History And Development Of The Trampoline

Trampoline exercises are a great way to keep fit. This is why they have been brought into many high school and college gymnastic programs. Often the same athletes, who perform tumbling exercises on the mat, and gymnastic competitions on the high bars, can also be found bouncing on the trampoline. Trampoline exercises put stress on the body but in a controlled cushioned way. While these exercises can be dangerous, especially if you fall of the mat while bouncing, they can often be done by the young and the old. They are good for older people, who need such exercises, especially women to maintain their bone density. Competitions in gymnastic programs at high schools and colleges go back a long time in the United States and the UK. Early competitions involved forms and routines that lasted about a minute. Since for trampoline exercises this is a long time, it became sort of an endurance contest. More recently, trampoline competitions have consisted of 8 to 10 bounces on the trampoline, sometimes with rests in between. The national gymnastic association officially adopted two sequences of 10 contacts with the trampoline, with 20-second rests in between as a standard routine, and later shorted it to 8 contacts. Later the number of required contacts with the mat was removed altogether. Trampoline training was actually used in the UK during World War II as part of their training for fighter pilots. The United States also found that these exercises were useful for aerial training. After all, when one is exercising on the trampoline, there is literally a sensation, though momentary, of actually flying. Trampoline training helps to take away the fear of being upside down and made the pilots more accustomed to this position. It gave them a sense of regaining their balance, and trained their muscles and other organs to deal with these stresses, so that even after a disorientating moment, they could continue to fly their airplanes. It generally gave them self-confidence to be in the air. Trampoline exercises, if done regularly and systematically helps to vigorously develop the leg muscles, and develop muscles in the arms, trunk, shoulders, and stomach. They make the body used to the rotational motions involved in bouncing. They also, if done for long enough time, aid the body in developing a longer endurance, and not to suddenly suffer fatigue. And of course, trampoline exercises are part of developing well-timed coordinated movements.