EVERYONE KNOWS THAT cardiovascular exercise, also called “aerobic exercise,” is essential for keeping healthy and fit. Still, most people don’t know that using a mini-trampoline is probably the most effective way to do it. “Rebounding” has been around for decades, and it remains a mystery why it is not more popular than running or swimming – because it should be! Recent scientific research reveals a multitude of benefits, particularly when it comes to cardiovascular strength.
In a nutshell, cardio workouts are those that increase oxygen consumption and trigger your body’s aerobic metabolism to burn additional fats and carbohydrates to provide energy. This increased metabolic rate helps with weight control and boosts energy, but aerobic exercise’s overall effect is much more extensive. Cardio workouts strengthen the heart, increase lung capacity, improve stamina, lower blood pressure, maintain joint flexibility, control blood sugar levels, energise your immune system…and increase your life expectancy, for starters.
The human body needs to be physically active during waking hours. Before machines started to rule our lives, daily activities – anything from doing the washing (by hand) to gathering food – were the equivalent of a good workout. Unless we compensate for our relative inactivity daily, we become vulnerable to a host of health issues, from heart disease to obesity to many cancer forms.
The UK Chief Medical Officer published physical activity guidelines in September 2019 concluding that:
“Each week adults should accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (such as brisk walking or cycling); or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity (such as running); or even shorter durations of very vigorous-intensity activity (such as sprinting or stair climbing); or a combination of moderate, vigorous and very vigorous-intensity activity.”
Hand on heart – are you honestly reaching this goal? If not, you need to think about how you will achieve this, and one of the best ways is rebounding.
Recent researchers have discovered that rebounding’s unique benefits produce a full-body workout that is extraordinary, especially when it comes to its cardiovascular effects. And they’ve got the numbers to prove it. One research study, published in January of 2016 in the International Journal of Sports Science, showed that rebounding burns fat 50% faster than running and increases cardiovascular fitness more than twice as fast. Then, in July, another study published in Science & Sport examined rebounding’s effect on overweight women and showed extraordinary improvements in cardio fitness, body composition, and overall quality of life. In their recommendation to the American College of Sports Medicine, the researchers of this second study concluded that rebounding doesn’t just offer several significant benefits, but as a cardio workout is an “effective way to achieve an optimal level of training.”
Rebounding is not only practical, but it’s also so efficient that it can significantly improve fitness in just minutes a week. They demonstrated this in an eight-week study published last year in the German Journal of Sports Medicine (Deutsche Zeitschrift für Sportmedizin). The study participants performed 19-minute workouts three times a week, for a weekly total of just 57 minutes, which is slightly more than one-third of the 150 minutes per week recommended. However, rebounding is so efficient that even with so little exercise, “Significant improvements were found in aerobic capacity,” and an impressive 5.4% reduced ” body fat.”
All these findings make sense when you look at the first major research study to examine trampoline exercise, conducted by NASA scientists back in 1980. They concluded, “for similar levels of HR [heart rate] and VO2 [oxygen consumption], the magnitude of the biomechanical stimuli is greater with jumping on a trampoline than with running.”
Almost as important as what rebounding does is what it doesn’t do: it doesn’t strain your joints or back because it’s a very low-impact exercise; it doesn’t let the weather get in the way of your workouts because it can do it indoors or out; and it never gets boring, because bouncing is fun and offers so many variations, such as those in Jumpga.
Cardio exercise, true to its name, really is the heart of fitness. However, it is essential to note that additional resistance work is also necessary and will ensure you gain the optimum fitness level.
The non-cardio elements of Jumpga provide those elements. So, if you’re looking for the perfect total body workout, lose weight, reinvigorate your health and boost your mental and physical energy, nothing does it better than rebounding. It can change your life for the better, in just a few enjoyable minutes a day.
