For the Health of It: Bounce!

The Health Benefits of Rebounding

Rebounding is a form of exercise that has been scientifically proven to improve the immune system and flow of the lymphatic system.  Rebounding involves jumping on a mini trampoline; this increases both blood and lymph circulation. The body contains 5-6 quarts of blood, which is circulated by the heart. There is three times more lymph in the body than blood and it does not have a pump like blood does.  We have to depend on our muscles to contract in order to move the lymph.  Yet there is so much of it that if a person’s lymphatic system were to stop functioning loss of fluid volume and swelling tissue would cause death within 24 hours. That is how important circulation of both blood and lymph is for the body.  Blood carries protein, oxygen, nutrients to the organs.  Once inside the organs it exchanges it's nutrients and carries wastes and carbon dioxide away.  Lymph is the leftover blood that leaks from blood capillaries into the tissue that the lymphatic vessels pick up.  Lymph fluid contains water, proteins, salts, lipids, and white blood cells that must return to the blood.  It also filters toxins like pathogens, damaged cells, cellular debris and cancerous cells in lymph nodes on it’s way to the chest where it is connected to a blood vessel and gets dumped back into the blood supply.  

I love how Dr. Samuel West puts it, ’Toxins are carried through the body by blood. These toxins include impurities of what we eat, inhale and ingest.  This causes an increase in blood protein and water to leak out of the capillaries into the interstitial space around the cells causing swelling (edema).  The swelling prevents oxygen from getting into the cells, causing cellular stress which can lead to various forms of diseases.’  Dr. Samuel west was  One of the first doctors in U.S. to talk about the importance of the lymphatic system in the healing process of disease and injuries. He believed that the #1 cause of diseases and pain are a lack of oxygen due to a congested lymphatic system.  Rebounding gets circulation moving.  All  forms of exercise work on the principle of opposing gravity, rebounding utilizes the forces of gravity, as well as the forces of acceleration and deceleration.  When you land on a rebounder, every cell in the body has to adjust to the increased deceleration. When the springs take over and push the body up into the air, then the body has to adjust to a weightless condition for only a moment at a time. But that weightless condition is throughout the entire body regardless of where the cells are.  Having the body adjust to an environment that it is not used to, which is deceleration at the bottom of the bounce promotes the flow of lymph, thereby helping the body flush out toxins and strengthening the immune system and making it more effective.

The way the lymphatic system works is the lymphocytes, the white blood cells, are moved through the body via one-way valves. You’ve got these valves from the bottom of the feet upwards throughout the entire body – and the valves from the legs all point upwards, from your neck they go down, from the arms they go towards the chest. So when you move the body around, the lymph fluid is always moving in one direction, that is towards the collarbones.

It’s here, at the top of the chest, the lymph valves allow the lymph fluid to flow into the bloodstream.  By activating the one-way valves  of the lymphatic system, you cause an increase in lymph circulation by 10-30 times of what the lymphatic system is able to circulate during periods of rest, lymph flow is sluggish and almost zero.  So when you bounce on a rebounder, or jump on the floor, or use a jump rope, the one-way valves open and close about 100 times a minute, circulating the lymph fluid, removing toxins and getting the white blood cells to areas of the body where they need to be.

Without adequate movement the lymph does not move and the lymph vessels can’t even pick up the lymph from the tissue.  This means the cells are left stewing in their own waste products and starving for nutrients and oxygen, a situation that contributes to arthritis, cancer and other degenerative diseases.  

Rebounding is great for the lymph system because the lymph vessels move the lymph in one direction, towards the heart that makes the  vertical up-and-down movement of rebounding more effective than horizontal motion workouts, such as jogging and running.  It’s nice for the joints in general too because the rebounder gets rid of the pressure the joints take when hitting the pavement.  

Poor lymph flow is common in sedentary people; this is one reason why less active individuals are more susceptible to illness. Sedentary people who have poor diets or choose to live on junk food are often unwell because the body sends all the toxins and waste to the lymphatic system. The lymph flow is poor due to a lack of exercise, so toxins accumulate in the body.

