Health benefits of rebounding: what the evidence shows

In a small ACE-sponsored study, 24 active young adults did one 19-minute choreographed mini-trampoline workout. Their heart rate averaged about 79% of maximum, which is moderate to vigorous. They rated the effort as only light to moderate, so it felt easier than it measured.

A 2017 study by Cugusi and colleagues put 18 sedentary, overweight women through one 46-minute instructor-led class. Heart rate averaged about 72% of maximum and the session came out at roughly 5 METs and about 300 kcal. That energy figure was estimated by a wearable armband, not measured directly.

A 2001 conference abstract compared 21 young adults jogging on a mini trampoline and on a treadmill at the same step rate. Oxygen use was consistently higher on the treadmill.

Reasonable, with limits. Every study is small and looked at a single session. The ACE study was paid for by ACE and published in its own magazine, not a peer-reviewed journal, and its participants were fit students. Nobody has measured gentle, feet-on-the-mat bouncing by older or unfit adults.

A 2022 lab study of 34 men compared drop jumps on to a mini trampoline and on to a hard surface. Peak landing forces and loading rates were lower on the trampoline. Force was measured with an in-shoe sensor, and a drop jump is not the same as a rebounding session.

The 1980 NASA study of eight young men found lower peak acceleration at the ankle on a trampoline than when running. It also found higher acceleration at the lower back and head on the trampoline. So in that data the lower impact holds for the feet and ankles, not for the spine.

On the other side, a 2023 case series described seven people, average age 63, with compression fractures in the middle of the spine about two and a half weeks after they took up regular mini-trampoline exercise. Only four of the seven had confirmed osteoporosis.

Limited. We found no study that measured knee or hip loading during ordinary home rebounding and compared it with running, and none showing fewer injuries. "Low impact on joints" is an inference from softer landings.

A 2011 study trained 22 older adults on mini trampolines for 14 weeks, with 12 others as controls. The trained group got about 35% better at regaining their balance in a simulated forward fall in the lab.

A 2019 randomised trial by Posch and colleagues followed 40 women aged 56 to 83 with osteopenia. Half did a supervised programme of balance, strength and jumping exercises on a mini trampoline twice a week for 12 weeks. Compared with the control group they improved in one-leg standing, the timed up-and-go test, chair stands, walking speed and fear of falling.

A 2023 doctoral thesis on 37 postmenopausal women reported a 14% gain in a dynamic balance test after 12 weeks. The women were not randomised and only eight were controls.

Reasonable for balance tests, with caveats. The studies are small. All used supervised classes, not people bouncing alone at home. In the 2019 trial the control group did no exercise at all, so the gain may come from exercising and not from the trampoline. No study counted actual falls, so the 35% figure is a lab test result and not a reduction in falls.

The 2019 trial of 40 women with osteopenia measured bone density after 12 weeks. The difference between the rebounding group and the control group was not statistically significant at the lower spine or at the hip.

The 2023 thesis found an 8% rise in heel bone density, measured by ultrasound, part of which was lost three months later. That was one site, measured by ultrasound and not the standard DXA scan, with a control group of eight.

Higher bone density has been reported in competitive trampolinists. As the Cleveland Clinic points out, most people are not competitive trampolinists. Against all this stands the 2023 report of spinal fractures in seven people new to mini-trampoline exercise.

Limited and mixed. Twelve weeks is short for bone to change, and neither study settles the question. A physiotherapist who reviewed the research concluded that neither study adequately showed the rebounder helped build bone.

A 2018 study by Cugusi and colleagues followed 18 overweight women through 12 weeks of supervised mini-trampoline classes. Blood pressure fell from about 128/80 to 123/71, fitness measures rose, and the authors reported significant improvements in body circumferences, fat mass and lean mass. We could only read the abstract, which does not give the body composition figures.

The same group's single-session study estimated about 7 kcal a minute for sedentary overweight women in an instructor-led class.

Limited. Eighteen people, no control group, and a supervised programme. We found no randomised trial of rebounding for weight loss.

We looked for a study that measured lymph flow, the clearing of "toxins" or immune function during or after rebounding in healthy people. We did not find one.

McGill University's Office for Science and Society looked too, in 2023. It reports that the only study it could find was a 2018 pilot in seven women with lymphoedema of the legs, which is too small to draw conclusions from. It also notes that the NASA study often quoted in support did not measure lymph.

No evidence found. The lymphatic system moves fluid using its own valves, your breathing and ordinary muscle movement. Nothing shows that bouncing does this better than walking.

A 2002 survey of all 35 female elite trampolinists in Sweden, average age 15 and none of whom had given birth, found that 80% leaked urine while trampolining. Their pelvic floor strength, where it was tested, was good. That is high, competitive jumping on full-size trampolines. It shows that jumping can provoke leaks. It does not tell us the risk on a home rebounder.

In the 2023 thesis, stress incontinence scores fell by 21% in the rebounding group and 7% in the eight controls, while measured pelvic floor function did not change.

Limited. One small, non-randomised study is not enough to claim a benefit, and the claim that rebounding supports the pelvic floor is otherwise anecdotal.