Ep 629 – The Surprising Benefits of Rebounding for Your Body, Brain & Longevity with Steve Carver

What if one of the most fun workouts could also support your balance, bones, pelvic floor, lymphatic system, nervous system, and overall longevity?

In this episode of the Health Fix Podcast, Jannine sits down with Steve Carver, aka Mr. Bouncer, a fitness professional with more than 30 years of experience and a longtime expert in trampoline-based fitness with JumpSport.

What started as an unexpected introduction to JumpSport eventually became Steve’s specialty: helping people understand just how versatile a rebounder can be.

And this isn’t just about jumping up and down.

A rebounder can be used for gentle health bouncing, strength training, balance work, plyometrics, sports-specific conditioning, HIIT, and even ski training.

Jannine and Steve dive into why bouncing may be worth adding to your movement routine, especially as you get older.

Why the lymphatic system loves movement

Unlike the circulatory system, the lymphatic system doesn’t have its own pump. Movement and muscular contractions help move lymphatic fluid through the body.

Steve explains how the compression and release created through bouncing may help encourage lymphatic flow, making gentle bouncing a simple and enjoyable way to incorporate movement into your routine.

And you don’t need to go crazy. Steve explains why a gentle “health bounce” can be enough to get started.

The fun factor matters

One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation?

The best exercise is the one you’ll actually do.

Steve shares why he believes enjoyment is such an important part of movement. If you hate the exercise you’re doing, your brain will eventually find a reason to avoid it.

But when movement makes you smile, feel energized, and actually look forward to exercising, consistency becomes a whole lot easier.

Meet Steve Carver

Steve Carver, aka Mr. Bouncer, has more than 30 years of experience as a fitness professional, trainer, stunt performer, and trampoline fitness expert.

His background includes competitive sports, extreme sports, skiing, acrobatics, stunt work, and training clients in the entertainment industry.

Today, Steve works with JumpSport to help people discover the many ways a rebounder can be used for fitness, wellness, balance, conditioning, and more.

Connect with Steve & JumpSport

Learn more about JumpSport, rebounder fitness, workouts, and products at JumpSport.com.

You can also find JumpSport Fitness on social media for workouts and inspiration.

Steve Carver Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carvercompletefitness/

JumpSport Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jumpsportfitness/

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Connect with Dr. Jannine Krause

Check out Dr. Krause’s Website for more resources and subscribe for more conversations on functional medicine, longevity, brain health, hormones, nutrition, and natural strategies to optimize your health.

Be sure to Like, Subscribe, and Share this episode with someone who wants to protect their brain and age with vitality.

This episode of Health Fix Podcast is sponsored by Chemical Free Body – home of Dr. Krause’s favorite green juice – Organic Energy Juice – enter “thehealthfix” for 15% off your 1st order. 

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Podcast Transcript

Jannine Krause (00:00.88)
Steve Carver, aka Mr. Bouncer, welcome to the Health Fix Podcast.

Steve Carver (00:05.954)
Doctor J, so thank you so much for having me today. Appreciate it.

Jannine Krause (00:09.444)
Hey, no problem. We’re gonna have a fun podcast, no doubt. And we have got a lot for you guys today. So you guys just hold on to your seats. This is gonna be fun. So first and foremost, Mr. Bouncer and a history of working with stunts and things like that, I’ve gotta know. How how did this Mr. Bouncer name come about? Because I’m sure it’s not just trampolines. There’s gotta be more to it.

Steve Carver (00:29.954)
Well, n actually the the Mr Bouncer thing came farther along in this. So I was

I’ve been in fitness since I was a very young kid, like five years old, and I was in competitive sports as a child, a youth athlete. played sports all the way into college, played college football on a minor level, didn’t grow big enough in in my opinion, to be to to pursue it beyond that level. It was bad enough at a hundred and eighty five pounds running into two hundred and seventy five pound humans that were like hitting a brick wall, so

I really just kind of valued my body more than anything, but I still had that bug to be very competitive and I fell into extreme sports. So I did I would ski the trees outside of resorts and you know, I would do all kinds of crazy things. I’d climb mountains and free climbed and then I got into doing I blew up my shoulder. I was training and

My shoulder got messed up. So then I got into running, which I never liked running. I was a sprinter. I did that kind of competitive running and I started running and then I ran more and then I ran more. And then pretty soon I was running ultra marathons and it started because I had to tape my arm to my body so I could keep exercising. I was a little crazy like that. I started it I live in LA area. I had a client, her husband was a stunt.

Coordinator, I got involved with that. I started learning stunts. I ended up getting injured and shattering my elbow. So it kind of was the end of that. But I did some acrobatics, I did some flying trapeze. I did like acrobatics on trampolines, and it was just kind of a natural inclination. And then I became a fitness trainer. 20 years into my career, I get approached to do a TV show called.

Steve Carver (02:24.983)
Stud to stud. It’s was on Spike TV, it was during the height of those reality shows, and it was we took skinny guys, like the guys that kick kicked sand in their face at the beach. It was the kind of play on it, was the opposite of big people getting shrunken down. These were like unfit, skinny people that we were gonna make fit. And the host host of the show was a female, she was a ex-playmate, was gonna teach the guys how to interact with women.

Jannine Krause (02:44.002)
Nice.

Steve Carver (02:51.371)
And I got them in shape and then we got them spray tanned and got their teeth fixed and we did this big reveal like open those doors, like the houses where you would reveal them and they’d run through the paper and like that you show this new guy after four months of training and and coaching and stuff. And it was a really cute show. It just didn’t get picked up. I guess they didn’t like the concept. I don’t care, but it was funny. I enjoyed it. It was a great thing. But the sponsor on the show was Jump Sport. And

Jannine Krause (03:10.059)
Steve Carver (03:19.457)
They came to me with a trampoline and I saw them back in the eighties, you know, Urban Rebounder and all those classes, and I’m like, my God, I what do you want me to do with this? What? I’m a trainer to the stars. I I’m they said they’re a sponsor, you gotta use this thing. I’m like, okay, well, let me see what I can do. So because I’m a little cuckoo, I’m like I I drag it around, I make them do some cardio and do some weights, and we I just do some much more creative things than what people would think you’re gonna do on a trampoline, which is cardio.