Additional benefits of rebounding include:

• Increased lymphocyte activity 

• Physically strengthens muscles

• Helps improve balance

• Improves cardiovascular function

Linda Brooks says gently bouncing on a rebounder for two minutes every hour is an ideal protocol for fighting against cancer. Within just two minutes the entire lymphatic system is flushed, creating a demand for more lymphocytes, including killer T-cells. The white blood-cell count is approximately tripled during this two-minute rebounding session.

Approximately one hour after rebounding, the white blood-cell count returns to normal, so it is time to rebound again to flush out the lymphatic system and to create another army of defensive cells. The object of this pattern is to keep the immune system operating optimally and naturally, hour after hour, day after day.

Rebounding exercise also strengthens each cell of the body so that healing can occur. Every process of every cell is enhanced allowing each organ to do its job more efficiently: digestion and absorption are enhanced; elimination is improved, thus removing more toxins from the body; and the body is relaxed and de-stressed so healing hormones are produced.

She explains that practice of rebounding against cancer is done using the “health bounce”.  Here is an explanation of the health bounce along with other rebounding exercises you can do.  

The Health Bounce

The health bounce is where the feet never leave trampoline. This still has positive effect. You’re getting all the one-way valves to open and close at the same time, increasing the activity of the lymphatic system throughout the entire body. 

The Basic Bounce

This can be done instead of the Strength Bounce below until you develop more balance.

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet shoulder width apart.

2 Relax shoulders and arms and keep arms slightly bent at the elbow.

3 Gently bounce up and down while keeping your knees slightly bent. Your feet should never leave the trampoline surface more than a few inches.

The Strength Bounce

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet shoulder width apart.

2 Relax shoulders and arms and keep arms slightly bent at the elbow.

3 Gently bounce up and down while keeping your knees slightly bent. Your feet should leave the trampoline surface approximately 8-12 inches.

High Knees

This is a terrific exercise that gets your heart rate up while working the muscles of your core.

1 Stand on trampoline surface with your feet hip distance apart.

2 Raise your right knee, lower it, then raise your left knee and lower it.

3 Once you feel able, begin doing the knee raises as if you are running in place.

4 Variation: Sprints – go as fast as you can in short bursts.

Butt Kickers

1 Stand on trampoline surface with your feet hip distance apart.

2 Begin jogging in place.

3 When your knee goes up, kick yourself in the tush with your heel.

Jumping Jacks

This will increase your heart rate while working both the inner and outer thighs.

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet together

2 Jump up off the trampoline surface a few inches while extending arms out, up and overhead

3 Return to the starting position and repeat.

Twisting Jumps

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet together

2 Jump up off the trampoline surface a few inches while twisting your body to the left.

3 On your next jump, twist your body to the right.

One Leg Jumps

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet shoulder width apart

2 Begin jumping on one leg for 3-10 bounces.

3 Switch legs and jump on the other leg for 3-10 bounces.

4 Variation: kick out the leg you are not jumping on.

5 Variation: alternate legs every bounce, kicking out non-jumping leg.

Sample Beginner Routine

These are perfect rebounder workouts for beginners.

1 Health bounce for two minutes while breathing deeply.

2 Strength bounce for 3 minutes (do the basic bounce if you don't have enough balance for the strength bounce).

3 Health bounce for an additional 2-3 minutes while breathing deeply.

4 Repeat three times daily.

Sample Advanced Routine

1 Health bounce for 2 minutes while breathing deeply.

2 Strength bounce for 3 minutes.

3 High knees alternating with butt kickers for 3 minutes.

4 10-15 second sprint.

5 Jumping jacks for 3 minutes.

6 Twisting jumps for 2 minutes.

7 10-15 second sprint.

8 Strength bounce for 1 minute.

9 Health bounce (cool down) for 2 minutes.

For stability, most retailers of rebounders sell an optional handlebar to attach to the rebounder to help with balance. For balance you can also place the rebounder beside a wall or in a doorway and using the door frame or wall to help keep you balanced while performing rebound exercise.

I have seen improvement with my patients doing as little as 5 minutes a day of rebounding.