Bounce Your Way to Better Health

It’s no secret exercise is the key to a healthy lifestyle. It burns fat, stimulates the senses, relieves stress and releases endorphins. It leads to better sleep and decreased chances of developing diseases. And to reap its benefits to the max, it’s something we should maintain our whole lives, starting in early childhood.

For their best development, we should make sure our kids get their fair share of physical activity, too. But sometimes it’s not that easy. Maybe life’s a little too busy to take the kids out on hikes. Maybe they don’t have the motivation for family exercise, and they’d rather play video games inside. Maybe all that early-20s jogging took its toll on your joints, and you can’t comfortably keep up.

There’s a brilliant, bouncy way for everyone in the family to get active and have fun together — and it’s good for more than just your bodies. Below, we’ll explain all the health benefits of jumping on a trampoline, from helping your kids learn to energizing everyone with easy exercise!

How Exercise Can Boost the Brain

You might think childhood development is all about exposure and education — learning language, social cues, numbers, spelling and reasoning skills. But the best tip to get kids learning is to get them moving — a concept known as “exer-learning.”

What is exer-learning? Well, we now know the brain is about more than book learning. It’s connected to every part of the body, composed of 100 billion neurons that communicate through chemicals, synapses and signals that control our thoughts and actions. Exercising regularly boosts and balances neurotransmitter levels to improve the way the brain communicates with the body. Physical activity also strengthens the connection and growth of neuron cells, enhancing learning capabilities and helping kids learn through exercise.

There are so many reasons for kids to be active. Simply put, more exercise makes for a stronger, healthier brain that learns more effectively. Studies show kids who engage in 15 to 45 minutes of exercise before class have increased levels of energy, attentiveness, alertness and motivation, making them not only better students, but better thinkers and problem-solvers. In fact, children who exercise regularly show a 20 percent increase in comprehension, display fewer behavioral problems and are less distracted in class.

The effects aren’t just temporary, either. While the immediate benefits of exercise lead to better in-school concentration for two to four hours, an active lifestyle builds brain cells and increases cognitive functioning permanently.

Exer-learning isn’t only for kids — people of all ages should stay active to improve their moods, prevent cognitive decline and boost their brains, providing them with healthy benefits for a balance of productive work, self-improvement and family life.

What Happens to Your Body on a Trampoline

You might not have it pinned on the top of your exercise routine list, but bouncing — also called rebounding — is a surprisingly healthy way to stimulate your brain and body. A springy workout delivers a variety of boosts to your body for a refreshing aerobic reaction. Here’s the anatomy of bouncing in both kids and adults:

1. Muscle Reaction for More Energy

When you begin bouncing, you engage your muscles in a challenging way they’re not used to. To keep them functioning properly so they can continue to support your new movements, your body triggers the need for more fuel. This means you use higher levels of glucose and ATP, your body’s natural energy source. Everything amps up so you can spring into action!

2. Increased Breathing Rate

To create more ATP and tap into extra energy, your body needs more oxygen. Your lungs must work harder, and your breathing rate speeds up. Don’t worry — heavy breathing doesn’t necessarily mean you’re out of shape or it’s time to call it quits. You’re just adjusting to a new activity type and making sure you have enough air and energy.

3. Rising Heart Rate

With increased lung function comes a quicker heart rate — all that oxygen needs to filter through your body to deliver energy to your muscles and increase circulation. Your heart works harder to pump oxygen-rich blood everywhere you need it, which keeps you energized. Not only is this good for conditioning, but it keeps your most vital organ happy and healthy.

4. Brain Buzz

Think of bouncing as a snack for your brain. It engages your synapses and triggers stress reactions, releasing chemicals that affect your body in different ways. The spark in brain activity will increase your focus and sharpen your alertness, helping you escape external stressors and experience the moment. A flood of endorphins and serotonin will also increase your happiness and leave you with a natural buzz.

5. Core Temperature Spike

All that work raises your core body temperature, dilating your blood vessels and sending blood flow to the skin’s surface. You’ll sweat to cool down more quickly, ridding your body of extra toxins and allowing you to feel relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated. Who knew something so fun could have such serious potential for a good workout?

Health Benefits of Rebounding

Now you know what bouncing can do for your body in real time, but did you realize it has long-term physical benefits, as well? This aerial, aerobic exercise can help you sleep better, keep you slim and trim, improve your brain and enhance various parts of your body. Incorporate rebounding into your regular routine to see these advantages for yourself and your kids:

1. Heart Health

You probably haven’t thought of it this way, but a good rebounding workout is a unique way to deliver a healthy dose of cardio, increasing your heart rate and strengthening the muscles for your cardiovascular system. Increased lipids and protein levels work to rid your cells of excess fat blockage, and your strengthened heart will enhance muscle performance, enable better breathing capacity and prevent heart disease. Bounce your way to longevity.

2. Bone Health

Jumping is a strength-building exercise for your legs and core. Landing, bending and working to push yourself upward repetitively puts a healthy amount of stress on your bones, encouraging them to increase in density. For this reason, rebounding even reduces your chances of developing osteoporosis. For young children, bouncing stimulates the pituitary gland, encouraging bone growth and strengthening the musculoskeletal system.