Jannine Krause (03:23.374)
Yeah.

Steve Carver (03:49.345)
Or aerobics, right? A dance class. I was having them do jump squats and plyometrics and all kinds of crazy stuff because this particular product has a much more stable environment than the original trampolines did. And it had bungees instead of springs. So I I finish the show, they love me. I get a call from them and they say, Hey, we want you to come do demo for us at a show.

Jannine Krause (04:17.327)
Hi.

Steve Carver (04:17.386)
And I ended up going there, and circumstances were that they were looking for a new trade show director. So I ended up, they asked me to do it for them, and I I started doing trade shows for them. And during those trade shows, I was walking with three trampolines on my head to go set them up for a class. And on the back of my shirt, it says bouncer. So they couldn’t get my attention. They were trying to get my attention. So finally somebody yells, Hey, Mr. Bouncer.

And I turned around and they have a picture of me with like three trampolines on my head and kind of turned, but the bouncer is what you can kind of see. And I guess it just kind of stuck at that point. But it it’s I I’ve become kind of the face or the expert on bounce and what do you do with a trampoline and why why how are they different than they used to be when I used to bounce on my grandma’s trampoline and all of those things. So I wish the story was more exciting than that. But it does kind of stem from the fact that I was a little crazy.

And I really did pursue a lot of extreme type of activities. And as a result of that, I was able to come on board with Jump Sport to kind of help them evolve the trampoline from somewhat what you thought it was back when in the eighties, right? You you told me that you have experienced those. And when Jump Sport originally started, they had spring trampolines too, because they were a backyard company.

Jannine Krause (05:32.983)
Right.

Steve Carver (05:42.275)
The evolution of the bungee cord was a safer, more effective platform to do exercising that I don’t think they even when they invented it had any idea of what that innovation was gonna do in terms of the versatility of using this kind of product i across a broader spectrum of application.

Jannine Krause (05:42.319)
Mm.

Jannine Krause (06:03.213)
Makes sense. Makes sense. And and yeah, the evolution, I mean, who who would know? I mean, I’m happy for for not having the the springs because I’ve pinched my finger in them before. And somehow they get rusty when you put next to swimming pools. I don’t know. I mean, who knows? Wet people jumping on the trampolines. you know. So that you know then that and this is my childhood, right? of like run as fast as you can, jump on the thing and spring into the pool. how none of us ended up

with you know broken necks I have no idea somehow someone saved us there. But I I like the idea of using the bungees. And honestly, this is the girl in me. And some of the folks who are listening that may appreciate this. The different colors I of course looked on the website and was like, well I like that color. And then I like that color. so attractive because you know springs only come in one color.

Steve Carver (06:54.688)
So so yes, we do have bungees that are different colors, but we also have the frame itself. So being able to customize the product, like whatever fitness product you have or wellness product that you’re using, it makes it very personal. I i you know, they like to believe that, you know, it’s a community of people that can find their place and their their connection to this so that it’ll make it a lot easier for you to wanna do this in some capacity.

Jannine Krause (07:08.11)
Mm-hmm.

Steve Carver (07:22.444)
Right. So the colors are a great addition, certainly, but the functionality of the product is I I again we’ll go back to the springs. They’re noisy, they make a lot of noise, and the more rusty they get, the more noise they make. They’re very heavy. All that metal, all those springs makes your product a lot heavier. Bungees are much lighter. You can move it around. It’s very portable. So there’s a lot of advantages to that. There’s adjustability. Like on a spring, you get one spring, it does what it does.

Jannine Krause (07:22.689)
I mean the long thing shit.

Jannine Krause (07:31.982)
Yep.

Jannine Krause (07:36.579)
Mm-hmm.

Steve Carver (07:51.181)
And when it breaks or wears out, it’s done. Whereas a bungee can be adjusted. We have an adjustable cord system on a jump sport that allows you to do it to make it customize the bounce so that you love it the way you love it. Or you can do it to just increase the longevity of the product so it’ll last four times as long as a spring. So that’s another thing. So you you got something that’s more durable, it’s quieter, it’s lighter, easier to use, you can adjust it, and it can be in colors.

So y it it’s a lot of customization there that allows you it’s like buying an outfit. You meet, say, a girlfriend with a cute little beige one and you’re like, that would look really cute on me in yellow. So we want you to have the the ability to make it personal when it comes to that. But that doesn’t really affect the functionality, but it certainly does make it a lot more fun to have.

Jannine Krause (08:29.871)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jannine Krause (08:41.899)
my gosh. You have no idea as a woman. I mean, it it’s so weird, but we will definitely be like, I like my I like my trampoline better because it’s purple or whatever. It’s it’s we’re kinda weird. We’re kinda weird that way. But, you know, really all that aside, I think for a lot of people, you know, especially my age range, a lot of folks if they if they’ve come from extreme sports like

Steve Carver (08:50.295)
Sure.

Jannine Krause (09:04.781)
you know, or or heavy weight lifting like CrossFit like we talked about, or Olympic lifting, we’re gonna look at a trampoline and be like, is this where I’ve ended my you know, is this where I’ve, you know, ended up? And the reality is, and and this is one of the things I’ve tried to talk with a lot of patients about, is is the effect that it has on your bones, the fact that it has on, yes, the lymphatics, most people know that. But the biggest one that I really want folks to understand is balance. Because I just put up

A video on Instagram of my dad who’s 90 who balances amazing, never been on a jump sport or a trampoline in his life. but the balance, he’s so good. He balances better than me. And so I’m looking at it going, tell us about the benefits of balance and what you’ll see when you’ve used a a rebounder for a couple months.

