The study of the human body is fairly interesting. The moment it becomes no less than amazing is when we understand what happens as the body is placed under the demands of movement and resistance we call exercise. Rebounding is an effective exercise that reduces your body fat; firms your arms, legs, thighs, abdomen, and hips; increases your agility; strengthens your muscles overall; provides an aerobic effect for your cardiopulmonary systems; rejuvenates your body when it’s tired, and generally puts you in a state of mental and physical wellness. In fact, there are at least 33 fascinating ways the body responds to regular rebounding, detailed below:
1. Rebounding provides an increased G-force (gravitational load), which strengthens the musculoskeletal systems.

2. Rebounding protects the joints from the chronic fatigue and impact delivered by exercising on hard surfaces.

3. Rebounding helps manage body composition and improves muscle-to-fat ratio.

4. Rebounding aids lymphatic circulation by stimulating the millions of one-way valves in the lymphatic system.

5. Rebounding circulates more oxygen to the tissues.

6. Rebounding establishes a better equilibrium between the oxygen required by the tissues and the oxygen made available.

7. Rebounding increases capacity for respiration.

8. Rebounding tends to reduce the height to which the arterial pressures rise during exertion.

9. Rebounding lessens the time during which blood pressure remains abnormal after severe activity.

10. Rebounding assists in the rehabilitation of a heart problem.

11. Rebounding increases the functional activity of the red bone marrow in the production of red blood cells.

12. Rebounding improves resting metabolic rate so that more calories are burned for hours after exercise.

13. Rebounding causes muscles to perform work in moving fluids through the body to lighten the heart’s load.

14. Rebounding decreases the volume of blood pooling in the veins of the cardiovascular system preventing chronic edema.

15. Rebounding encourages collateral circulation by increasing the capillary count in the muscles and decreasing the distance between the capillaries and the target cells.

16. Rebounding strengthens the heart and other muscles in the body so that they work more efficiently.

17. Rebounding allows the resting heart to beat less often.

18. Rebounding lowers circulating cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

19. Rebounding lowers low-density lipoprotein (bad) in the blood and increases high-density lipoprotein (good) holding off the incidence of coronary artery disease.

20. Rebounding promotes tissue repair.

21. Rebounding for longer than 20 minutes at a moderate intensity increases the mitochondria count within the muscle cells, essential for endurance.

22. Rebounding adds to the alkaline reserve of the body, which may be of significance in an emergency requiring prolonged effort.

23. Rebounding improves coordination between the propreoceptors in the joints, the transmission of nerve impulses to and from the brain, transmission of nerve impulses and responsiveness of the muscle fibers.

24. Rebounding improves the brain’s responsiveness to the vestibular apparatus within the inner ear, thus improving balance.

25. Rebounding offers relief from neck and back pains, headaches, and other pain caused by lack of exercise.

26. Rebounding enhances digestion and elimination processes.

27. Rebounding allows for deeper and easier relaxation and sleep.

28. Rebounding results in better mental performance, with keener learning processes.

29. Rebounding curtails fatigue and menstrual discomfort for women.

30. Rebounding minimizes the number of colds, allergies, digestive disturbances, and abdominal problems.

31. Rebounding tends to slow down atrophy in the aging process.

32. Rebounding is an effective modality by which the user gains a sense of control and an improved self image.

33. Rebounding is enjoyable!

People who rebound find they are able to work longer, sleep better, and feel less tense and nervous. The effect is not just psychological, because the action of bouncing up and down against gravity effectively stimulates the lymphatic system without trauma to the musculoskeletal system. This unique discovery is central to the reasons Rebounding has become one of the most beneficial forms of exercise ever developed.

My favorite form of exercise is rebounding on the mini-trampoline. I can rebound several times a day while I’m listening to podcasts on my ipod or watching television.

The typical rebound mini-trampoline is about 3′ in diameter and 9″ high. It is safe, easy to use, and effective. Research has led some scientists to conclude that jumping on a mini-trampoline is possibly the most effective exercise yet devised by man, especially because of the effect rebounding has on the lymph in the body. Most importantly, rebounding is FUN, so we stick to it! Have you ever noticed how children naturally enjoy jumping on a bed? Just as the astronauts experience while floating in space, your body is in a state of weightlessness at the top of the bounce.

The mini-trampoline subjects the body to gravitational pulls ranging from zero at the top of each bounce to 2 – 3 times the force of gravity at the bottom, depending on how high the person is rebounding. Unlike jogging on hard surfaces which puts extreme stress on certain joints such as the ankles and knees eventually damaging them, rebounding affects every joint and cell in the body equally. Plus, there are no cars, dogs, and bad weather to worry about.

Rebounding may be used effectively in conjunction with niacin use to help detoxify fatty tissues.

