Rebounding and Cellulite

I have finally gotten back into my groove where I love to exercise. Where if I miss it, I feel really bad about the situation. I'll really be doing well when I can get my eating habits back in check - but that's another story for another time...

Running and lifting weights has been great. I love building muscle. It helps to reshape my body, and I like feeling stronger. I have noticed that for the past few weeks, I have not had to use a knee brace even once. Not to run, not to skate - for nothing! I attribute that to building up the muscles that control the ligaments around my knee. When I hurt my knee in high school, my physical therapy basically consisted of lifting weights. I do a lot of those same exercises now.

However, when I look in the mirror, I still look down and see that lovely cottage cheese, a.k.a. cellulite. I have it on my inner thighs, down towards the knee area - that is the worst spot. It's also on the backs of my thighs, but not as bad. Basically, it's on the whole dayum thigh, but it's mostly visible on the inner thighs. Unless I run myself into looking like an Ethiopian marathon runner, it's not going to go away.

I read an article, maybe 7 years ago, about rebounding. That is a fancy word for jumping on a mini trampoline. I vaguely remembered something about it helping with cellulite, but I couldn't remember why. I started researching again last month, and found out that the up and down motion, along with the gravity/g-forces, helps to stimulate your lymphatic system, in a way that other exercises do not. If you stimulate the lymphatic system, you can help to rid your body or more toxins, including that pesky cellulite - which is a build up of fat and toxins, anyway! Rebounding has many, many health benefits. Read about them here and here. With regard to cellulite and the lymphatic system, check out this article. It's long and technical, but worth the read (they'll talk about cellulite about halfway down the page).

So, I'm going to be the guinea pig for this. I'm going to try to jump on my rebounder every other day, to start with. I have a work out DVD for rebounding, and the cardio portion takes about 15 minutes or so - it even includes some ab work at the end. If i have a day where I can't lift weights, I will use the resistance training as well. In addition, I will still be running, because I have committed to running the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on 10/3, and the Runway 5K on 10/31. (Pray for me!) I'm also going to continue lifting weights. I'll keep you guys posted on my progress.

This is the rebounder I am using: Gold's Gym Circuit Trainer Mini Trampoline

I had to go to three different WalMart's before I found this. The first WalMart was just out of them. The second WalMart said they don't even sell the mini trampolines in their store. The third one was the charm, and I got the last one available. If you decide to try this and get this trampoline, you can always purchase online and have it shipped to the store, if you can't find it locally. It was $30 + tax at the store.