NASA Research Confirms

“…for similar levels of heart rate and oxygen consumption, the magnitude of the biomechanical stimuli is greater with jumping on a trampoline than with running, a finding that might help identify acceleration parameters needed for the design of remedial procedures to avert deconditioning in persons exposed to weightlessness. “

-NASA

The above statement is one of several made in a scientific study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology 49(5): 881-887, 1980, which confirms many of the statements previously made in The Miracles of Rebound Exercise, 1979. The research was performed by the Biomechanical Research Division, NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, in cooperation with the Wenner-Gren Research laboratory, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.

The four scientists, A, Bhattacharya, E. p, McCutcheon, E. Shvariz, and J, E. Greenleaf, secured the assistance of eight young men between the ages of 19 and 26 to each walk, jog, and run on a treadmill which was operated at four different speeds and then jump on a standard sized trampoline at four different heights to compare the difference between the two modes of exercise.

Although treadmill running had been studied many times before, the scientists found that “…measurements of the necessary variables have not been reported previously for trampoline exercise.” The trampoline testing was conducted at least one week after the treadmill testing.