3. Joint Health

Even if we’re active in our lives, many of us worry about joint health as we get older, and it can be a major impediment in selecting exercise. Is jumping on a trampoline bad for your joints? Not at all — in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The springy give of a trampoline’s surface absorbs the force of impact when you land, preventing your spine, knees and ankles from shock. Bouncing is the perfect way to get your body moving without jolting and jarring your joints. It’s even a good exercise for people with knee issues.

4.  Energy Levels

All the increased oxygen, enhanced blood flow and extra endorphins involved in your body’s aerobic reaction to rebounding result in higher energy levels. Incorporating bouncing into your lifestyle will help you or your kids remain alert, focused and full of energy, increasing performance, productivity and enjoyment.

5. Balance and Coordination

The process of jumping, landing, balancing and rebounding are beneficial to your vestibular system, a structure located in your inner ear that helps determine your sense of balance. When you bounce on a trampoline, you provide your body with vestibular stimulation, helping you gain better motor skills, coordination, spatial orientation and balance. The activity also contributes to better core strength, assisting your overall, long-term wellness in similar ways to yoga and meditation.

6. Mental Health

Rebounding can be beneficial to both your mind and body, and its vigorous stimulation can actually be the key to letting you relax. The extra oxygen circulating to your brain tissue increases concentration and focus, while the released endorphins help you feel happier, maintain more energy throughout the day and sleep more soundly at night. There’s nothing better than reducing stress and spiking mental activity through a fun, freeing release.

7. Weight Loss

Rebounding is a full-body workout that engages all your muscles in rewarding ways. It will boost your metabolism, burn quick calories, get rid of excess cellulite and increase your ratio of muscle to fat. With lower cholesterol and a better resting metabolism, your goals of weight loss or maintenance are simple to reach and exceed.

8. Lymphatic Boost

To stay healthy, your body needs a way to rid itself of harmful toxins, keep your immune system strong and fight off potential threats like illness and disease. Your lymphatic system is responsible for these jobs, and plays a key role in your overall health. Rebounding stimulates your cells, aiding the lymphatic system in balancing important components like your spleen, thyroid gland and lymph nodes.

9. Aging Prevention

Here’s a bonus benefit of bouncing — it helps slow the physical process of aging. In addition to everything else it does for your body, rebounding prevents atrophy, keeping you looking as youthful as you feel when you jump up and down.

Why Outdoor Exercise Is Best for Kids

In addition to the benefits of bouncing itself, outdoor activity has a unique set of advantages for child development. While you and your kids bounce your way to better brain function and health, you can also help them grow in other ways. Here’s how outdoor exercise challenges your kids:

- Social Skill Development

An awesome trampoline offers an activity hub for all the neighborhood kids or allows quality time with parents and siblings. Exercising with others is a great way for kids to improve teamwork, communication and building a sense of community.

- Sensory Stimulation

Video games might spark the imagination, but exercising outside lets your kids experience the world in a nitty-gritty, real way. There’s nothing like breathing the fresh air, smelling the seasons and feeling the spring of a trampoline beneath their feet.

- Creative Stimulation

As opposed to being glued to screens, playing outside gives your kids the chance to test their imaginations and build their creative skills. They can invent games, act as new characters and complete special missions as they jump around squashing bad guys or competing for the highest hop. The fun is up to them!

- Interaction With Nature

Observing the outdoors and appreciating natural beauty is essential to children’s aesthetic development and mental health. It’s invigorating for the body, relaxing to the mind and gives kids a wider scope of the world than they can gain from sitting inside. Your kids will be happier and healthier than ever bouncing in the backyard, staring up at the open sky and catching leaves that cascade onto the trampoline.

Games for Fun Trampolining

If you or your kids need some extra trampoline inspiration to bounce you over the moon, here are some games to try:

1. H-O-R-S-E

Get your creative juices and gymnastic skills flowing as you compete with tricks, flips and bounces. Take turns calling out different moves to try on the trampoline. When one player performs the trick successfully, everyone else must copy it correctly. When you mess up, add a letter to your score. If you’re the last one to spell out H-O-R-S-E, you win!

2. Hot Potato

Pass a ball around as you jump, pretending it’s too hot to hold for more than a second. But be quick and careful — if you carry the ball for too long, drop it or stop jumping, you’re out. The last one standing wins the game.

3. Hoops

For a fun take on a classic game, try installing a play net to the side of your trampoline and getting everyone together for a round of basketball. You can compete, dribble while you bounce or take turns shooting from different distances. See who can make the farthest shot!

4. Dance-Off

If you don’t mind getting goofy, show off your moves by turning your trampoline into a stage. You can use your bouncy surface to add a spring to your step as you turn on some tunes and dance without a care. It’s so much fun, you’ll forget you’re exercising.

5. Bouncing Contests

See who can spring the highest by challenging each other to a bounce-off. You can do seat drops, bouncing off your butt and back up to see who gets tired first, or bounce at opposite times to propel each other farther upward.

Bounce With SkyBound

If you’re ready to get your bounce on and see the benefits for yourself and your family, explore all SkyBound USA has to offer. Providing high-performance, premium trampolines since 2009, we’re invested in nurturing the inner child in everyone! With safe, secure, all-weather-resistant products in various shapes, sizes and colors, we’ll deliver the reliable family fun you desire.

Check out our outstanding products to bounce your way to better health today!