Health benefits of trampolines and trampolining

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Health benefits of trampolines and trampolining

Posted On : May-25-2009 | seen (2000) times | Article Word Count : 1328 |

The origin of trampolines and their benefits to health. The story behind the first trampoline and research into how trampolines are good for you

Watch the faces of children jumping on trampolines and you will see the thrill and excitement they experience. But did you know that what seems such a simple idea – bouncing up and down on a springy surface – is claimed to have far more wide-reaching significance than the original concept of trapeze artists adding to the dramatic impact of their acts.

Most animals have an inbuilt capacity for fun – you only have to watch a group of lambs leaping around together in a field and playing “king of the castle”, or otters sliding down to the riverbank. People have also enjoyed the fun and challenge of games, such as bouncing, for many hundreds of years. The Inuits are said to have tossed each other in the air on a walrus skin; “birthday bumps” were a common sight in school playgrounds. Cervantes included a slightly more unpleasant form of bouncing in Don Quixote when he described the impromptu punishment of “blanketing”, or being thrown into the air by a mob.

The development of the modern trampoline has evolved from a number of different sources, including a sort of springboard used by circus performers in the mid nineteenth century to increase their jumping ability. (The Beatles referred to an 1843 circus poster and a “show tonight on trampoline” in their song “For The Benefit of Mr Kite” on the Sergeant Pepper album.

The main advance, however, came from George Nissen and Larry Griswold, two gymnasts based at the University of Iowa in the USA. They noticed how safety nets being stretched increased the “bounce” and effect of dismounts for trapeze artists. They experimented with tightly stretched canvas across an angle-iron frame with springs. Around 1934 they built the first modern type of trampoline, which they patented. This has evolved to the trampoline we know today.

The history of the work of Nissen and Griswold is well documented, but the origin of the name “trampoline” is more uncertain. There was a circus performer called du Trampolin and some circus historians claim that the word trampoline was a derivation of his name. Nissen and Griswold originally called their invention the “rebound tumbler”, but later trademarked it as a trampoline. This probably comes from a remark overheard by Nissen during a demonstration tour in Mexico. One of the audience used the term “El trampolin” (Spanish for diving board) after observing how the rebound tumbler worked. The term trampoline has now become the generic term for the device that delights so many children and adults across the world.

The trampoline is used in many other circumstances, but perhaps one of the most intriguing is in training astronauts in coping with weightlessness and different body attitudes in flight. This practice started during the Second World War, when the US Navy recognised the cost benefits of pilots and navigators being able to practice spatial awareness whilst still on the ground, rather than in an expensive (and potentially dangerous) aeroplane. After the war, the practice was continued in the training of US astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts.

The use of trampolines was taken a step further at the end of the 1970’s, when NASA commissioned scientific research into the physical benefits of trampolining. The results were published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in 1980 and proved spectacular. Eight fit young men were monitored as to how their bodies responded firstly to jogging on a treadmill and secondly to bouncing on a trampoline. The spectacular findings have led to the considerable health-benefit claims since then.

The conclusion of the research was that trampolining exercised the young men substantially more than jogging. The dry statement in the research was that for similar levels of heart rate and oxygen consumption “the magnitude of the bio-mechanical stimuli is greater with jumping on a rebounder trampoline than with running”. This is something of an understatement as the actual results were that the difference was as much as 68% more exercise benefit for trampolining! In some cases, bouncing on a trampoline was more than twice as efficient as running on the treadmill.

Another benefit was highlighted in the research. Whereas runners often suffer injuries to knees and shins from repeated jarring of the joints, bouncing on a trampoline had no such adverse effects on legs, feet or ankles, so was safer as well as more efficient. The research also recommended the use of the trampoline for astronauts returning after long periods in the weightless environment of space.

Most of us, however, have not been into space, so what are the benefits of trampolining to us? In fact, further research has found even greater health benefits than those already mentioned. One of the most significant of these is for the body’s lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s defence system against infection and disease, as it gets rid of toxins and returns proteins to our blood.

The lymph system requires muscle contraction and expansion and breathing to supply and drain every part of the skin and every organ with lymph, carrying infecting organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, from the site of the infection back to the local lymph glands. This flow around the body is controlled by a one-way valve mechanism. Bouncing on a trampoline causes the valves to close on the way up and open on the way down. Gravity becomes zero at the top of the bounce, so you become weightless. On the descent, however, the G-force doubles over the normal effect of gravity, so this action of bouncing up and down can increase the lymph system’s activity by up to thirty times its normal level. A session on the trampoline could therefore be both a lot more fun and as good as, or better than, a detox diet.

