The Mini Trampoline Thread: Recommendations, Use, Exercise Motivation

So the thing arrived this morning. I'm impressed with how durable and sturdy it feels. The instructions tell you to use 2 people to fold it back in half, and I can see why. The internal springs are strong! I took it out on the deck and used it. I think I'm gonna like it, after I get used to trying to focus on a bouncing horizon. I've not installed the handlebars because I want to carry it through the patio doors without taking it apart every time. We'll see if I later decide to use them.

All-in-all, I think I got good value for the money. Time will tell.

 

Yeh, I don't want to come to out on the deck and have a squirrel (or a bear) staring me in the face. But unlike my living room, if I fall on the deck, there's no furniture to smack my head on.

First, I had to unfold it. It was harder to do than I thought. The springs that pull the two halves towards each other are very strong...it was almost like trying to set a bear trap, if you can envision that. Trying to fold it back up is gonna be a challenge. The instructions recommend that you use two people to unfold/refold, and I can see why.

The legs on this one are permanently attached. They fold up and are held in place with a loop of fabric for storage. See pic.


That wire going into the top of the leg is part of a very strong spring. You undo the fabric loop that secures the end of the leg, pull the leg away against the strength of the spring (which is pulling it back hard towards the trampoline), and line the leg up over that small tube on the base of the trampoline, all the while fighting against the strong pull of the spring. The spring tension secures the leg tightly to the base.

The grab bar snaps together with those spring-loaded buttons that pop out of the hole in the mating tube it slides inside of. Then you try to push in the button while adjusting the height (and to take it apart) without pinching your thumb, if you know what I mean.

There is no hardware, so no tools are required.

After using it a couple of times, I find that it aggravates a problem I've had with my right hamstring. It actually kinda hurts. There's lots of scar tissue from my bike riding days (and I've always had naturally short hamstrings.) I used to see the chiropractor who contracted to the University of Virginia Athletic Department. He and I tried to work on it, but it's pretty much trashed and "unstretchable." We'll see. Maybe I should start off with the grab bar so I'm not putting balancing stress on it.

 

I should have had this hamstring looked at decades ago. I'm thinking of getting an ultrasound or an MRI just so I know what's going on with it.

I forgot to mention...when I was testing the thing out for a second time late yesterday afternoon, I felt as though I was being watched. Off to my left was a deer, just staring at me bouncing up & down on my deck. No wonder they dart in front of cars...

 

They don't stretch. That's the problem. Lots of scar tissue. The chiropractor could only get my leg up but so far with me laying on my back...my strings don't stretch, he lifted my back up off the table.

I have never in my entire life (even as a kid) been able to touch my toes. Not once.

 

I have never been able to touch my toes either, or even get close. When I use the trampoline, I take it pretty easy and just do a little bit at a time. Doing the trampoline exercise in the water helps me a lot, too, and I usually do some bounces when I am having my swimming time. Now that one leg is a lot shorter than the other one, my balance is even worse than it has always been; so I definitely need to use the handles to keep my balance.

 

I guess I could try again. But back when I was riding my bike to work, playing raquetball, doing weights at the gym, etc, I was also doing yoga. It never helped the hams. And I was younger.