By Darrin Jacks, April 2021
Trampoline back pain is a problem that resonates with many trampoline fans. Trampolining may be the perfect all-around fun activity for kids and adults alike with some unintended health consequences. According to The American Academy of Pediatrics, trampolines should not be used by any child unless for certain sports and training programs. This doesn’t mean that you should keep your kids away from jumping on trampolines.
Under the right conditions, Trampolining is one of the safest and fun exercises for the whole family. Trampolining can be a great workout for your back and strengthening your back muscles. Furthermore, trampoline rebounding can be a good exercise for improving cardiovascular health and other body functions while keeping your spine in good form.
However, this professional agency recommends kids should be allowed on trampolines only under the supervision of a trained adult. Also, it’s imperative that you maintain control of your movement when jumping on a trampoline. Stop rebounding when you feel you’re losing control of your movement as it can cause injuries in both adults and children.
Health Benefits of Trampolining
There has been plenty of talks regarding the benefits of trampolining involving both adults and kids. However, the most touted benefit is that it is an incredible exercise that can really help people improve their physical and mental health.
Just 20 minutes of trampoline rebounding is said to be as effective as running for one hour. Trampolining is an effective exercise because it utilizes the whole body. To jump properly and to maintain your form while in flight requires almost every muscle to come together for each bounce. Sure, your legs take most of the brunt, but your body’s muscles unconsciously work together to maintain your balance while in midair and when you come down. Combine all that with the activity, and your heart starts pumping blood throughout your system, and you have an awesome workout.
That’s not the end of it. Trampoline rebounding at this level also helps with the improvements in your body functions. For example, numerous reports show that elusive resistance to gravity while jumping up and down the trampoline helps increase cell function and production. This function is of great importance as it helps the building blocks of the body function better and quickly replace damaged cells or repair damaged cells.
Orthopedic surgeons recommend trampolining because it helps strengthen the back and after recovering from back problems. Trampolining puts less stress on the back, and it a great workout of choice for patients recuperating from back pain. Moreover, repeated load on the back and other bones promote bone growth and density.
However, the benefits don’t stop there. Trampoline exercises stimulate the thyroid gland, the lymphatic system, and the cardiovascular system. Vital cells like red blood cells and white blood cells increase in production and performance during trampolining. All these improve the circulation of necessary nutrients in our body, rids it of toxins, fights off viruses, infections, and illnesses.
This is where we can conclude the trampolining does improve our various body functions and enhances our immune system helping us lead healthier and happier lives.
How Trampolining Can Be Good for Your Back
We already mentioned how bouncing up and down on a trampoline positively impacts your heart, blood cells, and immune system, but it is also good for your back. Yes, despite some reports that trampoline rebounding can cause back pain and other spine complications, trampolining is actually good for your back in most cases. It improves your back strength by making your back muscles strong, flexible, and disc function.
To understand how trampolining can be a solution for your trampoline back pain, we need to understand about back problems in the first place. See most cases of back pain often caused by repeated shocks to the back. You may ask, ‘how come I am hurting my back. I don’t jump from higher places or carry heavy things.’ The thing is that you can hurt your back by the simple act of walking. Unlike other mammals, we humans have very little resistance to shock. Our bodies are designed to absorb shock. This is why our shoes have soft soles and padding in them to make walking more comfortable.
So if you’re into parkour jumping off of buildings, play combat sports where you fall on your back like karate or wrestling, or a gymnast—the impact of receiving shock on your back repeatedly will eventually catch up with you. The implications of consistent shocks on your backbone will worsen if your primary form of exercise is running. Jogging or running put all of your weight on the balls of your feet. As our feet has limited capacity to absorb all the shock from the impact, the rest of it is passed onto our leg, into the pelvis, and eventually ending up to our spine.
So how does trampolining address this issue? There are several ways. Let’s get to it.
First and foremost, a trampoline is a shock absorber. When you land on one, most of the energy exerted on the trampoline mat is accumulated and sends it back to launch you back into the air. The remaining energy is dissipated through the springs, into the frame, and, eventually, down into the legs. It’s simple physics. There is no way all that energy is sent through your spine because there are other outlets for that force to dissipate.
Another way that jumping up and down the trampoline is beneficial for your back is that it builds and strengthens your traps and other back muscles. Having strong and well-developed back muscles will absorb the daily shocks from walking, running, and doing other cardiovascular exercises. As mentioned above, trampolining is a complete workout involving almost every muscle or muscle group, including the back muscles. A strong back helps us improve our balance while walking and running as well as protecting the spine. By trampoline rebounding, you’re building the muscles that surround your spine while walking or running.
Additionally, trampolining can strengthen your core. A strong core will absorb excessive shock your body receives and help you maintain a perfect body posture while sitting and walking. By having a strong core, you can naturally sit straighter and walk taller without slouching or rounding your shoulders, which is essential for a healthy spine.
Root Causes of Trampoline Back Pain
There is an assumption that if your back hurts the following day after trampolining, you might have injured your back. There are grounds this may happen, but there could be another reason-workout. It’s normal for people to experience various parts of the body due to sore muscles resulting from a strenuous workout.
The pain will pass within a few days, but the good thing is trampolining is really a great workout as far as your body is concerned. Rebounding consistently engages various muscle groups and requires a lot of energy. For example, if you did several sets of bicep curls or leg curls, don’t be surprised if your biceps or thighs feel sore the next day. Jumping on a trampoline tears your muscles, and your body uses protein in your system to rebuild them, and this time it will be stronger. If you feel soreness in your body after trampolining or any other workout, it means that the workout is done correctly, and the body is doing it work in rebuilding the muscles.
However, to limit soreness, it is advised to stretch before working out, including jumping on a trampoline. Stretching before and after trampolining or any other exercise will also reduce your chances of serious injury.
Said that, if the pain persists or think that you’ve injured yourself, consult a doctor before working out again.
When You Should Not Use A Trampoline
If you’re seemingly healthy with no prior history of back pain or any existing back pain issues like fractures, your risk of incurring injuries during trampolining is low. However, for people with pre-existing back pain and other back-related implications such as sciatica, degenerative disk disease, pinched nerves, fracture, or osteoporosis, you should refrain from any rebounding activity.
There is always a risk of back pain while bouncing up and down on a trampoline because of compression. See, during trampolining, there is repetitive compression of the spine that can lead to back pain. Trampolining may also aggravate existing back pain because of the increased pressure in the discs between the vertebrae. Furthermore, the discs’ joints are stretched excessively, leading to injuries, spasms, and inflammation of the surrounding soft tissues. If you’re suffering from a pinched nerve, you can experience back pain as the landing can pinch it more severely.
However, we want to stress that trampoline exercise isn’t necessarily eliminated for anyone with these conditions. It would be best if you did not work on a large trampoline, where jumping higher will put more pressure on your spine, which will exacerbate these conditions. But, you could still use a mini trampoline and have an excellent workout.
Nonetheless, if you want to use a trampoline for exercising, it’s highly advised you take the necessary precautions and consult your health-care provider or doctor.
Why Trampolining Might Be Right Exercise For You
Last but not least, trampolining isn’t for everyone, and not everyone is interested in incorporating trampoline rebounding into their daily workout routine. But, you can some significant health benefits from trampolining regularly. Just make sure you don’t have back pain, injuries, or other kinds of pre-existing health problems in advance; otherwise, it could exacerbate the pain or injury. Besides that, bouncing on a trampoline will do more good to your back than bad, and it is, by far, a better exercise for you.
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