Cross Train with Trampolines
To turn good athletes into great athletes, cross-train with trampolines!
No better method yet devised
All athletes—especially those performing at a high level—devote much time and attention to honing their skills in order to gain the competitive edge that will take them from good to great. For every sport, training methods are employed that focus on strengthening and refining the athlete's core physical abilities, such as balance, rhythm, coordination, and spatial awareness. Trampoline exercise has been found to be one of the few methods that can develop all of these fundamental abilities simultaneously, making it one of the most efficient and valuable methods of developing athletic skill known today.
Jumping on a trampoline is a three-dimensional exercise that stimulates all parts of the body as it moves through space. Specifically, it stimulates the body's proprioceptors, which are the sensory receptors in muscles, tendons, joints, and the inner ear, that detect the motion or position of the body or a limb in response to stimuli. Developing the proprioceptive system is key to improving athletic ability as it controls the body's ability to react quickly and accurately to what it is sensing. Balance, coordination, spatial awareness, as well as the speed of sensory integration, are all functions of the proprioceptive system; trampoline exercise improves the proprioceptive system like no other method of training.
While jumping on a trampoline, every muscle of the body works simultaneously to adjust the body's position to its constantly changing environment. It strengthens every muscle, organ, tissue, bone, and cell in the body as the body reacts to the forces of acceleration, deceleration, and weightlessness, automatically stimulating all the proprioceptors and therefore all parts of the body. The jumper becomes more aware of how his or her body is working in three-dimensional space, improving reaction-time, rhythm and spatial awareness with every jump.
The world's best athletes are acutely aware of their bodies, and very much in tune with how their bodies work and react to the world around them. That's why trampolines are in use by professional athletes, coaches, college athletic departments, and Olympic development programs, for nearly every sport.
Trampoline exercise can benefit athletes of all ages and abilities. Coaches and trainers of sports for children, as well as adults and professionals, agree that it is one of the most effective methods of training. Even NASA astronauts who use trampoline exercise to counteract the effects of weightlessness say that trampoline exercise "is the most effective and efficient form of exercise yet devised by man."
If you want to become a great athlete, make sure trampolining is part of your training program.