Steve Carver (09:53.827)
Well, one thing that when you’re used to dealing with ground based stuff and we become as a society more linear in general. We look at our screen all day, and I call it turtle syndrome. So all we’re doing is we’re bent over, we’re typing, we’re looking at a screen, however we’re doing that, but become they’re becoming more and more linear as we as we go. And as a result of that, it’s makes it very difficult to navigate three-dimensional space, right? So if you look at a little toddler and they’re holding a parent’s hand, even if they’re attached,

They’re like chasing butterflies. They don’t walk in a straight line. They’re looking up, they’re looking down, they’re looking, you know, twisting around. The parent is like pulling them to get them back to wherever they’re trying to go. And as grown-ups, we we don’t do that anymore. And and and as we age, we we become less and less linear. Okay, so the trampoline is a dynamic environment that creates instability.

That is very forgiving on your joints and your connective tissue, that allows you to do high-intensity exercises without all the damaging effects of impact. So a low impact environment that requires you to recruit more stabilization muscles, which will help with balance. So for sure, there’s science out there that showed using a mini trampoline of some kind will improve your balance and it will increase strength, right?

And it certainly increases core strength specifically. But more than that, it’s going to help, even with a very light application, it can strengthen your pelvic floor because that’s all musculature that can become weak. And over time, of doing gentle bouncing, what we call down bounce or health bounce, which is grounded, you never leave the trampoline. You see really great improvements in your pelvic eye. It’s like a bowl. People think it’s like this flat floor.

But it’s actually a bowl that fits inside the bottom of your pelvis that holds all your pelvic organs in place. And why you have issues with incontinence or leakage or is because your bladder is just getting it beat to death. And so the stronger that pelvic floor is, the more those organs are held in place, the less chance you’re going to have any kind of issue on that level, whether it be from childbirth or from just inactivity.

Steve Carver (12:15.01)
But whatever is causing the incontinence to some level can be improved by gently bouncing over time. I guess the other main thing that people in your in the your your listeners might be really interested in understanding about this is it’s a mood regulator. So one of the things about bouncing on a dramoline is that you can’t really be anywhere else. You have to be present. I know we talk a lot about we’re gonna do some breathing exercises and be present, right?

But if I’m bouncing on a trampoline, my concern is I don’t want to fly off the trampoline. So I need to be right here, right now, paying attention. And when you do that, you can’t think about anything else. And as a result of that, you’re gonna bring yourself back to some sort of baseline, whatever that is for you. Right? So if you get dysregulated into the parasympathetic, which is sad, postpartum, a lot of the things we’re dealing with now as current of current events.

Jannine Krause (13:09.549)
Yeah. Yeah.

Steve Carver (13:11.074)
This is going to bring you back to a baseline where you’re not feeling that anymore because the dysregulation will be gone because you’re going to be in the present. And as a result of bouncing, you’re going to release what we what you would consider your happy hormones. Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin are released as a as a as a result of your compression and release. That pumping action that occurs stimulates the production of those happy hormones. That’s why when you see kids on a trampoline or on a bed bouncing, they’re always smiling.

That’s not a that’s not like an accident. It’s not a coincidence. It’s because your body’s producing chemicals that make you happy. Okay? It also helps with dysregulation into the sympathetic nervous system. We don’t talk about that. What is anxiety? But dysregulation into your sympathetic nervous system. So being able to calm your system as well, and I noticed that by using this these products are being used with kids that suffer from auditory issues, whatever wherever they are on the spectrum.

Jannine Krause (13:41.134)
Yeah.

Steve Carver (14:08.886)
And they have found that it has a very calming effect on people who are dysregulated into that sympathetic nervous system. So there’s a lot of benefits outside of just improving your balance because that comes primarily from improving core strength, right? And also recruiting a lot of stability muscles that you don’t have to engage when you’re standing on solid ground. So that is a long answer to your question about how you improve your stability.

Jannine Krause (14:38.131)
It’s that’s hugely important because I mean, well, incontinence first and foremost, that’s a big factor as as all of us get older, even even men. And I’m thinking about this and going like, my gosh, I wonder how this would help the prostate too as as we get older. Yeah.

Steve Carver (14:52.194)
Yeah, well that’s the that’s the alternative for men because their prostate sits where your bladder sits in that process. And as a result, men’s prostate gets beat to death and could potentially bring on premature onset of prostate cancer. Because all men, if they live long enough, will eventually get prostate cancer. It’s just kind of a thing in our DNA. But the longer you can prolong that and the stronger your pelvic flora is, most likely you’re going to be able to force f forestall that it

Jannine Krause (14:58.723)
Yeah.

Steve Carver (15:20.95)
As long as you possibly can.

Jannine Krause (15:23.607)
Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah, I just keep thinking about like wow, this could be, you know, a whole family kind of thing. Everybody could could

rotate in or, you know, draw straws to see who’s gonna use it first because in this house I’m sure we’re gonna be fighting over it. once I get one. Now, here’s the next thing that that a lot of people will ask me when it’s related to the lymphatic system ’cause a lot of people understand the bouncing motion. Yes, that’s working on the pumping and we’re working on the muscles that are working on lymphatic movement. What else do you tell folks about using a jump sport and in the lymphatic system? What other kind of tidbits can we give to kind of help

Steve Carver (15:43.809)
Okay.

Steve Carver (15:59.725)
Well, it’s not really about tidbits. The the you have to understand the lymphatic system it is a a complimentary complementary system to your circulatory system. It’s actually attached to it. And what it does is your circulatory system is really good at delivering nutrients and removing some of the stuff, but what escapes and the debris from cellular function and excess water that’s produced that is is goes into interstitial space.

