A mini trampoline, or rebounder, is a small piece of home exercise equipment, the popularity of which is definitely on the rebound. Some popular fitness programs adopted by gyms around the country have renewed interest in home use of mini trampolines. Mini trampoline workouts can help you tone up, improve cardiovascular health, and de-stress, and can provide fitness opportunities for persons with disabilities as well.
Four Bounces
Four simple bounces can be strung together to create your own unique, effective mini trampoline workout, advises immunology lab manager and holistic health practitioner Melissa Makris at HowToBoostYourImmuneSystem.com. The sitting bounce can be used by beginners, who sit on the rebounder mat while another person stands behind them and gently bounces the mat up and down. Advanced rebounders can sit on the mat with legs up in a V position and bounce, strengthening the core muscle groups. The health bounce is a small, relaxed two-foot bounce, just enough to energize your body. The health bounce can also be used for warm-up and cool-down. The aerobic bounce involves walking or running in place on the mini trampoline for an extended period of time. For the strength bounce, jump as high as you can several times in succession -- just check first for low ceilings, lights or ceiling fans.
6-Week Tone and Tighten
A scheduled, 6-week workout on the mini trampoline will leave you toned and tightened, reports fitness instructor Yinka Thomas, writing in the UK's Daily Mail Online. Start with beginner moves for one week -- bouncing heels on the mat, light jogging, and jumping no more than 4 inches high -- 3 times a day for 3 minutes per session. For weeks 2 to 6, jog while lifting your knees progressively higher, and jump to 6 inches high, working up to extending your arms to the side or overhead while you jump. In weeks 4, 5, and 6, or as you feel comfortable, add dumbbell weights to your hands while you increase your jog to a high-knee run, and increase your jumps to as high as you can manage, with arms extended to the side for balance. Increase the length of each session, and cut down the number of sessions per day, until you can workout for 20 minutes once a day.
Fitness for Deafblind Youth
Mini trampoline workouts are not merely a home exercise variation for fitness buffs. Bouncing on a rebounder can help to relieve stress and anxiety, according to the Franklin Institute of Science. Mini trampoline exercise can also provide a safe, affordable an effective means of maintaining health in disabled youth, such as children who are deafblind and may be limited in their ability to walk or run outdoors. Place mats around the rebounder, and include a stability handrail in your mini trampoline set-up, advises Deaf-Blind Perspectives, the journal of the Teaching Research Institute. Supervise the child while he runs, jumps, and bounces on the rebounder, starting slowly and building up duration and intensity over time. Youth who are visually impaired are less physically active and physically fit than their sighted peers, Deaf-Blind Perspectives reports, so this simple mini trampoline workout can be an important part of health improvement for these children.
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