What Muscles Does Rebounding Work?

Bouncing up and down on a mini-trampoline (aka rebounding) is a fun, easy form of exercise most people are able to do. And just because something is easy and fun doesn't mean it's not effective.

Believe it or not, rebounding can be a full-body workout with major health benefits. Whether you’re using rebounding for lymphatic drainage or everyday exercise, different muscle groups are at play throughout your workout. What muscles does rebounding work? Lots!¹

Keep scrolling to explore the many muscles you can expect to engage on a rebounder trampoline and learn why this low-impact exercise is so beneficial.

Core Muscles Engaged by Rebounding

Rebounding engages the trunk of the body. This is the central part of your anatomy, starting from the bottom of your neck and extending down to your pelvic floor. The trunk, specifically the core, is crucial for maintaining good posture while supporting stability and balance.²

Depending on the workout, bouncing on a mini-trampoline can activate the abdominals, obliques, back, and pelvic floor.

Abdominals

You might feel your abdominal muscles activate as you stabilize your body with each bounce. This includes the rectus and transversus abdominis (front of the abs) and internal and external obliques (sides of your waist).³

Back (Erector Spinae)

Jumping on a mini-trampoline might also help strengthen your erector spinae—the back muscles on either side of your spine—especially when you're focusing on a steady posture during the workout.^2,4

Pelvic Floor

The repetitive bouncing motions activate the pelvic floor—an often overlooked area when it comes to developing a fitness routine. Over time, regular rebounder training can help strengthen these muscles, which can help with things like bladder control, sexual function, and childbirth.^5,6

Lower-Body & Leg Muscles Worked by Rebounding

Even though rebounder training is low-impact (meaning it puts minimal stress on the joints), it's considered a weight-bearing exercise because it requires the body to work against gravity to carry its own weight. So, like other weight-bearing activities, it engages the lower body.

Various muscles in the legs and other parts of the lower body are involved in pushing off from the jumping mat and landing back on your feet.⁷ This includes the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, and hip flexors.

Quadriceps (Front of Thighs)

Propelling yourself off the jump mat calls on your quadriceps (or quads for short). These are the muscles in the front of your thighs that allow you to do everything from extending your legs out straight and sitting down to walking up or downstairs and kicking a ball.

Hamstrings (Back of Thighs)

Your hamstrings are located on the back of your thighs. These muscles help absorb the shock of each bounce and stabilize your legs during the landing phase, supporting controlled movements.

Outside of rebounding, you use your hamstrings to rotate your legs (such as while cycling), flex your knees, and bend over to pick something up off the floor—to name just a few functionalities.

Calves (Gastrocnemius and Soleus)

Your calves (backs of your lower legs) are made up of two main muscles, the soleus and the gastrocnemius. You need them for basic movements and functioning, like walking, balance, and posture.⁸

These muscles help you push off from the mat and land back on your feet. When you do it regularly, rebounder training can strengthen them to improve your overall physical strength.

Glutes (Buttocks)

Glute muscles are located in the buttocks and include the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Jumping on a mini-trampoline engages these muscles, as they're involved in launching your body up off the mat and stabilizing your lower body during landing.¹

Hip Flexors

Hip flexors are activated during virtually all jumping workouts. They help absorb shock and keep your entire body balanced when bouncing on a rebounder.⁹ Having strong hip muscles helps with gait performance (how you walk) and supports lower-body alignment, which is essential for maintaining good balance and stability.¹⁰

Back Muscles Activated by Rebounding

You need to maintain good posture while rebounding to minimize your risk of certain injuries, like vertebral compression fracture (when the spine compresses and breaks)—rare but possible.¹¹ That means keeping your back straight with each and every bounce, which engages muscles along your spine and deep back.

Erector Spinae (Either Side of the Spine)

As we covered above, bouncing on a rebounder can help strengthen the back muscles lining both sides of the spin, called the erector spinae. This can help support good posture and reduce neck strain.⁴

Deep Back Muscles

Deep back muscles (sometimes called intrinsic back muscles) are located underneath two other layers of muscles. They include the interspinales, intertransversarii, and levatores costarum. Exercises that rely on postural control and balance, like rebounding, engage these muscles and can strengthen them over time.¹²

Upper-Body Muscles Used in Rebounding

Though rebounding is primarily a lower-body workout that engages the trunk, glutes, and legs, a few upper-body muscles are also used.¹³ Depending on your positioning, jumping up and down can activate your shoulders, arms, and chest (pectorals).¹⁴

Deltoids (Shoulders)

When you bounce on a rebounder with your elbows bent so your arms are at roughly a 90-degree angle, it works your deltoids (the shoulder muscles at the very top of the arms).¹⁵ Actively engaging these muscles during your mini-trampoline workout can help with balance and coordination.¹⁴

Arm Muscles

Strong arm muscles are important for whole-body strength, agility, and functional mobility—your ability to move around safely and perform daily tasks.¹⁶ Building strength in the arms is especially beneficial for older adults who may be more prone to falls or injury due to brittle bones.¹⁴

You can get even more burn in your arm and shoulder muscles if you use wrist weights or lightweight dumbbells—but keep it light to ensure you can stay coordinated with your bounces and reduce the risk of injury. And remember, rebounding isn't a replacement for resistance training—so try to do at least two muscle-strengthening sessions a week.¹⁶

Small Stabilizing Muscles Activated by Rebounding

Rebounding has been shown to activate and strengthen smaller stabilizing muscles throughout the body. This includes supporting muscles in the hips, knees, ankles, and feet.¹⁷ These smaller muscles are vital for posture, agility, coordination, stability, spatial orientation, and general mobility, as well as recreational activities like hiking, gardening, or dancing.^18,19,20

Learn about the difference between a rebounder vs traditional trampoline in our blog.

The Comprehensive, Full-Body Benefits of Rebounding

What muscles does rebounding work? A better question might be: "What muscles doesn't rebounding work?" Here's a snapshot of the full-body strengthening and general health benefits of rebounder exercises:

• Strengthening across the entire body – When you work out regularly on a rebounder (at least two sessions a week), you can expect improved strength and muscle toning across your entire body. Even though it's low-impact, this type of comprehensive exercise works all major muscle groups, including the core, upper body, and lower body.
• Emphasis on core, legs, and glutes – As a weight-bearing exercise, rebounding primarily engages the core (abs and lower-back muscles), legs (hamstrings, quads, knee flexors, and calves), and glutes. These muscles are all critical for balance, stability, and coordination.
• Other health benefits of rebounding – The benefits of rebounding don't stop at building muscle strength and improving balance. This workout might also help support weight management, blood sugar control, bone mineral density, cardiovascular endurance, lymphatic drainage, and reduced inflammation.^14,21,22 Learn more about how to use a rebounder for weight loss here.

Our other guide takes a deeper dive into the many benefits of rebounding for seniors.

How Lifepro Rebounders Enhance Your Fitness Routine

Lifepro's JumpTrack rebounder trampolines are just the thing to enhance your fitness routine. They're engineered for comfort, convenience, safety, performance, and efficiency, offering a full-body workout in as little as 10 to 15 minutes. Whether you're looking to build strength, improve cardiovascular endurance, or just stay active year-round, one of our mini-trampolines might be the perfect solution.

At Lifepro, we create premium, reasonably priced products to support active recovery, lifelong mobility, and daily well-being. In addition to rebounders, we offer vibration plates and a range of red light therapy devices, plus lifetime customer support and complementary self-help resources.

Not sure if a vibration plate or rebounder is better for your needs? Our guide to vibration plates vs rebounders can help you decide.

Sources:

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