Jannine Krause (16:00.333)
Really solid.

Jannine Krause (16:09.837)
Mm.

Steve Carver (16:28.866)
Which is the space in between the cell and a system. So whether it’s your lymphatic system or your circulatory system or cellular system, there’s going to be stuff that floats around in between, and that’s called interstitial space. And in that interstitial space is a lot of things. Like I said, there’s cell waste, there’s excess fluid, there’s other types of things like bacteria and viruses that will be

Jannine Krause (16:42.862)
Mm-hmm.

Steve Carver (16:54.19)
Pulled into the lymphatic system to be disposed of and returned back to your circulatory system. The only problem with that system is it doesn’t have a pump. It’s designed really well because it has a one-way valve system that allows stuff to be brought into it, to be put through the system, and we could get into a long discussion about what that is, but let’s suffice to say that it has a process to be able to eliminate potential.

issues, whether it be bacteria, viral or other

d debris or l let’s just say negative god i i’m I’m drawing a blank on on what I want to say here, but but any other type of things that could potentially be an issue in your system, that system is designed to put it through a system of checks and balances before it brings it all the way back to your circulatory system to be pushed back through your lungs and reoxygenated and turned back into blood. And there’s a system of B cells and T cells and

Lymphocytes and a bunch of other things that help your immune system identify all of that in that process before it can be returned to your system. Like I said, the only problem with it is it doesn’t have its own pump. So it gets into the system, and in order for it to move through that system, there’s two things that do that. One is movement, and the other is muscular contraction. Okay? And they’re like, well, how does the trampoline have anything to do with that? Well, when you

Bounce on a trampoline, you create exponential gravity. And as a result of that, your body contracts, it squeezes. Every single muscle in your body contracts. And so your whole body gets squeezed. And the fluid gets pushed and it goes through the valves. And then when you go to zero gravity, the valve shuts. So the fluid moves up and then it stops. And then it moves up and it stops. So the more you bounce, the more you contract and squeeze and crack and squeeze.

Steve Carver (18:53.194)
It pushes the fluid through the system to allow it to move through its normal process to be recycled back into your system and be able to continue the process of assisting the circulatory system and make a complete process that allows your body to protect itself from potential invaders into your system. Okay? Now I can get into a far more detailed

Jannine Krause (19:19.065)
Yeah.

Steve Carver (19:22.846)
90 minute whole dissertation about the lymphatic system and lymph nodes and where they are and how this works and w how what are the best ways to get this to activate. But one of the easiest ways and the most fun applications to get your lymphatic system moving is to bounce on a trampoline. Okay. And so and it doesn’t require a lot of effort. You don’t have to be like those Brazilian girls going crazy, right? It takes a gentle health bounce and

Believe it or not, five to ten minutes a day is more than enough to really affect your lymphatic system and really bring great benefits to that.

Jannine Krause (20:00.154)
that’s good to hear that we don’t have to get too crazy on it. Cause of course what people see on Instagram and TikTok and and even YouTube for people jumping. It’s like, no, I need to do all that. That’s some of what I’ve heard from different folks. And then there’s other folks like me who my friends and I’ll get together and I’ll get on hers and I’ll try to do what they’re doing online and it’s a it’s a whole hot mess. So let’s let’s talk about it. Go ahead.

Steve Carver (20:25.944)
So I I I think people have a misconception that you have to work out really hard for a really long time to get great benefits from this. That is absolutely not true. And having been a fitness professional for over thirty years, I tell my clients that exercise is cumulative. If I have five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the late morning and five minutes in the afternoon and five minutes in the late afternoon and five minutes at night, that’s still thirty minutes of working out. Now, would it be better if it was continuous?

Mm, there’s debate on that, but would I be better off to not do it at all? No. So I would rather you do what you can when you can, and we’ll add it up. And it might take you a little longer, but at least you’re doing something. I always say that any workout is better than no workout at all. And the intensity level of it is gonna be based on your physical ability to do this. Right? And I always tell people what’s the bet I’ve been asked this question.

Across my thirty year career, I can’t tell you how many times. What’s the best exercise I can do? The one you’re gonna do. Right? If I told you that jumping rope was the greatest exercise in the world and you hated jumping rope, it that’s not the best exercise for you.

Jannine Krause (21:41.017)
Mm.

Steve Carver (21:42.349)
Right. And if you’re not physically capable of doing that high intensity for whatever reason, whether it be injuries or age or whatever it is for right now, in this particular moment, then you need to find something you can do. And and and just like when you were born, you didn’t jump up and start running marathons. You you crawled and then or you rolled and then you crawled and then you walked and then you ran and then you ran marathons. So

So remember, this is one the first step in any journey is, you know, the beginning is just one step, one thing. But again, the key is finding things you like to do. And why is that? Because we are hardwired to move away from things we don’t like. You when you put your hand on a stove and you burn your hand, your brain tells you, don’t do that again. That sucked, that hurt. You don’t want to do that. It’s the same thing with anything in your life. If it is unified brings you discomfort.

Or displeasure, you’re not going to do it. Your brain is going to say, no, no, no. And y you can override that. You can try for a very long time to just do it anyway. But I’ve seen more systems, more programs fail because they’ve tried to do something that they just generally don’t like. And you can do that for a while, but over time your brain will win out and you will find something else to do that is more pleasurable than that. And that’s the truth.

Jannine Krause (23:10.031)
Can’t can’t agree more on that one for sure. And that’s why I think that the trampolines and and jump sport looks fun to me. And I’m like, you know, a lot of people, I like you said, you you I giggle and laugh the whole time. I probably get a really good, you know, workout in my face, in addition to what’s going on, you know, in my legs. Let’s talk about this a little bit in terms of the ramp up, because you’re saying, you know, obviously we’ve got to start in, we’ve got to get feeling it. When I did it the first time, like actually following someone’s workout.

