Practiced for centuries by many cultures around the world—including Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine systems—detoxification is about resting, cleansing, and nourishing the body from the inside out. By removing and eliminating toxins, then feeding your body healthy nutrients, detoxifying can help protect you from disease and renew your ability to maintain optimum health. The body has its own natural healing system, and detoxification enhances this system. The body eliminates toxins through the blood, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymph system, and skin.
Rebounding is a lymphatic exercise; it’s a therapeutic movement on a mini-trampoline. Because it moves all parts of the body all at once, it can also be called cellular exercise. 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'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 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.
As an exercise it is superior to any other because it not only uses gravity but also two other forces, acceleration and deceleration. At the top of the bounce you experience weightlessness, and at the bottom your weight doubles, pulling you into the center of the rebounder. Rebounding is an exercise that reduces your body fat—which is highly beneficial treatment of 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 rebounder 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. Rebounding is the most convenient form of exercise around.
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. Adults can start with five minutes of rebounding and increase their time as their fitness level improves.
When I have been working at the computer for a while and know that I need to get my circulation going, or when I’m feeling sluggish or stagnant—REBOUNDING to the rescue. I usually start slowly with some gentle bouncing and then work up from there. Some days are gentle according to what my body wants and some days are more active and vigorous. I love to turn on some good tunes and have FUN!
You need a quality rebounder
I purchased my Urban Rebounder at Amazon.com. Another quality one is Reboundair. Just don't go to your local Walmart and buy one—they are cheap, will not last that long, and some people claim to have gotten injured on the "low quality" rebounders.
Check out my video from YouTube http://youtu.be/ZOLGmGmpEhY for more information and a 10 minute bouncing routine that I do. I hope you pick up some moves to incorporate into your own routine if you own a rebounder. If not, watch how fun it is and save up for one.
Other benefits of rebounding
- Increases oxygen delivery and blood flow.
- Promotes Mind-Body Unity—better learning, intuition, balance of two hemispheres of the brain.
- Creates homeostasis which is the general balance of all systems of the body. Sickness represents blockages in the body. Rebound exercise can help to remove the blockages and return blood flow and circulation back into the diseased parts.
- It also increases the white blood count, thus strengthening the immune system. One most important aspect is the return of the trapped blood proteins.
Various movements on the rebounder
Health Bounce
This move bounces you gently without leaving the mat. Just the up and down movement starts the flow of the lymph system. Two minutes will increase the lymph flow up to fourteen times.
- A great warm-up
- relieves tension, relaxes
- rehabilitates after bed rest
- stabilizes vestibular (inner ear)
- stimulates the nerves in the joints, ligaments, and muscles.
- creates balance between mind and body—slows the brain waves to alpha level which is the level where we connect with the inner world, learn better, and can relax
- improves vision
Strength Bounce
The body weighs 1G at resting point. The higher you jump, the more you increase the G force until at 4Gs you access the maximum oxygen absorption.
For this bounce you want to spread your legs shoulder wide and move up and down leaving the mat. For more fun you can kick your legs up and forward. By leaving the mat, even your feet get the benefit of massage when you touch the mat again. That stimulates all the reflex point on the bottom of the feet. You can try to land on your toes and roll the foot down toward the heels. That is added stimulation to the internal organs.
Aerobic Bounces
For this bounce you want to get your heart rate up. By moving vigorously on the rebounder, this can be accomplished and should be kept up for 20 minutes to get the most benefits. By adding the deep diaphragmatic breathing it can be accomplished with any move. To avoid getting bored, do a variety of bounces. Lifting the arms above the heart will increase the heart rate and the oxygen flow. Here are some great things to try on the rebounder:
- jog
- sprint
- twist
- shuffle
- kick legs
- curl legs
- criss-cross legs and arms
- jumping jacks, etc.
The important thing is to JUST HAVE FUN!!
