I was in my very busy gym the other day and saw (mostly because I first heard) a guy doing an exercise called rebounding. The sound was actually really distracting and sounded like it could put you in excruciating pain if you hadn’t properly warmed up. I have never tried rebounding, so I thought I would look into it and see what it’s all about – and share it with all of you.
Rebounding is a bit different than jumping on a trampoline, which I personally think is both fun, good for you and brings out the kid in you. I remember jumping on trampolines as a kid and how silly I felt and giddy. See our past post on trampolines and how much fun they are.
We had a huge one in our neighborhood in the back of a restaurant, so while my parents could sit on the patio, my sister and I could jump and have hysterical fun. And get winded, and also get a really great cardio workout – but we didn’t care about that – we just wanted to have fun.
Now, I realize that there are probably rebounders of various quality, and the one I heard at the gym likely was not of high quality. It was squeaky, and didn’t sound smooth at all. There are premium rebounders though that I’ve read really good reviews on. I think you have to go a little higher end with this piece of exercise equipment or you’ll be sorry.
Rebounders are essentially mini trampolines. They come in either a straightforward upright model, or one that is sort of sideways that is designed to be pushed up against a wall for support so you can rebound off of it sideways and do plyometric-type exercises.
The benefits of a GOOD rebounder are that they provide excellent, high intensity workouts that burn quite a few calories in a relatively short amount of time because of their high intensity. You absolutely need a smooth one that is easy on the joints though, or these rebounders can really do a number on your joints and make your neck and back sore if these areas are already sensitive on you.
You also need to get a really sturdy one. Remember, you are putting all your weight on it over and over, and you are impacting it in a big way when you come down on it, so you need something of solid, high quality construction.
Rebounding can be a great, short workout. It’s high intensity, so it burns fat, and you can also really sculpt your leg, thighs, butt and ab muscles and work on your core strength with some of the exercises provided.
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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 18th, 2012 at 11:02 pm and is filed under Health and Fitness News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.