Urban Rebounding Series

JB Berns
Year Released: 2003

Categories: Rebounding



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Urban Rebounding has recently offered many new workouts for the rebounder. I think the major flaw in the UR workouts is the endless basic bouncing in most of them, especially those led by JB Berns with minimal variations in movements. There are so many different things the feet could be doing on a rebounder, especially various forms of healthbouncing which always has one foot if not both in contact with the mat at all times and can be quite intense when upper body movements are added. Guess maybe that is why I was more drawn to Ballet Bound, Sports Specific Bound and Hip Hop Bound for their uniqueness and crosstraining effect (hitting muscles differently).
Interval Bound and Adv Old Fashioned Hi-Lo would probably be the top choices for VFers looking for more constant higher intensity and nonstop basic bouncing with some interesting moves (or no JB). Dance Bound, Kick Bound and Resistance Bound would be for folks wanting more intermediate intensity with an athletic style. This in itself disappointed me expecting Dance Bound to be dancier, Kick Bound to be more like kickboxing and Resistance Bound to be more like sculpting. However they are all good choices as far as length and variety of moves at a more do-able pace.
Box & Bounce Bound and African Bound are nice attempts at varying the style but nonspecific rebounder workouts with the same flavor offer much more IMHO.
Latin Bound? didn't deliver the Latin flavor or interesting moves and may have been the largest disappointment of the bunch. Here's more of a breakdown including instructors and lengths:

Oldies but Goodies JoJo ~20 minutes? (forgot to measure)
a huge disappointment cuz no healthbouncing tips and really boring yet way too tedious with almost nonstop basic bouncing for folks just starting out with no prior fitness conditioning (having a safety bar doesn't make it automatically easier or safer)
My ankles started to ache during this one and I have been rebounding at least 2 years!

First Timers JB Berns 14 minutes
non stop basic bouncing and just a few moves repeated over and over with no healthbouncing or recovery or fun

Basic JB Berns 30 minutes
same as the above just longer
with some abwork tagged on

Intermediate/Challenge JB Berns 45 minutes
more of the same above but had some Sports inspired moves in latter half
and some pushups, triceps dips, and abwork at the end

UR Adv with JB Berns 33 minutes
very tedious and repetitive, more of the above
some decent moves but repeated to the point of never wanting to do them (or the workout) ever again, no abs tagged on
(very Berns bern-out here, pun intended)

Interval Bound Shannon 30 minutes
tough nonstop high intensity workout
mostly athletic style with a lot of bouncing and a few sports inspired moves

Old Fashioned Hi-Lo Bound Allison 34 minutes
high intensity nonstop Athletic styled rebounding workout using mostly hi-lo movements and TIFTTing heel digs, jumping jacks, side leg lifts, jumprope, hamstring curls, knee lifts, kicks, scissors, and plyo squats (probably the most for the $$ as far as length, intensity and variety of moves but I much prefer the nonrebounder specific Plyorobics Challenge).

Ballet Bound Allison 23 minutes
actual Ballet inspired moves on the rebounder
very different from most rebounding workouts yet just as intense
tough on the legs especially inner thighs and calves
good crosstraining and probably a keeper for its uniqueness

Hip Hop Bound JoJo 14 minutes & way too short
(I liked it, largest fun factor for me of all of the URs)
intensity can go high or low depending on how much you use your lower body and I just like the different feel of this workout on the rebounder as well as the music (did it twice the first time)

Sports Specific Bound Shannon 27 minutes
good crosstraining workout with good variety of sports inspired moves and HR intervals (Increased heartrate intervals alternate with recovery periods)
also uses bodyweight for resistance (pushups, triceps dips) and and challenges lower body with plyos

Resistance Bound Tracey 27 minutes
similar to but much better than Sneider's Perfect workout
upper body uses light weights while bouncing or jogging
easy to adjust the intensity by dropping the weights or the reps
(one of the better UR workouts for my intensity preferences)

Box and Bounce Shannon 28 minutes
boxing inspired workout but too much bouncing and not enough boxing footwork
prefer adapting TaeBo

Dance Bound Tracey 31 minutes
more Athletic hi-lo and bouncing than dance inspired which was a disappointment expecting some real funk especially, since the instructor seems very creative when a background exerciser. Decent intermediate workout overall.

Kick Bound Tracey 24 minutes
more Athletic hi-lo than kickbox as expected and similar to Dance Bound in style but shorter and less bouncing

African Bound JoJo 18 minutes
some nice movements that work the core with pleasant music but not as good as other African workouts which adapt to the rebounder well and way too short for the price and lowered intensity

Latin Bound JoJo 20 minutes (how long can 3-4 moves be repeated?)
wanted to like this one but just couldn't
same few uninspiring movements repeated over and over
Zumba is much better on the rebounder and offers a lot more movements and FUN

Yoga Bound Jo Jo probably adequate length
probably good for a beginner who wants to use the rebounder as a yoga prop but needs a very high ceiling to fully appreciate

Core Bound Allison probably adequate length
I am not into Pilates but if I were, I would probably like this one
(core was extremely sore the next day)

Abdominal Bound JB Berns probably adequate length
This could have had some standing abwork with JB's martial arts background but didn't (like Scott Scott's Best Abs on Earth or even Jeff Costa's Sexy Abs)
a basic ab workout using the rebounder as a prop instead of a stability ball
Best part were the stretches many of which appeared on Stretch Bound

Stretch Bound JB Berns probably adequate length
JB's best IMHO
nice stretch workout and more comfortable on the rebounder than the floor
with a calmer JB

Instructor Comments:
I didn't enjoy any of the workouts led by JB Berns but did find the rest of the instructors much more engaging.

Barb S

12/11/2003