Trampoline Workout --demo with pictures and video!

I rocked out another HOT trampoline workout today (seriously, it was 93 degrees with 70% humidity!). And, my average heart rate was above 160 bpm, which is really awesome. Jumping will do that for you!

So, if you are like me and have a kiddo or two with a trampoline and you are itching to get on there and exercise, totally DO IT. I wear a heart rate monitor to make sure my workout is effective. My range is always to shoot for over 145 at all times (after a few minutes of warmup jumping). And, I try to do 30 reps of an exercise and then just bounce for a bit in between. Since I am watching my heart rate, I make sure it doesn't dip out of range in between exercises. Time flies by!  Sometimes, since they are about 20 minutes long, I put my phone on my arms and listen to FitMuses (an app on my phone) where these two gals just talk about life while exercising (okay, maybe that's strange) or I download something from Steady130.

Some tips to elevate the heart rate:

• Involve your arms; raising arms above your head requires more effort and makes your body work harder
• Jump high; if you need a break, just do a sort of "jog in place" motion, which on a trampoline is more like jumping with one leg in front of the other and then switching with a lower jump than normal. 
• Experiment with raising your legs when jumping. I do various jumps that involve leg motions that really get the heart rate up high.

Some jumps:

Rocketship: Shoot your arms up as you jump high

Slalom: Think "skiing" and jump side to side with arms in jump rope motion.

Split jumps: Move arms down and legs out

Squat jumps: Raise those knees up and touch them with feet apart

Straddle: Jump and touch toes (cheerleader style)

Tuck: Narrow jump with knees together.

Prance: Think of it like a skip; raise one leg up as you jump and alternate legs

Air Jacks: Like jumping jacks

Hurdlers: Alternate legs with a bounce in between

Below is a short (less than 80 seconds) demonstration of the jumps that are shown above. If you try it out, let me me know! It's fun stuff! I read that 10 minutes of continuous jumping on a trampoline is equivalent to 30 minutes on a treadmill with 40% less pressure on your knees. I don't know how true it is, but I can say my heart rate for this workout was higher than my 4 mile run average today... so.... yeah. :)