Trampolining- History & Benefits Of A Whole Body Exercise

When 16 year old Georg Nissen attended the circus in 1930, an idea started forming in the young gymnast mind. As he watched the aerialists drop from their platforms into the big, soft safety nets below, he thought of a contraption that would allow the person to keep bouncing.

Fifteen years later, after several failed prototypes he patented “a tumbling device” which later received a registered trademark for “Trampoline,” which came from el trampolín, the Spanish word for “diving board.”

In World War II the military used it as a training device, which allowed pilots to reorientate themselves after difficult air maneuvers. That relationship extended to the the space program and NASA began using his invention in training astronauts. That connection along with Nissen’s ceaseless promotion activities, propelled trampolining into the American consciousness. Nissen awakened the world to its exercise benefits, which include cardio, strength training, balance and increased range of motion. He lived long enough to see it become an Olympic event at the 2000 Games in Sydney and got to test the trampoline at the Beijing Games in 2008.

In 1974 another innovator and gymnastics champion named Al Carter, trained his own children on the trampoline and began to see amazing results in their endurance, coordination and accelerated mental development. Recognizing the positive effects of trampolining on the human body, Carter set out to discover why his family experienced such positive effects. His 1979 book “The Miracles of Rebound Exercise,” became a national Health and Fitness 1.3 million best-seller, and his healthy cell concept describes the benefits of trampolining (rebounding) on the ever important lymphatic system.

Coming full circle, Al Carter said NASA confirmed it “Rebound exercise is the most efficient, effective form of exercise yet devised by man.”

The Miracles of Rebound Exercise; Carter, Albert E.; The National institute of Reboundology and Health, Inc. Edmonds, Washington, 1979.

“…for similar levels of heart rate and oxygen consumption, the magnitude of the biomechanical stimuli is greater with jumping on a trampoline than with running, a finding that might help identify acceleration parameters needed for the design of remedial procedures to avert deconditioning in persons exposed to weightlessness. “- NASA

Journal of Applied Physiology 49(5): 881-887, 1980. The research was performed by the Biomechanical Research Division, NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, in cooperation with the Wenner-Gren Research laboratory, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.

We began using Rebounders (a type of mini trampoline) with success at WBM in 2003, and are excited to bring back Al Carter’s classic Rebounder as a whole body exercise in conjunction with Pilates.