REBOUNDING - THE VERY BEST EXERCISE FOR THE IMMUNE SYSTEM!

I was diagnosed with low-grade lymphoma in 1989, and have lived far beyond how long mainstream doctors say I should have. I am still in very good health today, and I would call it excellent, except that I have periodic bouts of bronchitis.

In my opinion, one of the very MOST IMPORTANT things I have done to maintain my good health, and to keep the lymphoma in remission, if not out-right shrinking, is an exercise known as REBOUNDING. The tremendous value of rebounding is that it exercises the lymphatic system like no other exercise can except that of jumping rope. (But with rebounding there is far less impact on the joints than there is with jumping rope.) The lymphatic fluid travels through the body via a system of what can be likened to "one-way straws", connected by valves, and each jump up-and-down on the rebounder moves the lymph along, causing it to travel through the body as much as 15 to 30 times as efficiently as when the body is at rest.But even better than that is that rebounding can cause a state of non-disease-induced neutrophillia, which is an increase in the number of white cells circulating through the body, particularly neutrophils, which are one of the types of white cells most responsible for destroying cancer cells.

While gentle bouncing may possibly cause a slight increase in neutrophils, and jogging a little more, by sprinting in place for just one minute on the rebounder you can cause your neutrophil count to as much as double what it normally is,(based on Dr. Arthur C. Guyton's "Textbook of Medical Physiology," Fifth Edition, Page 74, Paragraph 5), and to remain at that level for about an hour! Any middle-aged adult who tried to sprint in place on anything but a rebounder would soon end up with shin splints or some foot, ankle or knee injury.

Rebounding looks very simple, and it is. It consists of gentle bouncing on a special mini-trampoline. When you do what's called the "health bounce," your feet don't even leave the mat. If you wish, you can of course jump higher than that. Also, if you wish, you can jog or run in place. The rebounder stands about 9 inches off the ground, and has a special "soft-bounce" mat attached to the frame with 4" long springs, the total surface diameter being 40".

There is a REAL, SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE between the cheap, Asian-made mini-trampolines that are sold at Sears and at K-Mart and the USA-made Rebounder that I use. The cheap mini-rebounders do NOT have a soft-bounce mat, they stand only 4-6 inches off the ground, and they do not have the necessary 4-inch long springs. For those reasons, you cannot do proper rebounding on a cheap mini-trampoline, and in fact you can hurt your ankles, knees or back. Such cheap models will not avail you of the kind of "lymphasizing" exercise I am talking about.

I keep my rebounder near my desk, and get up as often as possible to bounce on it for anywhere between 1 and 30 minutes at a time. Even just a minute or two can be sufficient to stir up the circulatory and lymphatic systems, which tend to settle down and to "pool" in the legs, ankles and feet when one is sitting for an extended period of time.

The ability to do it at any time throughout the day and evening is one of the very significant advantages of rebounding over other exercise. If you go out walking in the morning, and you walk briskly 2, 3 or 5 miles, you will certainly be getting some good exercise. But an hour or maybe two hours after you've finished your walk, your lymphatic and circulatory systems will be back to the rate of flow they were at before you took your walk, and they'll remain that way till the next morning. The same is true for any other once-a-day type exercise. However, if you have a rebounder at your office or in your home, (or both), you'll be able to get on it and do some bouncing or gentle jogging throughout the day, so as to keep your blood and your lymph circulating continually, thereby doing the maximum job of keeping yourself healthy, or, if you are dx'd with cancer, of fighting the cancer.

There is no special clothing required for rebounding---you don't even have to take off your shoes! And you can of course rebound no matter what the weather is like outside. On the other hand, if the weather is nice outside, you can take your rebounder outdoors, so as to avail yourself of the fresh air and sunshine! ;+))

There are several companies that sell rebounders. But my favorite is Needak Rebounders. They've been in business for decades, they're made in the USA, their customer service is outstanding, and they sell a 1/2 fold rebounder that comes with a carrying case so you can take it wherever you go. For those who have balance problems, they also sell a "stabilizer bar" that bolts securely onto the rebounder that you can hold on to.

I feel so good about Needak Rebounders that I have become one of their distributors. If you would like information on purchasing one at a great price, please contact me by phone at 309-367-6002 or 309-635-1577, or email me at aug20@mtco.com.

Here's an example of why I decided to do business with Needak: Years ago, before I knew about the quality and integrity of Needak, I was using a rebounder I'd bought from another company, when two of its springs broke. I called that company, and they gave me a difficult time, and told me they'd send me two replacement springs if I sent them the broken ones, and that shipping both ways would have to be paid by me!

I knew about the Needak company but had never done business with them. Just to see what they'd say, I phoned them and told them about the problem I was having with that other company due to the broken springs. The customer service person at Needak immediately offered to send me SIX new springs,(that would fit the other company's rebounder), for free! Ever since then, I have been a loyal Needak customer. I might add that every time I've had occasion to phone Needak, a LIVE person, not a recording, has answered the phone on the first or second ring. That's hard to find nowadays!