My Rebounding Journey

Back in September, I was feeling very unmotivated in my fitness journey and was really struggling to show up for myself in any physical way. I have tried many different forms of physical activity over the years such as lifting weights, power lifting, barre fitness, yoga, running, etc. You name it… I’ve tried it. I came across a local trampoline fitness studio called “Session”, and that caught my attention. One night, I went out on a limb and dragged my friend to attend a class with me. Little did I know, I would very soon become obsessed and start attending classes on an almost daily basis.

Session is a fun and inclusive fitness studio that offers Rebound and Pilates classes. I love that they value having an inclusive environment where all bodies are welcome. I also love the strong sense of community I feel every time I walk in the door. They truly know how to make you feel like you belong. Joining a new gym can be an intimidating and scary experience, but they really help you feel at ease.

I fell in love with rebounding almost instantly. I loved that I felt like I was dancing without any impact to my joints. When I rebound, I feel free, my brain turns off, and I feel like I’m flying. I knew from the start that I want to get better at it. You might be wondering what exactly rebounding is. Well, rebounding is a type of aerobic workout that involves jumping on an individual mini trampoline and following a movement routine to music led by an instructor.

Rebound fitness has plenty of benefits including: 

• Strengthens the immune system
• Strengthens the muscular system
• Improves balance
• Improves cardiovascular function
• Stress reduction
• Low impact (good for joint health)

I started out by attending the “Rebound Lite” class. This is a class specifically designed for beginners to learn the basic movements (jacks, runs, twists, switches, etc.). When I first started, I could barely go 5 minutes without feeling like I needed a break. Over the next few months, I continued to attend the Rebound lite classes. The moves that once felt impossible started to get easier and easier. After 4 months of consistency and hard work, I finally feel like I can follow along handle the entire 45 minute lite class.

Session offers three different levels of Rebound class: lite, intermediate, and advanced. I started to get brave and signed up for an intermediate class. It felt like starting from square one again. I struggled to keep up and it was really hard to learn the new moves. I did a few more of these classes and it got a bit easier, but I still find these classes to be quite challenging for me. Let’s just say I have never signed up for an advanced class, as I know that my skill level just isn’t there yet.

My goal for this learning project is simple: I want to take my current skill level at Rebounding from beginner to intermediate/advanced. By the end of the project, I would like to be very comfortable with any intermediate routine and some advanced routines. For evaluating my proficiency in rebounding, I will use the following criteria and rate myself out of 10 for each category:

• Endurance – Can I do it for a full 45 minute class without feeling exhausted
• Skills – Am I able to do all of the skills/choreography used in this type of class
• Timing – Am I able to do it in time with the beat of the music
• Synchronicity – Am I in sync with the instructor’s movements

This is where I would rank myself in those areas for each type of class:

Rebound Lite – Endurance: 9       Skills: 10       Timing: 10        Synchronicity: 10

Rebound Intermediate – Endurance:  5          Skills: 7     Timing: 5        Synchronicity: 6

Rebound Advanced –  Endurance: 3        Skills: 3       Timing: 4       Synchronicity: 4

By the end of the project, I would ideally like to be at least an 8/10 in most of the categories for intermediate and advanced. In order to achieve this goal, I will have to learn and practice new skills that are used in the intermediate/advanced classes such as kicks, rocks, triple kicks, transferring on/off the trampoline, etc.

Current Skill Level (Beginning Assessment)

These are movements typically seen in a Rebound Lite class

What I’m Working Toward

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Efkt6J21dYs

This is an example of an instructor leading a class through an intermediate level routine