The trampoline has jumped a long way from its original 1934 roots as an astronaut training tool to the mainstream status it enjoys today. Trampolines are now available in a variety of styles and sizes for indoor or outdoor play, or even an aerobic workout. Regardless of their size or style, all trampolines come with myriad benefits -- along with a few dangers.
Plyometrics
Trampoline jumping, also called rebounding, is a type of plyometric exercise, a category that comes with a host of benefits, according to both Shape Fit and the Brentwood Trampoline Club. Plyometrics tones your muscles, improves your flexibility, enhances your muscle response time and gives you more acute balance and better posture. To get these benefits, plyometrics uses the greatest amount of force in the shortest amount of time, creating a powerful muscle contraction. That's exactly what you get on a trampoline.
Body Benefits
Other body benefits from rebounding abound, the Brentwood Trampoline Club reports, some of which you'll feel after a few minutes of jumping. Trampoline jumping increases your heart rate, gives you an aerobic, cardiovascular workout and increases your coordination, rhythm and stamina. The constant change in gravity also stimulates every cell in your body.
Other Benefits
Jumping on a trampoline also leaves many jumping for joy because it can be fun, ACE Fitness says. ACE offers JumpSport with a mini-trampoline as an instructor education class, noting a trampoline workout is vigorous, low-impact and amusing while it burns off mega calories. Fitness Magazine touts a trampoline as a way to beat indoor workout boredom. A few tips to get any benefits include starting slowly, paying attention to any aches and pains and jumping on an empty stomach to avoid nausea or vomiting.
Naysayer
Despite all the positive talk, the trampoline still has its dangers for adults and kids alike, MayoClinic.com points out. The American Academy of Pediatrics goes as far as to say trampolines should never be part of the regular equipment on outdoor playgrounds or at home. Neck and head injuries are a threat, either with risky moves or falling off the trampoline altogether. Sprains, strains, fractures -- and well as the possibility of having to pay higher home insurance premiums, are several other trampoline detriments.
References
- Brentwood Trampoline Club: Health Benefits
- Brentwood Trampoline Club: Therapeutic Benefits
- Columbia University's Go Ask Alice: Exercising with Mini-Trampolines and Other "Toys"
- MayoClinic.com: Trampoline Jumping: Safe for Kids?
- Olympic: Sports: Trampoline History
- Shape Fit: Plyometric Aerobics Training Benefits
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