Are you looking for a quick, easy workout that allows you to let loose, shake your stress away, AND strengthen your body all at once? I have the perfect workout for you: rebounding! I like to call rebounding the youth-boosting workout because it doesn’t just help you burn calories, it can support your pelvic floor (for sexual health), ease your stress - all while having fun and helping get your groove on. And having fun is crucial to staying young!
Let’s face it, we’re living through a time when spin studios, gyms, yoga classes, pilates sessions or whatever exercise classes you normally love are largely unavailable - at least in-person. This makes the rebounder arguably the ultimate piece of equipment for the pandemic: just hop on, turn up your favorite music, and start bouncing for a total body workout in the comfort and safety of your own home. If you invest in a rebounder, you can get your bounce on anywhere - in your backyard, on your patio, or in your house (just check the height of your ceiling first!). I personally love rebounding outside, so I can soak up a little vitamin D and connect to Mother Nature while I bounce it out.
The simplicity of the rebounder is one of my favorite things about this workout -- you only need 15-20 minutes of bouncing to get your heart pumping, tone your body, flush out toxins and detoxify your system. If you don’t believe me, just ask NASA. Their studies showed rebounding is 50% more effective at burning fat than running! Amazing, right?
So, today I am sharing with you just 6 of the reasons I love rebounding and the amazing benefits it has for my body.
1. Shake Your Stress Away
After a long day sitting at a desk, running errands, or doing chores around the house, a quick bounce session is just what you need to ease your stress and benefit your health and happiness. When you bounce it out on the rebounder, you literally shake away stress, stuck emotional energy, and tension out of your body. Light bouncing can help increase blood flow to underused muscles and loosen and release overused ones, plus it helps the body release endorphins (your brain’s natural calming aid, they make us feel good). Naturally, when you bounce you come into your body and your movement, and it helps you get out of the business in your head, which can help clear your mind and decrease tension.
2. Support Your Pelvic Floor for (Sexual) Health
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that form a hammock across the base of your pelvis and support the internal organs above it. It is SO important to keep your pelvic floor muscles strong because they help control the bladder, stabilize the hip joints, connect to the deep core, and even enhance orgasms.
A bounce session is a fun way to tone the core, or combat urinary incontinence, which is the loss of bladder control while coughing, sneezing or even laughing or having sex. Up to one in four women in the US struggle with urinary incontinence, and often a weakened pelvic floor is the problem, especially for mothers after having babies. So, if you ever feel like you might pee yourself when someone tells a good joke, or if you just want to feel toned and strengthened down there, rebounding could be the perfect workout for you. If you have serious pelvic floor issues, absolutely check with your doctor before you hop on the rebounder for the first time, but if you are cleared, just empty your bladder before you turn on your music and get bouncing, and as always: listen to your amazing body, and take breaks whenever you need.
If you are looking to strengthen your pelvic floor, I have a sequence just for you -- a bouncing exercise that specifically targets your inner thighs and pelvic floor. Just follow the steps below to start toning and strengthening your pelvic floor and core!
The Pelvic Floor Bouncing Exercise
1. A great way to connect to the pelvic floor is to hold a squishy ball between your knees as you gently bounce, which helps to engage your inner thighs and pelvic floor.
2. Place your hands on your pubic bone and breathe into your pelvis.
3. Exhale as you squeeze your inner thighs. Visualize pulling in and up around the hammock of your pelvic floor muscles (like a Kegel).
4. Try going for 2-5 minutes—be sure to work your way up if you have a weak pelvic floor. After you’re done bouncing, it’s important to completely relax your abs and pelvic floor, and shake your limbs and body out, so you don’t get stuck holding tension.
3. Find Your Balance
Although it might not seem like it while you are moving and grooving on the rebounder, bouncing can help you improve your balance and proprioception, which is the ability to sense the orientation and position of your body. Imagine closing your eyes and balancing on one leg -- your body shoots messages to your leg to make the micro-adjustments that help you stay upright. THAT process is called proprioception. When we bounce it out on the rebounder, we are actively engaging the ocular and inner ear canal as we bounce, which helps improve our balance, timing, coordination, and reaction time -- all things which are essential for moving smoothly through each day.
4. Build Up Your Strength
Rebounding doesn’t just tone up your muscles -- it strengthens you to the bone! Bouncing can produce up to 2-3 times vertical gravitation, which can serve as strengthening resistance for our bones, which are made up of living tissue that is constantly being broken down and replaced. A study from theJournal of Sport and Health Science investigated the impact of bouncing on bone strength in a group of female trampolinists, and found that they have “greater bone density, area, microarchitecture, and estimated bone strength than controls.”
Rebounding is unlike other forms of weight-bearing exercise because it is very low impact, so it is gentler on our joints, vertebrae, and cartilage. Bouncing is truly the ultimate workout for everyone -- because it’s so low impact, clients who are experiencing bone mineral loss or other forms of degenerative health issues can safely bounce it out!
5. Boost Your Metabolism
Rebounding is an incredible way to aid in weight loss and boost your metabolism. It’s a total body workout -- it works every muscle, which improves your muscle-to-fat ratio.Bouncinghelps stimulate the thyroid gland to start cleaning itself and the entire lymphatic system of stored fat,plus,trampoline exercise is the most proven method to eliminate cellulite, and it even improves your resting metabolic rate so you burn calories long after a workout. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE burning calories even when I’m not working out.
6. Have FUN!
Last but FAR from least: rebounding is fun. Turning on my favorite song, then moving and grooving on the rebounder helps me let go of anxiety and worries that aren’t serving me, and have a good time. I believe that exercise should not feel like a chore, or a punishment for your body -- when you take time to nurture your body, you should feel revitalized, happy and strong.
Ready to Rebound? Let’s get started.
If you want to invest in your own rebounder and give bouncing a try, there’s a wide range of options that fit a lot of different budgets. My favorite, the Rolls Royce of rebounders, is my signature bellicon rebounder because the bungees make the bounce smoother and gentler on the body, which helps you get the full benefits, plus the legs fold so I can store it anywhere - even under a bed.
Once you get your rebounder and you’re ready to bounce it out, you can totally turn on some music and just find your flow, but if you want a little more structure at the beginning, I’m here to help! Check out my combined rolling and rebounding workouts in my Aligned Life Studio and if you want to tone then I have you covered too with my Bounce & Sculpt sequences. You can give the studio a try with a free 7 day trial - so please check it out!
Happy rebounding!
Lo xx