Rebounding for Weight Loss: How Long to Jump, Cellulite, Belly Fat, etc.

                When you were a kid, you used to jump on a trampoline and had plenty of fun doing it. Now that youre an adult, trying to lose weight, you heard about rebounding to lose weight. Might have even searched “mini trampoline exercises for weight loss”, “rebounder weight loss” or “rebounder exercises”. It sounds pretty adult, pretty sensible. You read about its cardiovascular benefits, that it helps move the lymph, improves balance, and might even help with osteoporosis.

                So you think that its a good form of exercise maybe to lose belly fat, help with cellulite, and more. You log on to Amazon, and start looking for rebounders/trampolines.

                In this article, well discuss:

• The truth about rebounding for weight loss
• How long does it take to lose weight rebounding?
• How many minutes a day should you rebound?
• Can you lose belly fat by jumping on a trampoline?
• Is rebounding better than walking?
• Does rebounding help with cellulite?

If you want to watch the video version of this article, here it is:

The Truth About Rebounding for Weight Loss

                The truth is that rebounding is really no different than any other cardiovascular exercise. Theres nothing magical about rebounding, compared to running, swimming, cycling, rowing, etc. They all burn similar amounts of calories, if the heart rates are the same. They all have varying levels of impact from no impact (like swimming and cycling), to low impact (like walking), to high impact (like running). Rebounding, by the way is in the middle low-to-medium impact.

                So, rebounding for weight loss is an option its not the only option, and its not necessarily even the best option (because there really is no best option theyre all very similar in terms of physical benefits). The real issue with exercise is adherence. If you think that running is the best way to lose weight, but you hate running, your adherence will be very low. However, if you like rebounding, then your adherence will be higher.

How Long Does it Take to Lose Weight Rebounding?

                Rebounding weight loss results can mean you’re losing weight from things other than fat. So, the answer to this depends on what and how much weight were talking about. Wanna lose some water weight, by sweating? Then 20-30 minutes is all you need. But Im guessing that you probably want to lose fat, not sweat

                Unfortunately, my friend, thats an impossible question to answer, because your weight loss depends on so many factors, like:

• Nutrition what are you eating?
• Your current weight
• How much time youre rebounding
• How many days per week youre rebounding
• How hard youre rebounding
• Whats your heart rate while youre rebounding
• Your job are you very physically active at your job, or sedentary (like an office job, or driving a lot)?
• What other exercise do you do?

Because there are so many variables to consider, theres no single answer. But heres a general answer: one pound of fat has 3500 calories. So if you want to lose 1 pound of fat per week, you need to create a weekly caloric deficit of 3500 calories. Spread across 7 days, thats 500 calories per day.

Assuming you dont increase your food intake while youre rebounding, and youre doing it 7 days per week. If youre doing it at a moderate intensity, and you weigh 150 pounds, youd need to jump around 40-50 minutes per day. If youre 150 pounds, and youre doing it at a high intensity, you can probably get it down to about 35 minutes. If youre 200 pounds, jumping at moderate intensity, youd need to jump about 35-40 minutes to burn 500 calories. If youre doing it at high intensity, you could get it down to about 27-30 minutes.

But ultimately, if exercise is your only way of losing weight, youll be sorely disappointed. As a standalone tool, its not a good one. When combined with good nutrition, its a much better tool.

How Many Minutes a Day Should You Rebound?

                I hate giving answers like this, but it depends Again, there are a bunch of factors. If youre trying to lose weight, and you dont want to change your nutrition, we went over the numbers above. But if you are up for making some nutritional modifications, and lets say that you create a 300 calorie per day deficit, you dont need to rebound for as long. Now, you only need to create a daily deficit of 200 calories through exercise. If thats the case, youd only need to jump on the trampoline for 20-30 minutes per day.

                Of course, if youre just jumping on the trampoline for the joy of jumping on a trampoline, and you dont care about any weight loss effects, just go until you get bored, and its not fun anymore.

Can You Lose Belly Fat by Jumping on a Trampoline?

Sure! Just dont expect the fat loss to be exclusive to the belly. Youll lose fat from your entire body, and the belly will come along for the ride. In my other articles, about arm weight loss, and how to reduce stubborn fat, I talk about the challenges with spot reduction (ie losing fat from the area that youre working. You might feel the burn, but thats not your fat burning. Thats your muscle burning).

                As is the overall theme of this article: jumping on a trampoline is just another form of cardio, not much different than running on the treadmill, using the elliptical, riding a bike, etc. You dont lose any more fat on a trampoline than you do on the treadmill, assuming all the other variables are equal (duration, intensity, and frequency).

                I think the reason that some people have this misconception is due to the up and down nature of jumping on a trampoline. When you go on the trampoline, you can really feel your fat jiggle. But just because its jiggling doesnt mean youre losing that fat.

                Its like those 1940s gym machines where youd just stand, tie a band around your waist, and it would jiggle your fat (theyre called vibrating belts). You wouldnt lose that fat. It just gets jiggled.

Is Rebounding Better Than Walking?

                There are upsides and downsides to almost every activity. There are upsides to rebounding that walking doesnt have. There are also downsides to rebounding that walking doesnt have. I always say in my seminars, theres no such thing as better or worse. Only more appropriate and less appropriate. That is to say that both rebounding and walking are tools in the toolbox. Is any tool really good or bad? It depends on how you use it. A hammer is good if youre trying to put a nail inside a wall. A hammer is bad if youre trying to use it as a fork. Likewise with walking, rebounding, or any other cardiovascular form of exercise.

                Here are a couple of benefits to rebounding that walking doesnt have:

• The intensity is by necessity higher. It would be hard to jump for 10 minutes, and keep your heart rate super low. So rebounding lends itself to both medium and high intensity, but not to low intensity.
• Its fun! Of course, fun is subjective, but people who like jumping on trampolines will tell you that its more fun than walking. Makes you remember what it was like when you were a kid.

But there are also drawbacks to rebounding that walking doesnt have:

• You need a trampoline/rebounder. It costs money. Walking is free.
• If youve never jumped on a trampoline, you have to learn to do it. You dont have to learn how to walk. If youre old enough to read this article, you know how to walk.
• The risk of injury is higher. Landing wrong, or falling off the trampoline are real concerns. Theyre not likely, but they are possible.

Here are some commonalities to both walking and rebounding:

• Theyre both cardiovascular forms of exercise.
• Intensity can be adjusted with both rebounding or walking. With rebounding, either jump higher or faster. With walking, either walk faster, or on an incline.
• Theyre both good for the heart, and multiple other systems of the body.

Does Rebounding Help with Cellulite?

                As I discuss in my article on cellulite, cellulite is regular fat, no different than any other kind of fat. You might be wondering so why does it look different than regular fat? its because of the skin, not the fat itself. The skin is either thinner over the areas that cover that fat, compared to fat in other areas, or it just protrudes through the skin. There are certainly hormonal factors at play as well, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Because cellulite is just fat, anything that helps with overall fat loss will also help with cellulite. When combining rebounding with proper nutrition, you can reduce the appearance of cellulite. But again, I dont believe that there are any differences as far as cellulite goes between rebounding, running, cycling, etc.

Since cardio doesnt thicken the skin of the areas where cellulite appears, all cardio is equally effective at decreasing the appearance of cellulite.

If after reading this article, you really want to work out with a rebounder, just look up a workout on Youtube, follow along, and have fun.

There you have it. One of the most comprehensive articles around on rebounding for weight loss, and along the way, weve managed to bust some of the myths surrounding rebounding.

If after reading this, you decide to pick up a rebounder from Amazon, you can do so here.