Hi, I'm Margaret from MelioGuide, and today, I'm here to talk to you about mini trampolines
also known as rebounders.
And so over the years, because I've been doing this for a few years, I've had a lot of emails
coming in asking me my opinion on the rebounder, and I could never find special enough evidence
and literature to make it a worthwhile blog.
However, over the last few days, I had an email from, I don't even know how old this
person is, I know she's female, from Quebec City.
And she was sharing with me that she has metastases of, from her cancer to her spine that had
affected five of her vertebrae in her spine, and was the rebounder a good option for her?
She specifically linked to Bellicon, which is one of the rebounding companies as a site.
And so, you know, just first of all, clicking on their site and looking at the rebounder
they were offering, which had no external support, and the movements that were being
demonstrated, wonderful if you have good bone density and you have a healthy spine and you're
just looking for a fun activity that, you know, has all the same benefits as regular
exercise.
But if you have had a spinal fracture, if you have poor balance, if you're at a higher
risk of a vertebral fracture, if you...so as somebody who has metastases to their spine
and are, you know, any of the torquing, the instabilities that come about on an unstable
surface or amplified on something like a rebounder, I would not support the use of a rebounder
at all for those individuals.
So, I love movement, I love different movement, and so, you know, if you have a rebounder
or you've been given a rebounder, I would encourage you to use it only in the case of
the rebounders that have a handle.
Even if you don't use the handle, it's there just in case, because there's the little springs
all the way around the sides, sometimes the little springs are covered, but if that surface
area's not that great, and so your chances of losing your balance are greater.
It's lifted off the ground so, you know, you'd then be falling from a height higher than
ground level.
The benefits of the rebounder for somebody that has low bone density specifically in
their spine, this is not great enough for me to support it as an exercise tool.
But, you know, if used safely, you can use it just as an adjunct to your bone building
program, maybe as a warm-up, maybe for a safe balance device.
I don't like to discourage people from movement, I'm just encouraging you to choose wisely,
exercise safely, and invest in places that are worthwhile.
Thanks for tuning in.
Wait, I have an idea for you.
There is another great alternative.
It's free, it's fun, and you could do it in the comfort of your home, and so it's called
Stomping.
University of Oregon had a study where they introduced stomping, and I'm gonna demonstrate
stomping for you and ways in which you can do stomping in your home, and I hope you'll
enjoy it.
So here I am demonstrating stomping.
You can imagine a big bug that you're trying to kill.
And so...
[stomping]
Now, doing stomping as something that you throw into your day, maybe every time you're
about to go up the stairs, if you don't have stairs then maybe, you know, cue yourself
every time you're going to leave the bathroom, maybe not before the bathroom because the
stomping might be too challenging on your pelvic floor.
Having said that, think about your pelvic floor when stomping.
So it's a lot of force, so integrate your breath.
So take a breath in as you blow and tighten your pelvic floor.
[stomping]
That little blow is gonna help support your pelvic floor.
So as you're building your bones, you're also supporting your pelvic floor.
You can also stomp up to the stairs.
You'll lose me if I stomp up too high, but I'll do the first step.
And so if you're going
[stomping]
And so stomping is one way to build up to jumping.
Jumping and stomping we know are good for our bones, and you can do it in a way that's
stable and safe.
As with your buildup to jumping and as with squats, make sure that when you're stomping,
that your knee is lining up in the same direction that your second toe is pointing.
So if you're going to point your foot out to the side, make sure your knee is going
out to the side.
It's a bit odd to do your stomping that way, but make sure that both are lined up in the
same direction and that you've incorporated your breath.
And the other thing to consider with your stomping is that if your balance is not great,
you are, you know, lifting your foot up at least nine inches off the ground, that takes
some stability.
So you might want to initially start with some support.
Make sure that you're safe, and as you have that support there, and then having your hand
just above the support as you're building your stomping.
But in the studies that they looked at stomping, the foot is lifted off at least nine inches
off the ground.
So I hope that gives you a nice adjunct to your bone health program.