Mini-Trampoline Exercise Good For Lymphatic System
The human body needs to move. The lymph system bathes every cell, carrying nutrients to the cell and waste products away. Contrary to blood which is pumped by the heart, the lymph is totally dependent on physical exercise to move. Without adequate movement, the cells are left stewing in their own waste products and starving for nutrients, a situation which contributes to arthritis, cancer and other degenerative diseases as well as aging. Vigorous exercise such as rebounding is reported to increase lymph flow by 15 to 30 times.

The lymph fluid moves through channels called “vessels” that are filled with one way valves, so the lymph always moves in the same direction. The main lymph vessels run up the legs, up the arms and up the torso. This is why the vertical up and down movement of rebounding is so effective to pump the lymph.

Restrictive clothing prevents the flow of both blood and lymph. Wearing a bra to prevent sagging breasts actually weakens the muscles and connective tissue which helps to create sagging breasts. The free movement of the breasts during walking and exercise helps to pump the lymph through the breast tissue.

Hours in a Bra Per Day*
Chance of Breast Cancer*
24 75.00% (3 out of 4)
>12 (but not while sleeping) 14.28% (1 out of 7)
<12 00.66%(1 out of 152)
0 (or rarely) 00.60% (1 out of 168)

*Singer and Grismaijer, 1995.

Rebounding For Detoxification And Immune System Benefits
The rebounding motion stimulates all internal organs, moves the cerebral-spinal fluid, and is beneficial for the intestines. Many immune cells such as T-lymphocytes and macrophages are self-propelled through amebic action. These cells contain molecules identical to those in muscle tissue. All cells in the body become stronger in response to the increased “G force” during rebounding, and this cellular exercise results in the self-propelled immune cells being up to 5 times more active. These immune cells are responsible for eating viruses, bacteria and even cancer cells, so it is good that they be active. Jumping on a mini-trampoline directly strengthens the immune system, so it’s a big deal!

When the outer coating of cancer cells has been dissolved by the enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin, the immune cells attack the cancer cells. Therefore, supplementing one’s healing diet with enzymes, combined with rebound exercise are a useful way to combat cancer.

The mini-trampoline and safety
Everyone should start with the gentle “health bounce” which means your feet remain IN CONTACT with the mat while the body moves up and down. The health bounce is sufficient to obtain all the benefits of rebounding while gently strengthening the entire body. The health bounce can be done while talking on the phone, listening to podcasts on your ipod or watching TV. It is recommended that you do your rebounding with bare feet so you do not slip.

Adults can start with 5 minutes of rebounding and increase their time as their fitness level improves. Seniors can start with 2 minutes several times per day, with at least 30 minutes between rebounding sessions. It’s necessary for older people to start gradually in order to give the connective tissue holding the internal organs in place time to strengthen. This prevents the possibility of “prolapsed organs” – the only contraindication to rebounding reported in the medical literature. Therefore increase your rebounding time gradually.

Inactive seniors find that gently jumping on a mini-trampoline gives them renewed vigor and zest for life. Hyperactive children are reported to calm down after a few days of rebounding. Rebounding is for everyone and people can use the rebound mini-trampoline whenever they have a few minutes during the day.

The Many Benefits of Rebounding
Rebounding benefits the body in numerous ways
Rebounding is an exercise that reduces your body fat – which is highly beneficial for diabetes and a host of other diseases, provides an aerobic effect for your heart, and gives your body energy when it’s tired. I jump on my mini-trampoline when I NEED energy, not just when I HAVE energy!

You can easily jump on your mini-trampoline in your living room, your office, or in your backyard. The traveler may wish to carry a portable rebounder around so they can rebound in their hotel room. Rebounding is the most convenient form of exercise around.

Daily rebounding offers numerous specific health benefits:
It increases the capacity for breathing.
It circulates more oxygen to the tissues.
It helps combat depression.
It helps normalize your blood pressure.
It helps prevent cardiovascular disease.
It increases the activity of the red bone marrow in the production of red blood cells.
It aids lymphatic circulation, as well as blood flow in the veins of the circulatory system.
It lowers elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
It stimulates the metabolism, thereby reducing the likelihood of obesity.
It tones up the glandular system, especially the thyroid to increase its output.
It improves coordination throughout the body.
It promotes increased muscle fiber tone.
It offers relief from neck and back pains, headaches, and other pain caused by lack of exercise.
It enhances digestion and elimination processes.
It allows for easier relaxation and sleep.
It results in a better mental performance, with sharper learning processes.
It relieves fatigue and menstrual discomfort for women.
It minimizes the number of colds, allergies, digestive disturbances, and abdominal problems.
It tends to slow down aging.

People who jump on a mini-trampoline a few times a day for a minimum of 10 minutes each time find they’re able to work longer, sleep better, and feel less tense. The effect is not just psychological, because the action of bouncing up and down against gravity is one of the most beneficial aerobic exercises ever developed.

