Trying something new every now and then seems to be good for your brain. As a semi-sports addict and daredevil (in the making), Santé's journalist Esmir registers for a bungee fitness class.
On Facebook I see a message about bungee fitness from Gym Texel on the island of the same name, where I am often at weekends. The photo accompanying the message triggers my curiosity:four smiling ladies in a cool bungee pose. On a whim, I sign up for a class. Why? Because I think you should do something every now and then that you don't really dare. Note:in the fun-exciting category. And in that order too. It broadens your view, shakes you up and gives you the feeling that you are alive.
Bungee fitness has come over from Asia, from the dance world. There, the elastic has been used for some time to expand the dance repertoire. The fitness variant now seems to be super popular in Thailand and it is also becoming increasingly popular in the Netherlands.
Since bungee fitness is a new fitness trend, the sports teacher advises me to watch some YouTube videos beforehand. A little later I am gazing at the acrobatic feats you can perform on such an elastic band. Athletes hang straight above the floor, make huge jumps, do push-ups and then land safely on their feet. I'm getting more and more interested in it. Bounce to the beat and fly like a ninja. Maybe also a fun activity for a bachelor party. Something different than pole dancing or painting crockery. I don't expect that bungee workout to be easy, but I'm not averse to a handstand every now and then and I'm in the gym regularly. So bring on this new fitness adventure.
On my way to the gym I suddenly wonder if it matters that bungee jumping is not on my bucket list. I mean:to what extent is my fear of heights an obstacle? Giggling with discomfort, I hoist myself, with the necessary help, into the harness. I tighten the straps around my thighs and hips. Then the elastic is attached to the harness – to my back. It looks like I'm about to jump out of a plane, my heart is racing. Fortunately, I have time to recover:for now we are just standing on a thick, blue mat.
what? Apparently the answer can be read on my face. "Oh dear, it's okay. It's just a matter of surrendering.” She snaps me to the elastic, turns on the music and starts the warm-up.
We start with some simple squats, where the main challenge is to stay in balance, because you bounce back through the elastic (read:swings in all directions). You do this mainly by tightening your core. And it helps to look at a fixed point (two meters in front of you) on the ground. Once you've got the bounce, you get into the flow and that's a party. As for the squat then. With the other exercises I need more time before it looks like anything. Pfff, the practice is really different than what I saw on YouTube. It's that my harness is so tight that my limbs are held together and move somewhat in the same direction when I jump, dive, bend, twist or fall.
After a few variations on the squat, we have to drop backwards like a plank. What you used to do with a girlfriend, who then stood behind you to catch you. Now you have to entrust this to the elastic. And it is precisely the latter that I find difficult, because to what extent are the teething problems already out of my harness? Who's to tell me that a buckle or Velcro won't suddenly come loose, causing me to clatter full against the floor and stumble out of the gym with whiplash?
The movement is quite counter to my instincts. And should I not have communicated my weight in advance? I have to call myself to order. Come on, I wanted something new, didn't I? Come on, don't think, let yourself fall! I scream like I just jumped out of a plane. But after a few times it starts to get used to. Then it's time for push-ups, so I have to let myself fall over. I go like crazy, to the ground and back up. The well-known yo-yo effect suddenly takes on a completely different meaning, much more fun! It is delicious, at least, if you think away the somewhat cutting feeling of the harness. While we have to tighten our abs, it is mainly my harness that compresses my core. When asked, there are also special shorts – just as charming as cycling shorts – that reduce chafing. And there are two types of elastics:one for athletes up to eighty kilos and one for more than eighty kilos.
We continue with other acrobatic tricks:the handstand, cartwheel, dive and full star (running forward a few steps and jumping with your arms and legs wide). During the dive you literally go head first to the floor. That first time feels like diving into a pool with no water. And so I don't dare… As if it's high summer, one after the other takes a dip. It's my honour, I must be able to do this too. And here I go. First as a drowning person, but a few attempts later as an accomplished swimmer. Well, that's how it feels. My reflection shows a wooden claus. Hello adrenaline rush!
Fanatic as I am, I want more. Even higher, even further, even more challenging. I get the hang of it, run a few paces forward and jump in the air for a superman jump:with one arm and leg bent and the other extended. This is good for your leg, back, stomach and laughing muscles!
Bungee fitness is strength training with a great fun factor. It is an all-round strength training, while your heart rate skyrockets in the meantime. Much more varied and fun than the weight room in the gym. You really can't think about anything but the heroic jumps you make.
After about fifty minutes, the lesson is over. It feels like I got my pilot's license. And that for seven euros. With a red head and a half inguinal hernia I am disconnected. I have a bit of a headache, but it has subsided before I walk out of the locker room. I can still feel the harness all afternoon. And the next day I have two unmissable bruises on my hips.
After a week the bruises are gone and curiosity increases. I want to feel that thrill of dangling from that elastic one more time. Shall I put on my spinning pants this time? Who knows, that saves trade fair places? But yes, the eye wants something too, so I leave the chamois leather patch at home. The sports teacher advises me to really plant the harness straps in my groin. Damn, that works.
The repertoire during the second class consists of lunges, burpees, squats and push-ups (my favorite). But also the mission impossible:floating above the ground like Tom Cruise in the film of the same name. You increase your muscle mass through short intensive strength efforts. This improves your basal metabolism (resting metabolism), so that you also burn calories for the rest of the day (afterburn).
Bungee fitness gives you beautiful bikini bottoms, I like to be told. This is thanks to the powerful push off of the ground with every jump you make. With a lesson of one hour you burn about three hundred calories. And after class you have trained just about all your muscles, including your laughing muscles. Not only your back, abs and leg muscles, but also the smaller muscle groups, such as your calves, shoulders and arm muscles. And you notice this especially because you have muscle pain in unusual places, such as in your armpits, for up to 48 hours afterwards.
We conclude the second lesson with stretching exercises. I don't have a headache this time and hardly any bruising. I do have noticeably more muscle pain.
Conclusion? Bungee fitness is the perfect combination of exercise and play. But… I didn't feel like a Mega Mindy. Maybe that will only come after a ten-ride ticket with a bungee fitness bottom in pink glitter.
Once home I bounce for at least an hour and I feel sharp and happy for the rest of the day.
Text:Esmir van Wering | Image:Shutterstock