It is hardly surprising, then, that trampolines are the mainstay of many medical and sports physiotherapists for a variety of benefits to their patients. A trampoline session helps to strengthen limbs, increase muscle tone and stamina and improve co-ordination, balance and speed of reaction. How many other physiotherapy practices provide such fun?!

There is an almost infinite range of medical conditions where trampolining can be of benefit. It has been shown to help mentally and physically disabled people by improving patience, (few people can succeed on a trampoline without some practice!), self-confidence, communication, spatial and height awareness and, very importantly for disabled people, a sense of independence.

Other researchers have claimed benefits in treating chronic fatigue syndrome (ME), improving the digestion and even in preventing some forms of arthritis and osteoporosis.

One of the most potentially significant influences of trampolining in today’s world is in helping the growing problem of obesity in children. Like any challenging physical activity, bouncing on a trampoline burns calories – lots of them! There is no need to enrol in a gym, leave the home environment, or have the ubiquitous description of “it’s boring!” flung at you if your overweight child learns the joys and fun of a trampoline in the garden. And their friends can join in too.

Trampolining has also been growing as a competitive sport since the late 1940’s, culminating in its inclusion in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The wheel came in full circle in 2008 when George Nissan, then aged 94, travelled to the Bejing Olympics to see how his rebound tumbler had grown to worldwide recognition in both the sporting and medical world.

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<h1>Health benefits of trampolines and trampolining</h1> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_Mark Wood.aspx'>Mark Wood</a> Watch the faces of children jumping on trampolines and you will see the thrill and excitement they experience. But did you know that what seems such a simple idea – bouncing up and down on a springy surface – is claimed to have far more wide-reaching significance than the original concept of trapeze artists adding to the dramatic impact of their acts.

Most animals have an inbuilt capacity for fun – you only have to watch a group of lambs leaping around together in a field and playing “king of the castle”, or otters sliding down to the riverbank.   People have also enjoyed the fun and challenge of games, such as bouncing, for many hundreds of years.   The Inuits are said to have tossed each other in the air on a walrus skin; “birthday bumps” were a common sight in school playgrounds.   Cervantes included a slightly more unpleasant form of bouncing in Don Quixote when he described the impromptu punishment of “blanketing”, or being thrown into the air by a mob.

The development of the modern trampoline has evolved from a number of different sources, including a sort of springboard used by circus performers in the mid nineteenth century to increase their jumping ability.   (The Beatles referred to an 1843 circus poster and a “show tonight on trampoline” in their song “For The Benefit of Mr Kite” on the Sergeant Pepper album.

The main advance, however, came from George Nissen and Larry Griswold, two gymnasts based at the University of Iowa in the USA.   They noticed how safety nets being stretched increased the “bounce” and effect of dismounts for trapeze artists.   They experimented with tightly stretched canvas across an angle-iron frame with springs.   Around 1934 they built the first modern type of trampoline, which they patented.   This has evolved to the trampoline we know today.

The history of the work of Nissen and Griswold is well documented, but the origin of the name “trampoline” is more uncertain.   There was a circus performer called du Trampolin and some circus historians claim that the word trampoline was a derivation of his name.   Nissen and Griswold originally called their invention the “rebound tumbler”, but later trademarked it as a trampoline.   This probably comes from a remark overheard by Nissen during a demonstration tour in Mexico.   One of the audience used the term “El trampolin” (Spanish for diving board) after observing how the rebound tumbler worked.   The term trampoline has now become the generic term for the device that delights so many children and adults across the world.

The trampoline is used in many other circumstances, but perhaps one of the most intriguing is in training astronauts in coping with weightlessness and different body attitudes in flight.   This practice started during the Second World War, when the US Navy recognised the cost benefits of pilots and navigators being able to practice spatial awareness whilst still on the ground, rather than in an expensive (and potentially dangerous) aeroplane.   After the war, the practice was continued in the training of US astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts.

