Rebounder workouts are a series of exercises that will get you comfortable bouncing on a small trampoline while working your body in a low-impact, high-benefit manner. Working out on a rebounder will grant you the benefits of traditional exercise, helping you drop weight and tone muscles, but with less impact than walking or running. Rebounders are so effective that they are used in the athletic and scientific worlds for training and rehabilitation, and require less time than that normal workouts.
Beginner Workouts
Beginner rebounder workouts involve heel lifts, health bounces, light jogging, and “skiing.” You can start with the health bounce, in which you bounce lightly while keeping your feet on the trampoline. You can then proceed to heel lifts, a simple exercise in which, with minimal bouncing, you raise only your heels off the trampoline in an alternating pattern. Once you are comfortable with heel lifts, you can try skiing on your trampoline: keeping your feet as close to the trampoline as you can, you alternate moving your feet back and forth, as if walking across a flat surface on skis. Light jogging will round out a beginner rebounder workout: jog in place on your rebounder, but only lift your feet a few inches off the mat.
Intermediate Workouts
A more intermediate rebounder workout consists of a toning bounce, a fitness bounce, and star jumps. The toning bounce involves jumping on your rebounder and allowing your feet to leave the trampoline mat; the higher your bounce, the more intense your workout. The fitness bounce involves jogging on your rebounder, raising your knees to waist height with each step. If you cannot lift your knees so high, you can pick a lower goal--perhaps thigh height--or alternate between raising your knees to hip height for 20 strides, then jogging with your knees at your normal height for 20 strides. The star jump is the same as a jumping jack, except performed on a rebounder. Be conscious of your foot placement when doing star jumps; you don’t want to land on your rebounder’s springs or rim.
Advanced Workouts
Advanced workouts build on the abilities you built during your intermediate workouts. Instead of jogging on your trampoline, start running on the trampoline, ensuring that your knees are raised to waist height every time. You can also try a sitting bounce: sit on the mat of the rebounder, keeping your heels on the ground and arms folded in front of you, and bounce that way, focusing on keeping your stomach muscles tight. High jumps are another part of an advanced rebounder workout. For high jumps, bounce as high as you can, lifting your knees upward and keeping your arms extended to the sides. You can also add to the resistance of these advanced exercises by using light weights.
Warm Up and Cool Down
Regardless of whether you are new to trampoline workouts or if you have been using a trampoline for years, it is always important for you to warm up before working out and cool down when you are done. Remember to stretch your calves, thighs, and hamstrings before working out to help prevent injury. Follow your rebounder workouts with another stretching session to allow your muscles to return to their pre-workout status.
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