Rebound For the Health Of It

This DVD presents three rebounding workouts, lasting 10-12 minutes each.

The DVD is filmed outdoors on a sunny day at what looks like a park or golf course, with lots of grass and trees -- it has an open, spacious feel. Music is standard exercise stuff, but decent. All of the workouts are led by Sharron Ribeiro-Pitre, who instructs live. There are four background exercisers (two men and two women). No modifications are shown or suggested.

You will need a rebounder (naturally!). No other equipment (e.g. weighted gloves) is used. The participants do the workouts barefoot.

The main workouts are titled Beginner (10 minutes), Intermediate (11 minutes), Advanced (12 minutes), Abs and Cool Down (7 minutes). After completing each workout you are returned to the Main Menu. My only real complaint about this DVD is that there is no "play all" option or other way to string together the individual workouts for a longer session without using the DVD remote. The exercises are different in each workout (the Advanced has some kickboxing moves), and the pace increases in the Intermediate and Advanced workouts. The Abs section has variations of seated bouncing and bridgework lying on the rebounder mat. The Cool Down part is only about one minute and just slows down the bounces.

In all of the workouts Sharron introduces and describes each exercise, and the exercise name appears on the screen. The exercises are done in sets of eight as she counts, with a return to health bouncing (bouncing with feet barely leaving the mat) in between exercises. There are no combos or choreography. She does not mirror cue, but even though this is a pet peeve of mine I didn't find it much of an issue in this DVD. Sharron counts out most of the reps.

Besides the actual workouts described above, on the Main Menu is an Introduction, where Sharron introduces herself, talks about the benefits of rebounding, and plugs the ReboundAirs used in the DVD. There is also a Testimonials section where four women, who all appear to be new exercisers, describe how rebounding has benefitted them. The same ladies appear in a short Therapeutic chapter, where they demonstrate simple beginner moves (none of them appear in the regular workouts).

Bottom line: Rebounding For the Health of It is an excellent introduction to rebounding. It would be a good way to learn new moves for freestyling (i.e., putting on some great music and doing your own thing!). As noted, my biggest (and maybe only) complaint is that after each workout section you are returned to the Main Menu - in other words, there is no way string the workouts together into a longer workout. A "play all" or a simple programming option would have really enhanced the value of this DVD.

This DVD is a Canadian production and has options for both English and French ("Rebondissez de Sante"). In "French mode" Sharron instructs live in French (cool!) and titles are in French. It is a pressed DVD (not DVD-R).

Go to www.exercell.com to learn more, or to purchase the DVD. The website is in both English and French. (I was initially disappointed at how "expensive" the DVD was, until I realized I was looking at the price in Canadian dollars, not U.S. dollars! I think I paid around $20 in U.S. dollars when I purchased the DVD.)