What is it?

AirFit is an exercise class – on trampolines! It is circuits-based, though some sessions are more akin to aerobics or have a martial arts twist.

How does it work?

Find your nearest trampoline park (see below), slip on a pair of non-stick socks and get bouncing. A fitness instructor takes you through a 45-minute class, from warm-up to cool down.

Is it really for adults?

Yes – in my session there were seven adults (six women, one man), ranging in age from their 20s to 50s. It’s not aimed at kids.

What is it like?

Imagine being an Olympic athlete and going to an exercise class at your local gym. It would be so effortless. You’d soar through the session instead of struggling, and leave with a healthy glow instead of dripping with sweat. AirFit is like that.

Thanks to the boost from the trampolines, everything comes more easily. Tuck jumps, one of my most hated forms of fitness torture, are a joy. Running on the spot is boring; bouncing on the spot is brilliant. Shuttle sprints are exhausting; shuttle springs are exhilarating.

And on top of that, trampolining is incredibly good for you. According to research by Nasa (a small study back in 1980, but still), “rebounding” is up to 68% more effective than jogging but requires less effort; develops upper and lower body strength more effectively than weightlifting; and is a better all-round exercise than swimming. Other health claims include improved balance, coordination and flexibility. Also, the trampoline acts as a shock absorber, making it a low-impact workout suitable for all ages.

We started with a warm-up: small bounces to find our feet. My stomach stopped flip-flopping after a few jumps. We then moved on to bigger boings as confidence increased. Just as I became resigned to a long and tiring three-quarters of an hour of continuous bouncing, we stopped.

From then on, things got interesting. We jumped from one trampoline to another (there are 50 wall-to-wall, interlinked trampolines), bounced off the walls, bounced onto our bottoms, and performed bouncing burpees (see diagram below).

We bounced medicine balls on the floor and off the walls, and bounced onto big yellow obstacles to do squats. The class was so engaging, my brain didn’t register that I was working hard – but my legs did.

I left Guildford with a spring in my step, on a jumping-induced high, but the next day, sitting, standing, walking and, well, doing anything was accompanied by yelps of agony. So clearly the Olympic athlete analogy isn’t entirely accurate, but it was nice to feel like one for 45 minutes.

Where can I try it?

Trampoline parks are huge in Australia, the US and Singapore, and now they are springing up in the UK. I went to AirHop (airhoptrampolinepark.com/index/) in Guildford, which is opening branches in Bristol and Birmingham this year.

There are five other trampoline parks nationwide including: Gravity Force (gravityforce.co.uk) in Camberley, Surrey; JumpNation (jumpnation.com) in Manchester and Birmingham; and AirSpace (air-space.co.uk) in Glasgow.

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