Holy cow, I was so sore afterwards. I was like, wow, this really did work me out. So and and I probably chose like level ten hardest one because my brain and ego

Steve Carver (23:51.991)
Well, again, I try to get people to understand something. Again, sometimes your ego gets in the way of things, but you don’t really need to do that. I was working on filming a beginner workout with another instructor a couple months ago, and our our models didn’t show up. So I’m like, hey, I’ll jump in there. Why don’t we do a beginner workout for people that wear a vest, a weighted vest? And it was really basic. It was one, two thing in out, little light jogging.

Nothing of any consequences. And literally I did a 10-minute workout with a weighted vest on and I’ve been jumping on a trampoline for years and years and years. I literally was a bit sore. I was a bit tired because I did something that I wasn’t used to doing. So part of it is that you’re gonna recruit more muscle to stabilize what you’re doing. There comes the balance aspect of this, right? I’m in I’m engaging my core every single time I bounce down, my core contracts.

So I’m actually working my my full core of my body every time I bounce down on the trampoline, right? I’m also doing something that I’m not used to doing. Right. In normal space, when I’m navigating my day on the ground on Earth, I don’t have to navigate all of this three-dimensional space, proprioception, zero gravity, right? And I’m probably doing something that that is.

is for in in general. So like anything else, the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with it, the you know, the longer you’re gonna be able to do it, the harder you’re gonna be able to do it. Like it like anything else. I know people that run all the time and I put on a bicycle and they can’t ride for twenty minutes. They can run marathons, but they can’t ride a bicycle. It’s just because your body is not used to doing it. It has nothing to do with it. It’s not that their cardio was off. It’s not that they didn’t have a good strong system. It’s what muscularly they were used to doing.

Jannine Krause (25:39.727)
Sure.

Steve Carver (25:50.339)
So let’s get back to the fun factor of trampolines. I have never, and I promise you I don’t speak in absolutes very often, have never looked forward to doing cardio on a treadmill.

Jannine Krause (25:52.953)
Mm-hmm.

Steve Carver (26:02.552)
No, have I done it? Yes. It you know, but I never look forward to it. And it takes a good five, ten minutes before I’m like, okay, I’m starting to feel I’m in the groove now. I I’m kind of feeling those endorphins a little bit and I can get through it. And I’m like, thank God that was over, but I did it and I’m happy. I look forward to getting on my trampoline in some capacity every day. And some people like, well, that’s because, you know, you’re Mr. Bouncer. I’m like, no, that’s not why.

What it is is you talked about being happy and smiling, and we touched on it a little bit about the big smiles and and dopamine and serotonin and oxytocin being pumped into your brain. So that that’s part of it. if you ever notice when you get on your trampoline, you you feel like you get a you’re a little sluggish and you get on the trampoline, all of a you feel alert, right? After doing it for only like three minutes. That’s because your body produces adrenaline.

It’s like the fight or flight. There’s something about being compressed and released that your body goes into that fight or flight, which releases adrenaline so that you’re more alert. You’re more ready to go. If something happens, I’m I’m, you know, it you’re on high alert. it doesn’t do it neurologically. It does it chemically. Right? So you’re not getting all dysfunctional. You’re just getting alert. You’re getting ready. Something might be coming. I got my body is preparing itself for that.

Jannine Krause (27:19.811)
Mm-hmm.

Steve Carver (27:29.1)
But you’re there is nothing coming. So now you’re just awake and you’re ready to go. And I always say three minutes on a jump sport is better than a cup of coffee. So that’s that’s really good. So if you’re feeling a little thing and sluggish and you’re in your work day and you just get on your trampoline for three minutes, it can bring benefits to your overall alertness, well-being, focus. All of that is benefited from just a light bounce on a trampoline for three minutes.

Jannine Krause (27:37.474)
Nice.

Jannine Krause (27:55.236)
Man, and if that could keep folks away from like the chocolate dish or going finding cookies or candies or treats, I mean even better. Even better.

Steve Carver (28:04.43)
Well, and then there’s one other part that we didn’t really talk about that I think your audience might be interested is that when your muscular system contracts and releases on a consistent basis, and the more vigorously you do it, obviously the greater the contraction, the more the force, your s your muscular system is attached to your skeletal system. So I’m assuming that a lot of your the followers may be dealing with perimenopause or menopause or some version of that where you’re losing bone density.

Just inactivity, you can lose bone density. Well, if I contract my muscles hard enough, long enough, consistently enough, I’m putting force against my skeletal system, which will stimulate your body to produce more bone density. So you’re gonna see benefits in bone density, or at least forestalling losing bone density as a result of using a trampoline.

Jannine Krause (28:58.723)
So cool. So cool. And yeah, and we can even test it ’cause we can do DEXA scans and things of that nature. Have you guys done any research on these kinds of things?

Steve Carver (29:08.002)
Well, I think there’s some I think there’s some ongoing studies going on right now. I think a lot of women are interested in this and so they’re doing a DEXA scan and they’re gonna use their trampoline. I know from personal experience of some very limited applications that some of my trainer colleagues have taken the jump sport because they’re they have a client that’s struggling with that and they’re under a doctor’s care, and so they incorporated the jump sport.

with a protocol and the doctors were really shocked as to the improvement overall improvement that happened. I do believe it is a contributing factor. I’m not saying that you should stop doing whatever you’re doing from whatever is being recommended by by your practitioner or doctor in this process, but certainly it is a great tool to add to this with very if any side effects from a low impact

application of using a trampoline in in a it like I said, in a in a health bounce capacity. Meaning five, ten minutes a day, five days a week, no more than 120 to 120 beats per minute kind of a protocol. It’s it’s really not that vigorous. And again, you never have to leave the surface of the trampoline in order to see some of these benefits.

