--- description: This workout on a mini trampoline is better than running, biking, football and ultimate Frisbee, a new study finds title: Jumping Up and Down Is Ridiculously Good Exercise image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc5956b598c22c51/6988d47abc6cfc1aff3e21b6/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-33.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2016 # Jumping Up and Down Is Ridiculously Good Exercise by [Mandy Oaklander](/author/mandy-oaklander/) ## Mandy Oaklander Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.  Bethan Mooney for TIME The things you loved doing as a kid—running around, not sitting still—have been [shown to be great for you](http://time.com/4474874/exercise-fitness-workouts/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") as an adult. Now, jumping on a trampoline joins that list. A new [study](https://www.acefitness.org/certifiednews/images/article/pdfs/ACE%5FMiniTrampoline.pdf "undefined") by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) finds that bouncing on a mini trampoline for less than 20 minutes is just as good for you as running, but feels better and is a lot more more fun. The researchers gave a group of 24 fit college kids a mini trampoline and popped in a 19-minute trampoline [exercise](http://time.com/4475628/the-new-science-of-exercise/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") video. They measured the jumpers’ heart rates and oxygen expenditure every minute. Trampolining was found to be moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise: with about the same physical effects as running six miles per hour, biking, or playing football, basketball or ultimate Frisbee. Yet when people were asked to rate how exerted they felt, they gave scores more consistent with light-to-moderate intensity—suggesting that the workout felt easier than it should have. That’s one of the upsides to bouncing on a trampoline, besides conditioning your calf and leg muscles. “One downside of running is that it can lead to orthopedic injuries,” says study author John Porcari, professor of exercise and sport science at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. But even though the motions are similar in jumping, the trampoline absorbs some of that shock, causing the impact forces on the feet and lower extremities to ease up, he says. “It absorbs the shock instead of you pounding on the pavement, and that makes it seem easier than it is.” It’s also, obviously, a lot of fun—no small factor when it comes to getting people to exercise, which [Americans are notoriously loath to do](http://time.com/4495092/exercise-physical-activity-sedentary/ "undefined"). “When you’re following along to a video or doing something fun, the enjoyment factor overrides the fact that you’re working hard,” Porcari says. “You just focus on having fun.” Jumping on a Mini Trampoline Is Ridiculously Good Exercise ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4504548/jumping-trampoline-exercise-workout/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4504548/jumping-trampoline-exercise-workout/"},"headline":"Jumping Up and Down Is Ridiculously Good Exercise","datePublished":"2016-09-22T18:51:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:15:50.189Z","description":"This workout on a mini trampoline is better than running, biking, football and ultimate Frisbee, a new study finds","url":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4504548/jumping-trampoline-exercise-workout/","keywords":["Exercise & Fitness","Exercise","Workout"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc5956b598c22c51/6988d47abc6cfc1aff3e21b6/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-33.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"creator":"Mandy Oaklander","articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc5956b598c22c51/6988d47abc6cfc1aff3e21b6/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-33.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/exercisefitness/","name":"Exercise & Fitness"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4504548/jumping-trampoline-exercise-workout/","name":"Jumping Up and Down Is Ridiculously Good Exercise"}}]}] ```