Rebounding’s Oxygenating Effect
If you have a resting heart rate of less than 60 beats a minute, don’t smoke, don’t have chest pain, eat a healing diet, and engage in rebounding for 40 minutes or more daily, at least 5 days/week, theoretically it’s not likely that you’ll ever develop a heart problem if you have none now. Every day that you rebound for 40 minutes on a rebounder helps you to attain your heart rate target zone.

Jumping on a mini-trampoline offers the ideal low-impact aerobic effect because it qualifies as an oxygenating exercise. Rebounding might be considered a precursor exercise for better achieving the oxygen therapies.

The Detoxification Effect of Rebounding
The lymphatic system is the metabolic garbage can of the body. It rids you of toxins such as dead and cancerous cells, nitrogenous wastes, fat, infectious viruses, heavy metals, and other assorted junk cast off by the cells. The movement performed in rebounding provides the stimulus for a free-flowing system that drains away these potential poisons.

Rebounding is a lymphatic exercise. As stated earlier, rebounding has the same effect on your body as jumping rope, but without any jarring effect to the ankles, knees, and lower back that comes from hitting the ground.

Arterial blood enters the capillaries in order to supply the cells with fresh fluid containing food and oxygen. Rebounding’s bouncing motion effectively moves and recycles the lymph and the entire blood supply through the body many times during the course of the rebounding session.

Rebounding’s Stabilizing Effect on the Nervous System
Jumping on a mini-trampoline – along with yoga and deep breathing – is an excellent way to reduce stress. It can put the bouncing person into a trance-like state and provide wonderful relaxation. Jumping for health and fitness not only stabilizes the nervous system during the exercise session, but continues to help maintain a relaxed disposition even after one steps off the trampoline. The result is increased resistance to environmental, physical, and emotional stress. This is kind of thing whilch helps a person avoid psychosomatic disease and depression.

Rebounding and children
Children instinctively enjoy jumping around. They take to mini-trampolines like fish to water. One of the best things you can do to help instill the love of exercise in your child is buying a mini-trampoline, which sits around in the house and is always available for family members to use. Jumping on a mini-trampoline is one small step we can take toward solving our national epidemic of diabetes and obesity among children.

Slimming down the inner thigh area is not an easy task. It seems that many of the fat burning exercises that are useful in getting rid of the fat from the lower parts of the body but are not effective in reducing fat from the inner thigh areas. This is not true. We lose fat all over while training and dieting. Please remember, there’s no such thing as spot fat loss. But alas, there are exercises you can do to tone these stubborn areas, making them appear to have less fat!
Here are some inner thigh exercises that work:

Lunges
This is one of the most effective exercises for inner thigh fat. When you are doing lunges for the inner thighs, you can do it without using any weight. Stand in an upright position keeping your legs apart from each other. Then move any of the legs forward so that there is a distance of about 3 feet in between both your feet. Do not keep the distance less than 3 feet as that will make the up and down movements of your body difficult. Then start bending your knees so that your body moves in the downward direction. The knee of your back leg should go near the ground but should not touch it. During the bending act, you should keep the upper portion of the body straight and not let it lean forward. The front knee should always be behind the toes and it should be visible to you all the time. Hold on to the position for a few seconds, then move back and return to the original position. You can repeat this act 8 – 10 times depending upon your fitness level.

Squeezing Exercise Balls
These toning exercises for inner thighs involves squeezing of exercise balls using pressure of the inner thighs. Lie flat on your back and keep both your legs slightly above the ground in the air. Make sure that the legs should not get bent. The lower portion of the body including the hips should be firmly rested on the ground. Place both your arms at the sides of your body. Place the exercise ball in between the thighs and put pressure on the ball so that it gets squeezed. Hold this position for 20 – 30 seconds and release the pressure. Then the ball will put pressure on your thighs to regain its position. Repeat it for 5 – 6 times. Similarly, you can put the ball in between the shins and squeeze the ball. This way when you squeeze the ball, make sure your abs and glutes get squeezed too. Loosen the pressure a bit but do not allow the ball to go.

Inner Thigh Exercises for Women
These inner thigh exercises at home should be done lying on a soft surface. Take a towel or small blanket, roll it up and place it on the floor. Lie down on your left side and put your head on the rolled up towel. This is done so that your body is in correct alignment with the head, shoulder and hips. Gradually bend the right leg in the forward direction but maintain the left leg in a straight position. Then you have to raise your left leg almost 6 inches above the ground and keep it for a few minutes. Then bring it down to the ground and again lift it up immediately. Continue to repeat the lift 10 – 12 times. Then change the side and continue the exercise in the same manner lying on your right side.

These exercises for inner thighs need to be performed very carefully as any kind of over exertion can lead to severe injury. Before starting any of these workouts, it is always advisable to do some stretching exercises. It is also recommended to do exercises for the thighs under the supervision of a personal trainer.