Jannine Krause (30:31.939)
That’s really cool. I think for a lot of people that’s important to to hear that. Now of course I’m gonna go to the other side of things for folks that might be a little bit more fit, used to a little bit more of a vigorous workout, they’re wanting to to do something a little bit more exciting. how like with heart rate and things of that nature, do you do like conditioning training with it? You know, kind of let’s bring in some of your expertise as as a trainer. Have you worked with like different types of heart rates?

Steve Carver (30:45.229)
Mm-hmm.

Jannine Krause (30:59.913)
And and can did some conditioning training with the jump sport. Have you played with any of that to try to help out?

Steve Carver (31:04.674)
Well, here’s the versatility of the product. You can use it for strength training, sports specific conditioning, plymetrics, aerobics, balance, core thing. It just gives you a very versatile tool with a conditioned athlete, and you’re gonna you’re going to recruit up to 30% more muscle doing the exact same exercise on this platform as you would on the ground. So, why wouldn’t I wanna do the same workout on this that goes?

burns more calories. And now people like to bring up the NASA study. NASA did some testing with trampolines and versus the ground or running on a treadmill. And they found that the same person in this doing the workout on a jump sport or on a trampoline in general, a big trampoline, it wasn’t a jump sport. It was a big backyard or trampoline or a competitive trampoline. That they burned like the same amount of calories in 10 minutes on a trampoline as they did as 30 minutes running on a treadmill.

And that’s because of of excess muscle recruitment, right? You’re burning you’re recruiting more muscle, you’re burning more calories. Now, here’s the misnomer. I like to qualify this so people understand. Cardiovascular exercise is a very different animal. So if your goal is cardio, rhythmic exercise that raises your heart to a certain level for a certain duration is going to give you the same benefit cardiovascularly, no matter what you’re doing. They it

Now, muscularly, will running be different than riding, be different than elliptical, be different than whatever? Absolutely. But that has nothing to do with your cardiovascular system, right? So if you’re raising your heart rate to a certain level for a certain amount of time, doing some sort of rhythmic movement, you are going to get the same cardiovascular benefits. All right. So let’s just be clear about that. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing. Now.

Will a jump sport be more fun? Will jumping on a trampoline be more fun than any of those? Absolutely. Will I be more apt to do that because it’s fun? Absolutely. So my goal here is to tell you that it works great by itself. It works great as a part of a program, but it is something that you will enjoy. And I can guarantee you that part of it. So if you like any of this type of movement or activity, this is something that you will absolutely love to incorporate because not only is it very versatile in its application.

Steve Carver (33:29.122)
Whether it be wellness, fitness, you know, emotional regulation, like any of those components that you are looking to solve a problem in your in your current life, what whatever that happens to be, it’s certainly a great tool at your disposal to attack a lot of different problems that may occur in your life. Whereas a bike or an elliptical or a treadmill.

They kind of have a limited application. You what you can do with them, how they really function, what they’re for. It it’s very limited. And they’re not very portable. Let’s say I want I it’s a beautiful day, spring day, and I want to go out in the backyard on my patio and bounce on my trampoline. Or do I want to drag my treadmill out to the thing and try to find an extension cord if I can even get it out there? Right? So you see the benefits of having something that you can take with you to the park.

Jannine Krause (34:23.949)
Yeah.

Steve Carver (34:26.836)
On vacation, believe it or not, I have people that travel with their trampoline. They will they put them in a suitcase and they ship them with them wherever they go, because that’s their ideal workout that they know they will do. So again, portability, versatility, right? And just the fun factor alone is going to be something that I think people will really enjoy. And then you talked about being able to customize it and make it personal.

Jannine Krause (34:30.765)
Really? Well

Steve Carver (34:56.494)
And you know, the good news, as long as you know what to do with it, which I think Jump Sport does a really good job of making sure that every trampoline they sell comes with sixty days of programming. So you know what to do with it, how to use it, so it doesn’t just end up being a dust collector or a clothes hanger, something of that nature.

Jannine Krause (35:15.865)
I mean, that’s what most treadmills or bikes end up doubling as somehow. I see in the back of the telehealth visits when I see patients. Now, I do have a question ’cause you’re talking about the portability. Let’s give folks a little visual on like if you did travel with it, the the little legs tr bend it. Like well, how does that work?

Steve Carver (35:34.413)
Well, we have no, they come off and they go right between the cords or they fold in half and it goes in a bag. So they’re they they actually come apart pretty easily. Even the fixed units that are one solid frame can be broken down to a very flat surface. A lot of people are like, Well, I can’t leave it out. I’m like, Okay, well it takes about thirty seconds to take the legs off and you store them inside the the the bungees. They can just slide in there and you slide them under your bed and it’s out of the way, or put it behind the couch and you’ll never see it.

Jannine Krause (35:36.493)
It not

Steve Carver (36:04.422)
it if you have more than one, which you might need to now that I hear you have a whole bunch of people in your family that might fight over this, they’re stackable. The jump sport product is very stackable. So it it’s designed a certain way that if you have one, you can have ten. So it it makes it kind of nice. And it’s and it’s usable stacked. I mean, I could go on and on about all of the benefits of this outside of what we talked about, but you know, I don’t want to go down that path. So

Jannine Krause (36:10.541)
Yeah.

Jannine Krause (36:18.905)
Nice.

Jannine Krause (36:30.615)
Yeah, folks can look that up for sure. And then the one thing I did have a question on, and maybe this is more me, but I’m curious because I noticed that there’s different types in terms of the bounce and and whatnot. And and I’d love to talk about that a little bit because I think a lot of people, one of the big hang-ups might be like, which one do I choose? I’m not really sure. And I know you guys do give descriptions, but I think for a lot of folks knowing the difference may be helpful in terms of maybe the folks who are a little bit more

inclined to want to push themselves and get the hardest one right out the gates.

