The American Council on Exercise calls
it "one of the hottest fitness trends for 2002."
It's a cardiovascular exercise. It's an aerobic exercise. It's
a strength workout. It's therapeutic. It burns calories
efficiently. It's good for the legs and easy on the joints. It
helps keep blood pressure down. It gets all the organs of the
body working and aids digestion. It helps you think more
clearly. It's also a bath for your lymphatic system.
It's called rebounding and it may
already be at or coming soon to a fitness center near you.
Spa lady in West Paterson was one of the
first in New Jersey to get in on the revival of an 80's trend
towards using rebounders - sometimes called mini-trampolines -
about three years ago. Kristen Silvka, a rebounder - certified
personal fitness trainer at the spa, says some 20 of these
exercisers are in use by members almost constantly. When
provided in classes in combination with other exercises,
Silvka praises their ability to provide an "awesome
cardio exercise" that rebounding provides at any level of
intensity from low to high, as appropriate for the individual
user. She says the workout, as can be enjoyed by people at any
age, and helps in improving balance while working every muscle
of the body.
Laurie Speer, who leads exercise groups
at the Fitness Center for Women in Montville, plans to start a
new program in the fall. It will combine rebounding with
twisting, jumping and arm movements as well as other
exercises. Other centers around the state, particularly the
smaller ones focused on women, are planning to make rebounding
programs available as demand increases.
Back in the spotlight
Originally introduced by exercise
specialist Al Carter 23 years ago, a rebounder is a round mat
attached by heavy-duty springs to a metal stand.
Somewhat smaller than a child's playpen,
its legs can be collapsed and in some versions rebounders can
be folded for storage and easy portability. Rebounders can be
sued for group workouts at gyms as well as individuals who
purchase them to use at home. Optional stabilizing grab bars
make the equipment appropriate for use by people of all ages
and abilities.
Carter, who is chief executive of the
American Institute of Reboundology in Orem, Utah, calls
rebounding "the most efficient, most effective"
exercise possible. As he explains, "The common
denominator of all exercises is opposing gravity."
Walking, jogging, running and swimming all do that, but the
"full body exercise while jumping up and down" on a
rebounder actually burns more calories and eliminates
seven-eights of the shock to the skeletal system of many other
fitness choices. At the same time, Carter says, working out on
a rebounder strengthens ever cell in the body, including both
muscle and bone cells.
Beginners can start with a "health
bounce," using the flexibility of the rebounder's springs
to move up and down without having the feet leave the mat.
Even this low-level activity can increase lymphatic flow in
the body and reduce the potential damage from a sluggish
lymphatic system, called by many the body's "garbage
collector."
Carter's best-seller, "The New
Miracles of Rebound Exercise," further explains the
benefits of rebounding and offers tips on the exercise,
presenting information confirmed by NASA and the U.S. Air
Force. In "The Cancer Answer," he delves further
into the ways the immune system combats diseases of the body.
A bath for the lymph system
Dr. Harvey Diamond, internationally
known author, teacher and health consultant perhaps best
recognized for his "Fit for Life" series of books,
has written that the body's lymph system is its "defense
system", a network of "fluid, organs, nodes and
nodules, ducts, glands and vessels that continuously and
aggressively cleans the system of waste mater."
He endorses rebounding as an extremely
easy exercise in which all that's basically required is
"a slight up-and-down bounce, which subjects the body to
a change in velocity and direction twice with each jump... As
little as five or six minutes a day can be of immeasurable
value.
Karen Ranzi, a Ramsey resident, has been
using a rebounder for about nine years. "The more you do
it, the easier it gets," she says. She generally works
out on it wearing three pound wrist weights for about 20
minutes to half an hour, doing jumping jacks, alternate arm
lifts and other chest exercises while she bounces, four to
seven times a week. Ranzi, a busy home school mother and
part-time speech therapist, has her own equipment home.
Ranzi has stepped on the rebounder with
a headache, and by the end of her session it was gone. She
finds the exercise helps her think more clearly as "it
gets things moving," and she recommends its use to the
members of a group she leads in Manhattan called "Accent
on Wellness." The organization in involved with a change
of lifestyle towards a more natural style of living.
Her husband Harvey, a sports enthusiast,
uses their rebounder, too. He likes the continuous motion of
jumping on a flexible surface as opposed to a hard one, and he
finds the exercise has helped him gain greater speed on the
tennis court. It has aided in his general conditioning and has
built up his stamina, too.
Anna-Inez Matus, who lives in Pine Grove
Pennsylvania, uses her rebounder every day, preferably out of
doors in the sunshine. She says that since starting the
activity 11 years ago, "it has changed my attitude to
exercising."
An educator who teaches others "how
to achieve optimal health naturally, according to the
principles of Life Science," Matus listens to music which
reflects her mood as she exercises. She finds Beethoven"
speedier than Vivaldi," but she'll also put on jazz and
blues, even "20 minutes of Twist and Shout."
She adds: "It increases my capacity
for breathing, keeps my body well oxygenated, is a complete
cardio workout in twenty minutes, flushes out my lymphatic
system, and it helps the body to build, healthy bone mass so I
won't get osteoporosis."
Matus has seen paralyzed people helped
by placing their feet on a rebounder with someone else doing
the bouncing, and says that for healthy people even just
walking in place on the equipment can be beneficial. She
advises people starting out: Don't push it. If you can only do
one minute, then do one minute every day. Don's ever, ever,
ever exceed what you can do."
Ellen Kurtz is a freelance writer
based in Rockaway, NJ.
Questions or comments? Feel free
to e-mail us or
call toll free 1-888-464-JUMP (5867).
