Because I am constantly looking for new ways to workout, and any good excuse to buy stuff online, I got myself one of these:

It is a rebounder, a.k.a. mini trampoline. The health claims range from boosting lymphatic drainage to curing cancer. Seriously.

The rebounder I got is from ReboundAir. I figured they’d know what it’s all about. Chica not included. (Internet file photo.)

I, of course, got it because I thought it would be fun to bounce around in the privacy of my own room.

So I popped in the video it came with, and it looked like this:

Olivia Newton-John, is that you?

It turns out that I am definitely no spring chicken and, while this workout is supposed to be low impact, bouncing around on one leg can be tricky and my lower back whinged about it for a while.

So I thought I’d get used to bouncing around first, and have only been doing the ten-minute warm-up. Especially because, when I lose focus, I have a tendency to bounce off the trampoline. I also haven’t been brave enough to watch the rest of the workout video.

Sometimes, when the sight of aquamarine Lycra is too much to bear, I set my interval timer for five sets of:

• 75 seconds of health bounces (feet don’t leave the trampoline; supposed to be good for the lymphatic system) and
• 60 seconds of strength bounces (springier bounces that supposedly strengthen and tone the muscles).

I can’t say that I’ve been rebounding enough to register any “health benefits”, but it’s fun and it’s another way to keep moving.

And we all have to keep on moving. Take it from Soul II Soul:

I wrote that on September 5, when I was in Manila. During that week that I was away (August 30 to September 6), I did absolutely fuckall. I got back to Siargao on the 7th and, on the 8th, resumed rebounding. While on the rebounder, I felt the same back pain that I mentioned previously, but I carried on, thinking that my body would eventually adjust. I was only doing my wussy ten-minute program alternating health bounces and strength bounces. I did it again the next day and, by Thursday, I could barely get out of bed. My back was well and truly fucked.

I carried on partying, however, aided and abetted by copious amounts of alcohol although, on the 15th, I crowd sourced on Facebook for the strongest pain killers on the island. By the next day, I had a buffet of opiates on hand. It wasn’t till the second week though that I finally got to being 90% pain-free.

I’m moving around quite normally now. I’m up to 95%. There’s still a little twinge at the base of my spine. I wince every time I cough.

I still want to get back on the rebounder, because I cannot believe that such a seemingly innocuous contraption is capable of laying me flat out on my back. I want to conquer it. Slowly. One bounce at a time.