If you have a trampoline in your backyard, you have a great tool for burning calories.
160 calories, to be exact. That’s how much you’ll burn by spending 30-minutes on your trampolines, NJ exercise enthusiasts.
“You’ll get an amazing workout and it’s so much fun,” fitness consultant and trainer Basheerah Ahmad tells WebMD.
Some of the health benefits of trampoline exercise include:
- Improved balance and coordination – Jumping on a trampoline can help your balance, coordination and posture by stimulating your ocular nerve and inner ear. Research has shown trampoline use helps seniors recover their balance after suffering a fall.
- Heart health – You’ll see a marked improvement in your cardiovascular health with a regular half-hour trampoline workout.
- Strengthen your legs – That same 30-minute workout, performed twice weekly, can lead to much stronger legs.
Attention, People of NJ: Trampolines Could Be Better for You Than Running
A study by the American Council on Exercise found that spending 20 minutes is just as good for you as running but feels better and is a lot more fun,” TIME reported in 2016.
The study found that a trampoline workout offered the same physical effects as running six miles per hour, riding a bike or playing basketball. But the people who took part in the study said they felt like exercising on a trampoline was much easier. It’s one of the pluses of a trampoline workout.
“One downside of running is that it can lead to orthopedic injuries,” study author John Porcari, professor of exercise and sport science at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, told TIME.
Although the motions you use when exercising on a trampoline are similar to jumping, the trampoline absorbs some of the shock, making the exercise seem easier than it would it you were pounding along a pavement.
Last year, we offered you a few different exercises you could do on your AlleyOop, Springfree or JumpSport trampolines. We invite you to go back and review those trampoline exercises, along with these new suggestions from Ahmad.
The Basic Bounce
This workout “seems simple, but it burns a lot of calories” while toning your glutes, quads and calves, Ahmad says. It works like this:
- Stand on the trampoline with your feet maybe six inches apart.
- Bend your arms, with your elbows at your side.
- Bend your knees slightly, and bounce up and down, gently, so that your feet come about six inches off the trampoline.
- Repeat 30 times.
Trampoline Prances
Get your heart rate up with this workout:
- Again, you’ll start by standing on your trampoline with your feet six inches apart.
- Put your hands on your hips and bend your knees slightly, and then bounce on the balls of your feet. Alternate raising your right and left knees to hip level, as though you’re running in place.
- Repeat this move 60 times, or 30 lifts for each leg.
Trampoline Squats
“You have to engage your core muscles to perform this move on an unstable surface,” Ahmad tells WebMD. To perform this exercise:
- Stand on the trampoline, feet together, arms at your sides.
- Jump up and spread your feet just wider than the width of your shoulders. Land in a squat position, knees bent and thighs parallel to the ground, like you’re about to sit down. Your arms should be out in front of you.
- Bounce back into the start position. Repeat this movement 20 times.
As we always do when we discuss trampolines here, we’re going to point out how important it is to be safe when using one. Please review our list of trampoline safety rules.
And if you’ve decided that a trampoline workout is right for you, turn to Swingset & Toy Warehouse, a longtime source for top-quality NJ trampolines.
We carry AlleyOop, Springfree or JumpSport trampolines, and will be happy to help you find something that’s right for you and your family, whether you want to work out, have fun, or both. Visit us at one of our four New Jersey locations to see our entire line-up.
