Trampolines have an association with kid-style fun, but in the athletic, scientific and anatomic worlds, trampolines have become essential training and rehabilitation items. Exercising on a trampoline helps your lymphatic system cleanse the body and helps you drop weight while strengthening the lower body's muscles and joints without the strain and impact of traditional exercise. Best of all, the simplest and most beneficial trampoline exercises can be performed either outdoors on a full-size trampoline or indoors on a small rebounder trampoline.
Health Bounce
The health bounce is the simplest and gentlest of all trampoline exercises. Stand at the center of your trampoline with your feet hip-distance apart and bounce gently without letting any part of your feet leave the trampoline. This is a great way to warm up before or cool down after other exercise regimens; on its own, this exercise helps strengthen the lymphatic system.
Cross-Country Skiing
Go "cross-country skiing" on your trampoline. With each bounce, shift your feet forward and backward, trying to keep your feet on the trampoline as much as possible. As you get used to this exercise, add arm swings to help work your upper body.
Toning Bounce
In the toning bounce, you jump, allowing your feet to leave the trampoline. The smaller your jump, the gentler the exercise; the higher your jump, the greater the exercise. This exercise helps tone parts of the body that rarely get affected by other workout regimens.
Star Jumps
Star jumps are the jumping jacks of the trampoline world. Do the same motions you would as if you were doing regular jumping jacks, remembering to be conscious of where and how your feet land each time. This works best on a larger trampoline, because you don't need to worry about where your feet land, but it gives you greater control and precision when done on a rebounder, because you have to be conscious of where your feet land when they are apart.
Fitness Bounce
The fitness bounce is akin to jogging--except you're jogging on a trampoline. The goal of the fitness bounce is to run or jog and, with each step, bring your knee as high as you can, striving to reach hip level. If you can't get there right away, start lower, then build up strength. Alternately, you can do fitness bounce in bursts--twenty strides of bringing your knees up to your waist, followed by twenty strides at your normal level.
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