Improving your cardiovascular fitness is easier than you might expect. All you need to do is some form of exercise that gets your heart rate up and keeps you breathing heavily for several minutes at a time. The trick is finding an exercise that you enjoy doing regularly. Trampoline workouts could be the answer.
Working out on a trampoline has a lot of benefits. Exercising on a trampoline is easier on your joints than exercising on a hard surface, allowing you to work out for longer and with more intensity, whilst keeping the risk of injury down. In addition, the bouncy nature of the trampoline forces you to use a wider range of stabilising muscles, giving you a full-body workout.
Great Trampoline Exercises
To make the most of your trampoline, you should try to do as many different exercises as possible. Just bouncing up and down is fun for a few minutes and can be more tiring than you might expect, but mixing up the exercises will ensure that you get a much better overall workout.
Simple Bouncing
Bouncing up and down is a good way to warm up and is one of the first exercises everyone should learn on their trampoline. Start by standing in the center of the trampoline with your feet shoulder-width apart. Gently bounce up and down. Don`t jump, simply “bounce” with your feet. As you countinue bouncing you should find that the springiness of the trampoline makes you bounce higher and higher. Keep going for a few minutes, until you start getting out of breath.
Trampoline Squats
Squats are more of a stability exercise than a cardio exercise, but they are worth doing if you want your legs and core to look toned. Start by placing your feet shoulder-width apart with your toes pointing forward. Bending your legs so your knees are at a 90 degree angle, keeping your back straight and your head up, slowly rise to a standing position pushing down through the heels. For extra difficulty, hold a dumbbell or kettlebell out in front of you as you squat. Squatting on a trampoline employs more stabilising muscles than squatting on a hard surface.
Jumping Jacks
Jumping jacks, also known as star jumps, are a great exercise for cardio. Make sure you start in the middle of the trampoline and have enough space to jump without your legs getting caught in the springs. Do three sets of 15 jumping jacks with a short break in between each set.
Running In Place
Running burns a lot of calories, raises your heart rate and is a great all-around exercise, but it is stressful on the joints and gets boring fast. Running on a trampoline is a lot more fun and can be even more challenging than normal running. Try running in place whilst lifting your knees up high to exercise more of your leg muscles.
Again, when you are running, stay away from the outer edges of the trampoline to ensure that you don`t catch your feet on the trampoline`s springs. If you plan on doing a lot of exercises on your trampoline, consider investing in a cover from a company such as trampolinepad.co.uk, which will help you to stay safe whilst doing your trampoline cardio.