Want to know how Chris Hadfield felt when he returned to Earth?
Bounce on a mini-trampoline for an hour at your local gym. It’s practically the same thing. And since practically none of us will ever know anyway, we can pretend it's just like Space.
Jumping on a springy, bathmat-sized rebounder is tremendous fun, and when you step back on solid ground, your legs will feel as if they’ve not known gravity for the previous 60 minutes. After I bounced along in an hour-long JumpSport class at Steve Nash Fitness World on Hornby Street, I could hardly lift my feet off the studio’s hardwood floor. I wasn’t tired or injured. My feet were held down by a gravity I couldn't overcome, my Earth-bound mass no longer sprightly from the large, round elastic band that had been keeping me afloat. It’s like how the ground feels as if it’s moving backwards after you step off a treadmill.
Back to the astronaut. Once he was grounded, Chris Hadfield underwent rigorous physical therapy and strength training to relearn how to walk and move after orbiting the Earth in a zero-gravity capsule for half a year. His limbs felt heavy. He had to get used to the weight of his tongue in his mouth.
So, rebounding. It's not Space, but after boinging away, I found that walking felt very leaden. But also rubbery. Peculiar but worth it because the next day, my thighs and calves were tight. My butt the same. It's a great workout. They should call it SpaceJam. ...Wait.
The first modern-day rebounding class in Vancouver was held at Steve Nash Fitness World in early January and was taught by Sophie Calvert, half of the duo at Freckled Fitness. Her class was great, and I liked how she started very, very basic. She taught us novices what was esentially resting position but was really not restful at all. It burned my thighs to a crisp. This position draws from a fundamental athletic stance, which includes bent knees, feet shoulder-width apart, back slightly inclined, head up. Here we thrust our arms slightly behind us and simultaneously bounced both feet into the trampoline while keeping our head level.
Sophie led us through several rotations until we combined them all in a mad flurry of bouncing. We bounced around the mat (front back, side to side, repeatedly quicker rotations and switchbacks) and threw in weights before stepping off the rebounder to use it as a bench for dips and push ups.
Then she best summed up this kind of exercise class: “I thought it would be just a fun bounce around. I didn’t expect a full-body workout. I didn’t expect it to be as intense a workout as it is.”
JumpSport class can be as hard as you want it to be. To increase the physical effort, bounce harder. It’s not a question of jumping higher, but cramming more power and reverb into each jump. Bend forward slightly, tighten your back and your core but keep your head and shoulders at the same height -- then spring your knees up and pound your feet down. It’s not a jumping jack but a jack hammer.
It was awesome. Hard if I wanted it to be. Less so if I needed a pause but didn't want to stop. The trampoline will help you, don’t fight it. The intense cardio workout comes from driving your feet down again and down again and down again.
Trampolines, or rebounders, reached the level of ThighMaster on the fitness fad scale. For a few brief years, they were heaped in basement rec rooms around the continent, piled among children’s toys and hauled out to be used in front of the television set. Rebounders had such a moment, the exercise was even believed to cure cancer. Bouncing is still celebrated for its benefits to the lymphatic system.
A New York Times story was sceptical of the health benefits of rebounding, to say the least. But the excercise -- like with a step or other fitness aparatus -- can be modified and used in different ways.
I loved every minute of JumpSport. It's the only trampoline class I've done and I recommend it. I sweated and I managed to isolate leg muscles I’d worried had gone dormant. And besides, in what other class does “resting position” mean bouncing carefree on one of the world's greatest childhood toys.
S Rated: JumpSport at Steve Nash Fitness World
- Sweat: You'll be dripping if you can work at your max. Great cardio workout.
- Strength: Focus on thighs, calves and butt, plus some additional all-around toning.
- Stretch: Very little
- Simplicity: Basic moves that are easy to follow and make increasingly difficult if you choose.
- Spirit: Not Zen but will test your capacity for life after zero-gravity.
- Smile: Big time. This class is bonkers fun.
I attend this class courtesy of Steve Nash Fitness World.
