I must admit that I had never heard the term “rebound” (except when it comes to basketball) or “rebound drills” until last year. Or if I did, I wasn’t really aware of it. I was a bit surprised to find that jumping or bouncing on a mini trampoline is called “bouncing.” Of course it made sense. But it was an “Aha! Moment when I (finally) put it together.”

Tony told me to do it!

He was attending an Anthony Robbins live event in sunny Southern California, and sometime around the third day, he mentioned the great benefits of the rebound. When I had previously noticed it in the exercise book, I was thinking of ’emotionally bouncing’, or maybe even bouncing a basketball (‘crashing the boards’, something I’m not to close to be able to). But then Robbins got his rebounder out of the backstage, started bouncing, and showed how easy it is to use. He told us that he always has a rebounder backstage, and Tony went on to mention some of the many health benefits. Well … I was intrigued!

The Bosu Ball for Beginners

Well, I found it definitely easy to use, and it didn’t even have a bouncer! However, when I came home from the event, very excited by what I had learned about rebounding exercises, I realized that I already had a substitute exercise equipment that could do the trick, at least temporarily. (Note: if you can and do try the following suggestion / concept, be careful, as it probably requires a bit more coordination than a rebounder!) I started bouncing, or bouncing, on a Bosu Ball.

A Bosu Ball is essentially a large half ball with a flat bottom, which you can stand on to improve your balance, or as I found out, it bounces gently! I think you can imagine that a flat mini-trampoline, a real rebounder, is probably even easier to use. Because the Bosu Ball is rounded, it targets the outer calf muscles and outer ankle more than a real rebounder. But I was starting to get my rhythm back!

It goes without saying that a real rebounder is a better and easier way to do it, so be sure to skip my initial step and go straight to what makes sense: a rebounder (aka a mini trampoline). Some of them even have safety handles if you are worried about losing your balance.

Main benefit: move lymph

Since then, I have learned that the body’s lymphatic system does not have its own pump (unlike the circulatory system, for example, which has the heart to pump blood). Therefore, to keep the lymph moving, we need exercise and movement, or at least deep breathing, which helps to move the lymph.

Why is this important? Lymph carries many toxins out of the body and is like a great filtration system for the entire body. Imagine that stagnation in the body leaves the lymph stuck where it is and all those toxins begin to accumulate. It is not good, certainly in the long term. Well, rebound exercises help move lymph from head to toe and keep the toxin flowing out of your body.

Next time: Mommy’s lymphedema

I recently made the connection between the importance of moving lymph (which is easily done through rebound exercises, by the way) when I recalled a struggle my mother faced: a serious lymphatic disease called lymphedema. His case was relatively rare, but it really shows the importance of maintaining lymphatic flow. Next time I will go into more detail about lymphedema. Stay tuned, rascals!