The use of trampolines was taken a step further at the end of the 1970’s, when NASA commissioned scientific research into the physical benefits of trampolining.  The results were published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in 1980 and proved spectacular.   Eight fit young men were monitored as to how their bodies responded firstly to jogging on a treadmill and secondly to bouncing on a trampoline.   The spectacular findings have led to the considerable health-benefit claims since then.

The conclusion of the research was that trampolining exercised the young men substantially more than jogging. The dry statement in the research was that for similar levels of heart rate and oxygen consumption “the magnitude of the bio-mechanical stimuli is greater with jumping on a rebounder trampoline than with running”. This is something of an understatement as the actual results were that the difference was as much as 68% more exercise benefit for trampolining! In some cases, bouncing on a trampoline was more than twice as efficient as running on the treadmill.

Another benefit was highlighted in the research.   Whereas runners often suffer injuries to knees and shins from repeated jarring of the joints, bouncing on a trampoline had no such adverse effects on legs, feet or ankles, so was safer as well as more efficient.   The research also recommended the use of the trampoline for astronauts returning after long periods in the weightless environment of space.

Most of us, however, have not been into space, so what are the benefits of trampolining to us?   In fact, further research has found even greater health benefits than those already mentioned.   One of the most significant of these is for the body’s lymphatic system, which is part of the body’s defence system against infection and disease, as it gets rid of toxins and returns proteins to our blood.

The lymph system requires muscle contraction and expansion and breathing to supply and drain every part of the skin and every organ with lymph, carrying infecting organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, from the site of the infection back to the local lymph glands. This flow around the body is controlled by a one-way valve mechanism. Bouncing on a trampoline causes the valves to close on the way up and open on the way down. Gravity becomes zero at the top of the bounce, so you become weightless. On the descent, however, the G-force doubles over the normal effect of gravity, so this action of bouncing up and down can increase the lymph system’s activity by up to thirty times its normal level. A session on the trampoline could therefore be both a lot more fun and as good as, or better than, a detox diet.

It is hardly surprising, then, that trampolines are the mainstay of many medical and sports physiotherapists for a variety of benefits to their patients.   A trampoline session helps to strengthen limbs, increase muscle tone and stamina and improve co-ordination, balance and speed of reaction.   How many other physiotherapy practices provide such fun?!

There is an almost infinite range of medical conditions where trampolining can be of benefit.   It has been shown to help mentally and physically disabled people by improving patience, (few people can succeed on a trampoline without some practice!), self-confidence, communication, spatial and height awareness and, very importantly for disabled people, a sense of independence.

Other researchers have claimed benefits in treating chronic fatigue syndrome (ME), improving the digestion and even in preventing some forms of arthritis and osteoporosis.

One of the most potentially significant influences of trampolining in today’s world is in helping the growing problem of obesity in children.   Like any challenging physical activity, bouncing on a trampoline burns calories – lots of them!   There is no need to enrol in a gym, leave the home environment, or have the ubiquitous description of “it’s boring!” flung at you if your overweight child learns the joys and fun of a trampoline in the garden.   And their friends can join in too.

Trampolining has also been growing as a competitive sport since the late 1940’s, culminating in its inclusion in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The wheel came in full circle in 2008 when George Nissan, then aged 94, travelled to the Bejing Olympics to see how his rebound tumbler had grown to worldwide recognition in both the sporting and medical world.
About the Author: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.jumper.fr">Jumper Trampolines, France</a> sell trampolines with free delivery to all France and customer service in French and English. Trampolines include the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.jumper.fr/jumpkingorbounderspciale-c-45_47_67.html">Orbounder trampoline</a> and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.jumper.fr/jumpkingjumppoddeluxe-c-45_47_40.html">Jumppod Deluxe Trampoline</a>. Jumper Trampolines, du trampoline de jardin avec Livraison Gratuite. Article Source: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Health-benefits-of-trampolines-and-trampolining_826.aspx'> http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Health benefits of trampolines and trampolining_826.aspx</a>

Article Source : http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Health benefits of trampolines and trampolining_826.aspx

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Jumper Trampolines, France sell trampolines with free delivery to all France and customer service in French and English. Trampolines include the Orbounder trampoline and Jumppod Deluxe Trampoline. Jumper Trampolines, du trampoline de jardin avec Livraison Gratuite.

Keywords : trampolines, France, achat de trampoline, Jumpking, Jump for Fun, Octajump trampoline, Bounce board, livraison gratuite, fami,

Category : Recreation and Sports : Recreation and Sports

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