What is a Bungee workout?
A Bungee workout is a new sensation landing on the fitness scene. Participants perform body-weight exercises while connected to ceiling-mounted bungee cords. The cords are held by hands or attached to a harness the participant wears. The bungee resistance provides two main advantages:
- Provides support in body-weight movements that are challenging without unloading some of your bodyweight.
- Adds a layer of challenge to bodyweight exercises. The resistance of the cord creates a muscle recruitment challenge.
Bungee workouts landed in the United States when former Broadway Dancer, Amanda Page, was intrigued after seeing a video of it being done in Thailand. She traveled to Thailand to learn about the fitness technique and then started her own studio, Tough Lotus, in Chandler, AZ.
Page says Bungee workouts are a full-body challenge for any fitness level because:
Bungee fitness is a low-impact, high-intensity cardio workout that has you flying in the air and diving to the ground. The cord is pulling you up so your job is to keep it down and to do that you use a lot of core and legs (1).
What are the Benefits of a Bungee Workout?
The three main benefits of a Bungee workout we wanted to address are:
- The workouts are low impact.
- The workouts are high intensity.
- The workouts are effective in building lean muscle mass.
One of the major benefits of a bungee workout, when we consider the types of injuries we see in our offices, is the workouts are low impact. If impact on an ankle, knee or hip is a concern based on pain, injury, or arthritis, bungee fitness is something great to consider. In fact, Page states:
Being a former dancer, I love the fact that I can fly through the air without the fear of landing heavy on my ankle or knee because the cord is going to support me. It’s great for people who want the cardio workout they would get from running but without all the major impact on your joints (1).
The high intensity interval training (HIIT) component of the workout is what captures the cardiovascular conditioning many people seek. Bungee classes are fast-paced in general, usually with high energy music involved, but just the fact the participants are controlling their bodies both when the cord stretches as well as when it recoils. Since every phase of every movement counts in the bungee workout, most people are surprised at how much of a cardio impact it has on the body.
A Bungee workout can also be a fantastic option for those experiencing decreased bone density, like osteopenia, because it allows for bone and muscle-building movements at just a portion of your body weight. In fact, the founder of ChaiseFitness in New York City noted people in their 50s, 60s and 70s have found using bungees to be more effective in restoring lean muscle mass (1).
Where Can I Do a Bungee Workout?
In the greater Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, or Orlando areas, we are seeing an increase in Bungee fitness studios across the metroplex. St. Petersburg has 4Fitness, Sarasota has Body by Bungee, and Clearwater has Kinesis Movement Studio, to name a few.
The studios are a place to try out a new fitness concept that can offer HIIT, cardiovascular and strength training without painful impact on joints.
References:
