a gentle cool-down provides your muscles and joints with a soothing massage that will keep them loose and lubricated as they recuperate.

Other (Wondrous) Benefits of Rebounding

The following list contains a list of benefits that I believe only rebounding can offer. I’ve mentioned it several times, but it cannot be overstated—when we rebound, we are not only working on our cardiovascular and muscular systems, but we are also working every other system and their organs and components at the same time. Why? That’s right, because every cell in the human body is experiencing increased g-forces with every bounce!

Endocrine System Support

Rebounding helps to support and protect the endocrine system, which contains all the glands in the body that create and release hormones. Hormones play a vital role in regulating all kinds of different functions within the body. One of the most important glands is the thyroid gland, which is found in the neck. The thyroid secretes several hormones into the bloodstream that are essential for every single cell function in the body. Rebounding can improve thyroid activity and help to reduce the severity of symptoms of hypothyroidism, which occurs when the thyroid fails to produce sufficient levels of hormones. Symptoms include tiredness, constipation, unexpected weight gain, increased sensitivity to the cold, and pale, flaky skin.

Ocular Support

The eyes are a complex combination of nerves and small muscles. On a rebounder, these nerves and muscles get a workout just like the rest of the body. When the eye muscles are regularly exercised and toned, the need for glasses can actually be delayed until later in life.

Mitochondrial Support

Every cell has a mitochondrion which is responsible for producing energy for the cells. They act as engines that turn food into energy for your body. Mitochondrial dysfunction is a problem that can lead to many diseases, but it’s easily fixed by getting exercise so that your body can adapt. If you feel like you’re excessively tired, unable to exercise for extended periods of time, or feel that you have difficulty with your coordination, then it’s a good chance that you may actually have mitochondrial dysfunction. Rebounding is a great way to get a consistent stream of exercise that will help you fight back against mitochondrial dysfunction because as every cell is exercised, it becomes stronger and as cells become stronger, they become more efficient at what they do.

Skin Support

Collagen is something that you have throughout your body in its connective tissues, but it is perhaps best well known to be present in the skin. Rebounding strengthens collagen which will mean that your skin will stay looking firmer and younger for longer. Just 5-10 minutes of rebounding every day will tighten and tone your skin and the underlying collagen and you will have that fresh glow that everyone longs for.

Digestion & Elimination Support

Rebounding on a daily basis can have a very positive effect on the body’s digestion and elimination processes. Rebounding can help the body improve the speed and thoroughness with which is digests food, reducing the symptoms associated with indigestion, heartburn, and acid reflex. It also helps to maintain and tone the smooth muscles with in the small and large intestines. When the intestines are working efficiently, this encourages complete evacuation of the bowels and symptoms of constipation, gas, and bloating can be significantly reduced.

There are two rebounders that I highly recommend. Check them out by clicking the buttons below: