Research / Studies

Summary research excerpts related to bouncing/rebounding

Here’s what the researchers are saying about rebounding:

The mini-trampoline [rebounder] provides a convenient form of exercise with a major advantage being its apparent low level of trauma to the skeletal muscle system.

— Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation
(1990: 10; 401-408)

The findings indicate that exercise on a miniature trampoline [rebounder] may provide a safe, adequate indoor exercise for normal and many cardiac patients of varied ages, if guidelines concerning rate or stepping and height of knee lifts are adhered to…

— Journal of Medical Science for Sport and Exercise

…for similar levels of heart rate and oxygen consumption, the magnitude of the biomechanical stimuli is greater with jumping on a trampoline than with running on a treadmills, a finding that might help identify acceleration parameters needed for the design of remedial procedures to avert deconditioning in persons exposed to weightlessness.

— NASA Journal of Applied Physiology

A.W. Daniels, a Ph.D. Adjunct Professor at the University of Utah in the fields of Material Science and Engineering, and Orthopedic Surgery, studied the impulse load contact, or the force with which a given subject’s foot makes contact with another surface. They determined that a miniature trampoline has only 15% of the impact force of a wooden board track, a standard exercise surface.

Fitness
Machine		 Lung Capacity
Increased
(ml/kg/min)		 Percent Body
Fat Decreased
Treadmill 31.3+/-4.8 to 35.5+/-4.4 31.3+/-4.8 to 26.4+/-4.4
Stationary Bike 30.5+/-4.6 to 33.8+/-4.2 30.9+/-5.2 to 28.3+/-4.5
Rebounder 30.4+/- 4.8 to 33.9+/-3.3 31.2+/-4.3 to 27.2+/-4.1

A research study conducted by the University of California at San Diego found that their study results demonstrated that “exercise on a miniature trampoline is not significantly different from treadmill running or stationary bicycling in increasing fitness and decreasing body fat in overweight women.” The study subjects met for ten weeks, four times a week, for a 30-minute workout with a ten-minute warm-up and cool-down. For those using a treadmill, their maximum VO2 levels, or lung capacity, “increased from 31.3+/-4.8 to 35.5+/-4.4ml/kg/min; percent body fat decreased from 31.3+/-4.8 to 26.4+/-4.4. For the stationary bicyclists, maximum VO2 went from 30.5+/-4.6 to 33.8+/-4.2ml/kg/min; percent body fat changed from 30.9+/-5.2 to 28.3+/-4.5. The rebounders increased maximum VO2 from 30.4+/- 4.8 to 33.9+/-3.3ml/kg/min; percent body fat decreased 31.2+/-4.3 to 27.2+/-4.1. ” – Journal of Medical Science in Sports and Exercise: 1980: 12:103 (J.R. White, Human Performance Lab, UCSD)

In short, mini-trampolines offer the fitness benefits of running or stationary biking, but when you combine that information with the fact that mini-trampolines have a much lower impact and all kinds of unparalleled cellular and lymphatic benefits, it’s clear trampolines stand a cut above other equipment. They’re safe, efficient, easy to use, and fun!