Steve Carver (37:02.178)
Well that we talked about the adjustability factor, right? So if we want a nice soft bounce that allows us to achieve the health bounce and do some more wellness applications, but then we want to crank it up, put our favorite music on and go go all out and do that Brazilian jump thing that they do, which is like absolutely crazy. Which honestly, fans, I can’t even do that. I look at them in awe. I’m like, you go, girl. you can b you can adjust it to make it firmer.

Jannine Krause (37:05.07)
Right.

Steve Carver (37:30.764)
So the adjustability component can help you work across. Do I want to do a nice soft lymphatic drainage, like lymphatic flow kind of a bounce? Or do I want to put on my thing and go silent disco in my living room? Right? That’s the adjustability component of the trampoline. But the the more vigorous you wanna be, I think you would want a little bit firmer surface to be able to really give you some resistance against. So somebody who’s a much more seasoned person might

enjoy a much firmer application. Whereas somebody who’s just looking for an overall thing that they can do fitness and health bounce and they keep it at a little somewhere in the middle, the the adjustability component of a jump sport is really gonna be amazing. So you can’t go wrong with either one. I think depending on what kind of movements you want to do, it might determine whether you want a a a smaller one or a medium size or a large one or

The size of human that you are. Let’s say I had a 405-pound strong man who looked at trampolines like, dude, I’m a strong man. I lift, I deadlift 400 pounds and whatever. And I put him on our largest unit and he cradled me like a little baby. Like he could hold me like and I weigh 200 pounds. He cradled me like a child and we bounced at 600 pounds on a jump sport. So depending on,

how big you are, how much you weigh, like you some of those are going to determine some of the reasons why you do that, or the intensity of your exercise or the type of exercise. But again, because it’s adjustable, it gives you a lot of versatility to use it multiple users or multiple applications that most other products won’t do for you.

Jannine Krause (39:19.779)
Fair enough. Fair enough. And then of course, ’cause I’m gonna get this question and of course it’s one of the things that I have in my mind and and it’s a personal one too. Barefoot or shoes? What’s your opinion? What’s the best way to do this? Okay.

Steve Carver (39:31.479)
I I think there is no best way. It’s all personal preference. so when I first started doing trampolines, even competitive trampoline, I used toe shoes because it’s a very like Olympic trampolines are the roughest. It’s like sandpaper. And those guys get shot 30 feet in the air, right? So I used toe shoes because I liked having that proprioception. So being barefoot is not bad and it does actually help strengthen your feet a little bit more.

I if you’re gonna wear shoes, you probably wanna wear a quartz shoe or some sort of stable shoe or cross training shoe because naturally on any kind of trampoline you’re going to have what’s called concave reaction to pressing down. So it’s gonna cave to the middle.

And as a if you have running shoes, they don’t have a lot of lateral support. So if you have any kind of ankle instability, at least originally, it’s probably best that you pick a shoe that has a little bit more stability laterally. But, you know, barefoot, like grippy socks, I just don’t recommend regular socks. They get kind of slippery on there, potentially more of a problem. So if you have grip socks for like yoga or Pilates or even shoes, I think it’s more personal preference, whatever you feel comfortable.

Now, if it’s your I wouldn’t bounce barefoot at a club. I don’t care who it is. Like I wouldn’t want to put I don’t know who else has been on there, whatever the deal is. If I have my own personal trampoline at home, I think whatever makes you what you whatever makes you feel happy. If you want more tactile, if you want more, you can use, you know, even shoes that are grounded shoes where your toes are separate. So that that again, in my personal opinion, as Mr. Bouncer.

Jannine Krause (41:15.607)
Mm.

Steve Carver (41:19.072)
I would say that’s a personal preference.

Jannine Krause (41:21.539)
Gotcha, gotcha. And as Mr. Bouncer, secondary to having a fella cradle you and bounce on a trampoline, what is the the wildest workout or thing you’ve done on a trampoline for fitness?

Steve Carver (41:36.795)
I think the toughest workouts I’ve ever done are HIT training. Like where you go all out and you do intervals and then you rest, and then you go all out and you do interval. You know, it’s hit training. High intensity interval training, I think, is by far the hardest application that I’ve ever done on a trampoline, being that not only is hit training hard on the ground, but now I recruit thirty percent more I’m burning up to thirty percent more calories while doing it.

Jannine Krause (41:40.216)
Okay.

Steve Carver (42:02.294)
Right. I get into my target zone quicker. I recover about twenty percent faster than I would on the ground. Active recovery, there’s plenty of there’s plenty of science to show you that active recovery is a far greater tool than static recovery. So knowing all of those factors, I think hit

was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done on a on a trampoline and one of my favorites. I think the most fun application I ever had with a trampoline because it’s so versatile and we didn’t even get into all the accessories you can get, like handlebars and we have an accessory that tilts it where you can throw balls at it. I used to do boot camp or tramp camp was my favorite thing I used to call it, right? So we’re trampoline camp. And you would go from station to station and do something a little bit different, whether it be throw a ball or

do like a metronome using a handlebar or doing you know, taking a ball and crunching and throwing and just incorporating all kinds of fun disciplines using a trampoline as as the as the vehicle for that was by far I think my the most fun I ever had using a trampoline in a fitness situation.

Jannine Krause (43:06.913)
Nice. And then what’s your jam when you use when you use music with it? What’s your favorite music to listen to and and jump?

Steve Carver (43:14.778)
I I’m I’m I’m an old guy, man. I’m still seventies, eighties, kinda a rock and roll kind of person. So I kinda like that. something a little more upbeat, not necessarily super f high BPM, but still very energetic stuff. You know, even one of my favorite things was Welcome to the Jungle, how I got people started for some of those classes. So it gives you kind of an idea. But hey, look, whatever makes you happy.

