I recently listened to an interview about rebounders, which are one-person mini-trampolines used for exercise. What I heard made a lot of sense to me, so I researched the subject, talked to some people, and tried a few rebounders.
Here's what I like about rebounding:
- It's easy and fun
For me, the rebounder varies between low-key and fun, depending on how much effort I feel like putting into it. I can just gently bounce, or I can really get into it and work up a sweat.
If something's fun, I'm a lot more likely to keep doing it, and this can be jump-up-and-down-on-the-bed fun (especially the bungee models).
- I can do it while watching TV
I try not to watch too much TV, but sometimes when I get home from work, that's about all I feel like doing. If I'm going to be watching TV anyway, it's easy enough to hop on the rebounder for 5 minutes, 15 minutes or more, and burn off a few calories. It's usually hard to find time to exercise, but this way I get my exercise and I can feel good about my TV time.
Unlike a treadmill, there's no motor noise, so it doesn't interfere even if someone else is watching too.
- It's low-impact
My feet and knees are not too happy about jogging, even on a treadmill. With a rebounder, the mat and the springs or bungee cords absorb about 85% of the impact. You use as many calories as you would on a treadmill, but without the pain and impact injuries. You get the gain without the pain.
- Health benefits
There are lots of claimed health benefits, with various degrees of evidence. Here are some of the ones I'm most inclined to believe:
- Aerobic and cardiovascular benefits
While other forms of exercise share these benefits, it may be easier to stick with rebounding because it's fun, convenient, and low-impact. In one study, more participants continued with rebounding than with any other form of exercise they studied. In addition, the rebounder has been shown to be more efficient than the treadmill regarding the amount of work performed for oxygen consumed.
- Osteoporosis prevention
Exercise that forces you to work against gravity is known to help build and maintain bone mass. This is one of the main reasons I bought the rebounder (for my wife). Rebounding lets you experience two or more times the normal gravitational force, in every cell of your body, but without the pain of landing on a hard surface. (And while you're in the air, you get to experience zero-G!)
NASA found that astronauts lose up to 15% of their bone mass in two weeks of zero-gravity space flight. However, once they were back on earth, they could recover this loss by experiencing conditions of greater than 1 G. They also found out that rebounders worked as well as their large centrifuges.
When you rebound on a high-quality rebounder you usually reach a G force of 2 or even more. This means that for a fraction of a second — exactly when you bounce into the mat at its deepest point — twice your body weight is impacting on all your bones and muscles, strengthening them. At the same time, your system won't be tired because a moment later you are effectively weightless. You have about 100 to 130 such impacts per minute. This is why rebounding is so efficient in general, and specifically for gaining bone density.
- General toning, tightening, strengthening, balance and flexibility
It's natural to tense your stomach when you jump, so I'm hoping this will tighten up my belly, in addition to any weight loss from the calories expended. In addition to the obvious benefits to the lower body (I could feel it in my calves right away), the rebounder makes it easy and pain-free to do exercises like jumping jacks. I may add some light hand weights later, but for now I want to focus on keeping it fun.
- Increased lymph flow and stronger immune system
Our circulatory system uses the heart to pump blood through our body, but the lymph system relies on aerobic movement to rid the body of toxins, viruses, bacteria, fatty globules, etc. Lymphatic flow requires muscular contraction, gravitational pressure, and internal massage. Rebounding provides all of these. Rebound exercise increases lymph flow 10- to 30-fold.
- Weight loss and reduced body fat
The momentary sense of weightlessness doesn't count, but caloric expenditure does translate into weight loss. One study showed that rebounding helped women increase fitness and reduce body fat, and with less trauma on the legs. Nearly half of those running on the treadmill received some kind of foot, ankle or knee injury, while none of the rebounders did.
Which Rebounder to Buy
Quality varies greatly, and I would definitely think twice about purchasing one for less than about $200. Rebounding was briefly popular in the early 1980s, but then a flood of inexpensive, poorly-made and often dangerous models dampened the enthusiasm.
There are two main categories of rebounders. Most use metal springs, but recently a few models have started using bungee cords. The bungee models are totally quiet, except for the sound of hitting the mat (if you're jumping instead of just bouncing). A few of the spring models are pretty quiet, but most of the cheaper models produce a horrible squeaking sound with each bounce. I think the bungee models also have more of a fun factor. It's kind of like bungee jumping, but without the whole falling-almost-to-your-death thing.
The bungee model is the Bellicon Ultimate (with bungee cords), available from http://qibounding.com. This model is relatively expensive, but as they say, quality is remembered long after price is forgotten. It's still cheaper than most high-quality treadmills. Other highly ranked models include the Cellerciser, the Needak, and the ReboundAir.
Conclusion
The best kind of exercise is the one that you will continue doing. For some people it's biking, for some it's swimming, and for some it's sports such as badminton, volleyball, etc. I still try to use the treadmill for half an hour most mornings, but the rebounder is a better fit for my evenings, because I can watch TV without blasting the volume. I hope you find one or more exercises that work for you.