Bicycle Exercise

Want to know the most effective ab exercises? The following ab exercises are the results of the American Council on Exercise’s study to determine the most effective ab exercises. While ab exercises won’t spot reduce fat from the belly, strong abs are important for keeping your body healthy and protecting your spine. For more about flat abs, visit my Abs Page for articles, workouts, FAQs and more.

The Bicycle exercise is the best move to target the rectus abdominis (i.e., the ’six pack’) and the obliques (the waist), according to a study done by the American Council on Exercise. To do this exercise correctly:

1. Lie face up on the floor and lace your fingers behind your head.
2. Bring the knees in towards the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the ground without pulling on the neck.
3. Straighten the left leg out while simultaneously turning the upper body to the right, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee.
4. Switch sides, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee.
5. Continue alternating sides in a ‘pedaling’ motion for 12-16 reps.

Captain’s Chair Leg Raise

Paige Waehner

1. Stand on chair and grip handholds to stabilize your upper body.
2. Press your back against the pad and contract the abs to raise the legs and lift knees towards your chest.
3. Don’t arch the back or swing the legs up.
4. Slowly lower back down and repeat for 1-3 sets of 12-16 reps. 

Exercise Ball Crunch

Exercise Ball Crunch

Vertical Leg Crunch

Vertical Leg Crunch

The vertical leg crunch is another effective move for the rectus abdominis and the obliques. To do it right:1. Lie face up on the floor and extend the legs straight up with knees crossed.
2. Contract the abs to lift the shoulder blades off the floor, as though reaching your chest towards your feet.
3. Keep the legs in a fixed position and imagine bringing your belly button towards your spine at the top of the movement.
4. Lower and repeat for 12-16 reps.

Long Arm Crunch

Long Arm Crunch

Reverse Crunch

Reverse Crunch

Full Vertical Crunch

Full Reverse Crunch

In a full verticul crunch, you really work the abs by involving both the upper and lower body. To do it right:1. Lie on your back and extend the legs up towards the ceiling.
2. Place hands behind your head (lightly cupping it) and contract the abs to lift the shoulder blades off the floor.
3. At the same time, press the heels towards the ceiling, creating a ‘u’ shape with the torso.
4. Lower down and repeat for 12-16 reps.

Plank on Elbows and Toes

Plank

WASHINGTON (AP) — At last, the secret to first lady Michelle Obama’s sculpted arms? Tricep pushdowns and hammer curls.

So says Cornell McClellan, Mrs. Obama’s longtime personal trainer, who described the workout routine of his famous client in the October issue of Women’s Health magazine. She began working with McClellan in 1997 at his Chicago fitness studio.

“She’s truly committed herself to the importance of health and fitness,” he says.

McClellan said that at the end of an intense routine of cardio workouts and weight training, Mrs. Obama finishes with the “arm-shaping superset” of tricep pushdowns and hammer curls to tone one of the most commented-upon pair of arms in the world. Mrs. Obama often wears sleeveless outfits.

How to get arms like Mrs. Obama’s?

Perform one set of tricep pushdowns using a straight bar attached to the high pulley of a cable station and then, without resting, follow with a set of hammer curls using dumbbells. Immediately repeat the entire process until two or three sets of both exercises have been completed.

The details of Mrs. Obama’s fitness routine came as part of a series of interviews by President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama on health care and their personal fitness and nutrition habits.

Obama was interviewed by Men’s Health; he also was featured in the magazine last November. Mrs. Obama gave her first interviews to Women’s Health and Children’s Health, a new magazine by Rodale Inc., publisher of the men’s and women’s health magazines.

Obama is again on the cover of Men’s Health, while his wife graces the cover of Children’s Health. She is joined by some of the Bancroft Elementary School pupils who have been involved with the White House garden.

Obama said he works out six days a week: two cardio days and four weightlifting days split between the upper and lower body. He also discussed his effort to overhaul the U.S. health care system and his late mother’s bout with cancer.

“My blood pressure is pretty low, and I tend to be a healthy eater,” he said in the interview. “So I probably could get away with cutting (my workouts) back a little bit. The main reason I do it is just to clear my head and relieve me of stress.”

Mrs. Obama cited small changes to her family’s diet that she says have made a difference. They include eliminating processed foods, cutting back on sugary drinks, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, eating together more as a family and teaching her daughters how to read food labels.

She said she tries to be conscientious about health and fitness because her family is like many others – too busy to think about it every day.

“But health and fitness and how we eat and thinking about it has become part of our lives, because of our kids,” she told Children’s Health. “We are their primary role models. And if they see me exercising and thinking about what I’m eating, if they see their father, as busy as he is, getting to the gym and playing sports, when they grow up they’ll understand that this is a natural part of being an adult.”