Body & Fitness

The Anything But The Gym Girls try…Jump Ninja

Emma and Sinead are on the hunt for fun fitness alternatives for those people who don't like the gym. This week, Sinead channels her Ninja Warrior - with the help of a trampoline.

If you’ve ever watched those TV shows WipeOut or American Ninja Warrior, where competitors try to complete a series of insane obstacles against the clock, you’ve probably had fantasies of giving one a go and being a natural. We definitely did.

JUMP – which is an indoor trampoline park – recently opened up a new Ninja Course and we had to try it out.

The course is kit out with a dozen obstacles in the two-story course including a cannon ball alley; tilting ladders; cargo net climbing; a sea of poles; rock wall; spider wall; parkour steps; and a 12ft high warped wall with an airbag.

Jump, which has parks based in Auckland’s North Shore, East Tamaki and in Hamilton, is made up of hundreds of square metres of interlocking trampolines covering the floor space and going up the walls.

The spring-loaded urban playground is suitable for all ages and fitness levels, and is made with soft landing surfaces, lots of padding and gymnastic grade foam.

We did a bit of research and found that the benefits of trampolining for exercise are actually huge.

Regular jumping is proven to burn fat and help tone the body, especially the stomach, back and legs, as your core-stability muscles are constantly engaged to help keep you balanced.

You might be worried about the impact to your ankles and knees – but don’t be. While jumping on a trampoline provide an intense workout for the muscles and bones, the mat or pad absorbs 80 per cent of the shock from the rebound, so it’s safe for your joints.

But back to the Ninja course. We went into the class over confident as usual.

Unlike normal people who are often nervous to try something new, and full of self-doubt, we go into everything thinking that we will be amazing at it.

This is most likely because we both grew up in an only-child household, so we’re brainwashed into thinking that we’re extraordinary and special, well-rounded geniuses.

This makes us perfect for our try-anything-and-laugh-at-our-failures column.

Staggeringly, we were not naturals at Jump Ninja but did have a damn good time trying to be.

As you get older, exercise tends to fall into two categories: hard things you can try to do and hard things that are impossible because your body doesn’t bend that way.

However at Jump Ninja we discover a new category: things that your body can do but your brain is afraid of. For instance: Jumping on a trampoline into a foam pit sounds easy in theory, until you are paralysed with adult-onset fear. Same with going down a fireman’s pole. Easy as a child, nerve-wracking as an adult.

But there’s nothing like getting out of your comfort zone, particularly in such a brightly coloured place, and particularly when an 11-year-old girl has just had a crying meltdown on the cargo net climbing ahead of you and you have to hold yourself together because you are allegedly a grown-up.

Calorie-burning fear climbing aside, the exercise benefits of trampolining are huge. Your legs and get butt get a great workout, but it’s also strengthening for your back and core as they are the muscle groups keeping you stable.

Heaps of the ninja exercises use the same kind of muscles we once used all the time on the playground – only now you’re in a more social acceptable place to use them.

Verdict: This was seriously, seriously fun and everyone in our group – aged from 5 to 39, had a damn good time.

Where I went: JUMP, which has facilities in Mairangi Bay and East Tamaki. Visit the website for details.

We have one family pass to JUMP (including access to JUMP Ninja) worth $80 to give away. To enter, visit our Facebook page.

Winners must be able to attend class in Auckland.

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