Jannine Krause (43:37.891)
Nice.

Steve Carver (43:43.817)
EDM, disco, whatever, like as long as you’re cool with it and it’s do it has the right cadence for you and for the type of exercise you’re doing. Heck, I’ve been on the trampoline and listened to Mozart, believe it or not. Like it just depends on your mood or what you’re trying to accomplish. I I think music is really very personal. And I think that depending on what you’re trying to do, I wouldn’t want to listen to Welcome to the Jungle while I’m trying to do breath work. So

Jannine Krause (44:10.767)
That could be a whole new genre of ex experimentation with getting to another level in the mind. Yeah. Good times, good times with that. Well, Mr. Bouncer, Steve Carver, I’ve learned a lot about the trampolines, and I’m no doubt that my my podcast guest listeners here have two. I think they probably are enjoying wondering like, hmm, could this be for me? So we’ll leave them with a little something. If they’re on the fence and they’re like, hmm, could this be for me?

What’s one thing you would say about the longevity benefit, the health benefit of choosing a jump sport over anything else at this point in life?

Steve Carver (44:50.53)
Well, remember what I just told you that if I told you that you could do the same exercise that you do on the ground and you’re gonna do it on this platform, you’re gonna burn thirty up to thirty percent more calories. If I told you that across any other application, hey, I’ve got a tool for you at work that can make you 20% more cover productive or 30% more productive, and all you gotta do is use it and do the exact same thing you were doing. You’d be like, that’s a no-brainer. What is it? Right?

I think more than that, I I touched on this earlier with your with your listeners, is that you have to find something that you enjoy. And I guarantee you that you will really love exercising on this platform. It’ll be something that you look forward to. And if you’re on the fence because you’re worried you’re gonna fall off, they they have handlebars, they have other applications, and again, the most important part of it is that you get some sort of guidance.

to use this so that you’re not stuck with something you thought you were wanted to use but have no idea what to do with it. And lastly, I think this company is really good with customer service. So if you are struggling or you don’t know what to do or which one to buy, you can always call in, talk to a real person, and they can walk you through step by step what is the right product for you.

Jannine Krause (46:09.807)
That’s huge, this day and age, especially having a real person to chat with. So let’s tell folks the website where they can find you. and see some of your workouts, maybe some some examples of of some some fun stuff and Instagram socials. Give us all the scoop of finding some more info on jump sport.

Steve Carver (46:30.626)
Well, believe it or not, you’ll probably see me across most of the social media platforms, but our website is jumpsport dot com. And you can get in there and they we have a a a pretty easy website to navigate if you’re looking to find in information about trampolines, benefits of trampolining, purchasing products or otherwise, it’s certainly a good resource to get there. On socials it’s at jump sport fitness. I think on YouTube, Instagram

I think on Facebook it might be Jump Sport Fitness Trampolines or something of that nature, but pretty close. If you type in Jump Sport Fitness, you’re gonna get it on any of those platforms. And whether or not you see me or not is a whole nother story, but I’m pretty sure that I get enough correspondence from people saying, Hey, I just saw you on YouTube. So I’m I’m guessing that they’re gonna see me. I should probably put out some old s old old videos of me when I was doing some pretty crazy stuff using

the trampolines as the vehicle and I think people would enjoy the that they call that I guess nowadays it’s called virality, where you’re doing something kinda crazy that wouldn’t people wouldn’t expect.

So I it kinda comes into play with my my my basis for where I came from, which is I kind of was an extreme athlete when it came to doing just about anything. So you won’t you’ll you won’t be disappointed if you if you run into any of my videos. But there’s a lot of other videos of people far more proficient than I am at this day and age doing things that I can’t even do at this point in my life. So

Jannine Krause (48:02.147)
Always fun to watch though, nevertheless, nevertheless. And then I’ve got a personal question for you. All right, skiing in the trees, where do you like to go?

Steve Carver (48:11.534)
I my two favorite places to go were Utah. I was a big fan of the the the mountains up at Park City and and Deer Valley and all that and also Colorado. So I liked going up to Breckenridge and A Basin and I I couldn’t really afford Aspen or ’cause I wasn’t, you know, at that point in my life, but

I skied the Continental Divide, which I was one of my best claim to fame, where we drove up above tree line and drove skied down through the trees, which was pretty crazy. So those are really my favorite places. they had the snow is great, the terrain is amazing and challenging. So that would be my recommendation for skiing.

Jannine Krause (48:56.301)
And definitely, you know, we’re headed into ski season. When this releases we’ll start having folks thinking about it. Like I always think about the trampolines for helping to be more resilient to the different terrain as it changes, especially if you’re into the glades and the and the trees and or heli too for that matter.

Steve Carver (49:12.866)
Well, here’s the good news. You can use one trampoline or two trampolines, and you can do a lot of ski training, lateral work. we have exercises like even I have an exercise called cross-country ski, where you’re basically look pr doing a movement like you would be cross-country skiing. We do moguls, we do ski. There’s there’s a lot of actual ex movements that are named after skiing protocols.

And we have actually had professional skiers use jump sport as part of their training routine because we have accessories that tilt the trampoline and it’s the only full body weight rebounder that exists on the planet. It’s really a great tool for somebody looking to really challenge themselves in indoors getting ready for ski season.

Jannine Krause (49:59.972)
Ooh, I’m glad I asked about that because I used to live in Brackenridge. So very familiar with the train there. Can’t wait to get out there again every year. Hopefully the snow’s good this year. But I know that a lot of people are gonna be thinking about that, especially my folks who are more active. So guys, you heard it. I mean the tilting, I didn’t even know about that. So all right, even more, even more goodness here. So Steve, thank you so much for coming on and sharing so much information with us. I sincerely appreciate it and can’t wait to put this podcast out.

Steve Carver (50:30.563)
Dr. J, thank you so much for having me.