Almost everyone knows that jumping on a trampoline is fun. However, what you may not realize is that children and adults alike can benefit from jumping on a trampoline. This is true whether you’re bouncing on a large trampoline or a bouncer (which is just a small personal trampoline).
There are many benefits to using a trampoline. Today we will discuss the physical benefits of jumping on a trampoline, as well as the benefits of rebounding. We will also discuss some of the other lesser known benefits of using a trampoline. Let’s get started!
Physical Benefits of Jumping on a Trampoline
There are many physical benefits to bouncing on a trampoline. Some of the most obvious benefits are improved cardiovascular health, increased muscle strength, weight loss, improved flexibility, and increased bone density, along with improved posture and balance.
Let’s break each of these benefits down individually to provide you with some more details.
Cardio
Jumping on a trampoline can give your heart a great workout. It’s easy to argue that your heart is the most important part of your body. Therefore, anything that moderately increases your heart rate and provides your heart with a workout is a big plus.
Jumping on a trampoline is also likely to increase your overall blood flow as well. Why is this important?
Consider that improving blood flow will improve your body’s ability to move nutrients from one part of your body to another. This will also help ensure that each part of your body always has adequate blood flow.
Muscle Strength
One of the biggest problems we face in modern society is muscle atrophy due to a sedentary lifestyle. This is true when we are young and when we are old. Young people have to deal with bodies they aren’t proud of when they look in the mirror and an inability to exercise vigorously.
The problem is even more serious for older individuals. A lack of muscle strength can increase one’s risk of injury, and cause them to struggle with even the most basic of tasks.
Fortunately, jumping on a trampoline activates virtually all the muscles in your body. While jumping on a trampoline isn’t going to give you the body of a gym rat AKA “The Rock”, it will help stave off the muscle atrophy that so many people are struggling with in today’s world.
Jumping on a trampoline for just a few minutes a day can strengthen your core and your whole body for that matter. Of course, the more active time you spend on your trampoline each day the stronger you’ll become!
Weight Loss
We understand that in today’s world, many people have some opinions about fat shaming. It is true that everyone has the right to choose the lifestyle they want to live.
However, an important point to realize is that being overweight is not just an aesthetic issue. The most important aspect of being fat or obese is not that you need to buy bigger shirts.
The biggest reason you want to lose weight is that being overweight can cause a lot of health and psychological problems. If being overweight makes you feel less confident, it’s hard to argue that your weight has a negative impact on your quality of life.
Even if you’re confident about being “PLUS size,” however, tipping the scale at an excessively high number also makes it more likely for you to suffer from body pain, high blood pressure, heart disease, high LDL cholesterol, and even some forms of cancer (source here).
Don’t freak out too much though. One of the benefits of jumping on a trampoline is that doing so can help you lose weight. For one, jumping on a trampoline burns many calories.
Jumping on a trampoline also helps strengthen your muscles, and having stronger/bigger muscles contributes to your body’s metabolism. Thus, regularly jumping on a trampoline can help you to burn fat, and obtain a healthier body!
Improved Flexibility
Apart from strengthening your muscles, jumping on a trampoline is also said to lengthen your muscles. This leads to you becoming more flexible. Flexibility is important for several reasons. Being flexible will decrease your overall risk of injury, improve physical performance, and also help improve your posture.
Increased Bone Density
Similar to your muscles, your bones strengthen if they are challenged to the proper extent. Jumping on a trampoline benefits the density of your bones because it repeatedly puts them under small amounts of stress.
To accommodate for this, over time your bones will rebuild themselves to be stronger than they were before! Strong bones help you avoid painful injuries such as broken or fractured bones. High bone density will also help protect you against osteoporosis.
Improved Posture
As we said earlier, jumping on a trampoline improved your muscle strength and flexibility. This leads to the improved ability of your body to support your spine which can help to prevent and even reverse many of the negative health effects typically associated with poor posture.
Better Balance/Coordination
Jumping on a trampoline offers a unique opportunity to practice your balancing opportunities. Balancing on a trampoline is comparable to jumping and trying to properly land on a floor that is always moving.
Because of this movement, you’re forced to become more aware of your body and its center of gravity. The obvious benefit of better balance is that you’re less likely to fall. This is especially important for senior citizens who are always at risk of falling and being unable to get back up.
Of course, having a better sense of balance can also be useful for other sports or athletic activities. A basketball player or football player that’s highly efficient at controlling their balance and center of gravity is also EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to the other team.
Other Benefits of Regular Trampoline Use
Apart from the physical benefits regular usage of a trampoline may provide, there are a number of other improvements you may notice after you begin using your trampoline.
Increased Persistence
Nobody likes a quitter. Unfortunately, instant gratification activities such as video games or social media don’t teach us to work through difficult problems. You can’t expect yourself (or your children) to learn the skills of patience or resiliency if you’re partaking in activities that instantly reward you.
The benefit of trampolines is that they can encourage you or your child to become more persistent. Everyone wants to eventually learn how to backflip or learn some other trampoline trick.
The process of repeatedly trying-failing-trying-failing before one eventually succeeds can help teach you or your child an amazing amount of persistence and self-discipline.
Self-Esteem Boost
Using a trampoline can make you feel more confident for two reasons. The first is one we already alluded to before. Using a trampoline can help you lose weight or tone your body. When you have a healthy body, you’re more likely to feel confident about yourself.
The other reason using a trampoline may boost your self-esteem is that you tend to become more confident as you develop new skills and abilities. As you see your balance, cardiovascular capacity, and ability to perform trampoline tricks improve, you’ll feel more confident in yourself and thus have higher self-esteem.
Cheap Form of Entertainment
People almost unanimously agree that jumping on a trampoline is a lot of fun. Fortunately, most trampolines cost only a few hundred dollars.
While that’s obviously more expensive than going to the movies this weekend, think about how much lasting entertainment you’ll get from your trampoline.
A family night at the movies may only cost $50, but the experience is only enjoyed for a few hours. A trampoline may cost $300, but your family will be able to enjoy using it for years.
If your $300 trampoline lasts for six years, it will only cost you an average of $50 per year – the same as a single family trip to the movie theater!
Conclusion
We hope that our posts help you understand some of the benefits of trampolining. There’s a reason we’re so keen to write new posts about trampolines every day.
There are many benefits to using a trampoline, and in these times when money and physical activity are scarce, trampolines can provide you with a great return on both.