Starbound

I wanted to like this rebounding workout! Especially since a VFer went to the trouble of lending it to me. It has been broken down by a previous reviewer.

I previewed this workout yesterday and, after 40 minutes, it made me so sleepy I had to go take a nap. (And I rarely take naps.) I may not have found the right workout for me, but I may have found a cure for my insomnia! (I will think of it forever as "Snorebound".)

Alas, I'm beginning to believe that I am doomed to only ever rebounding with JB for the rest of my life. I've tried other instructors and workouts, but his are the ones I come back to.

Starbound would be a great workout for the right person. The scenery is gorgeous. The rebounding is interspersed with toning and stretching segments. I tried it today and lasted abut 45 minutes before I go bored out of my mind. It has several fatal flaws for me:

Cueing: Mediocre, non-mirror.

Music: Soporific and dreadfully BORING. I understand that the music is supposed to be slow so beginners don't injure themselves keeping up with a beat. Personally, I need a beat!

Choppy: The segments are divided into Modules, Zones, Levels. etc. What the heck? I don't know what it was all about.

The instructor is planning a DVD version. I strongly suggest that she add a "cues only" option, so that the exerciser can add their own music!

Overall, this is a highly recommended rebounding video with beautiful outdoor scenary, unique music, and creative moves on and around the rebounder for anyone seeking a more gentle approach to rebounding. The instructor Michele Wilburn does the whole workout barefoot and her bouncing style is mostly a flatfooted and close to the mat bounce called pulsing which is much gentler than the UR Basic Bounce that pounds the soles of the feet into the mat or the Fit Prime's G Force's version that pounds the heels into the mat.

You can mix and match its segments (zones and modules) by fast forwarding the video however you prefer for as short or as long a stand-alone workout as you like or as add-ons. It took me four full workouts to cover all of the footage.

Of course, no workout is perfect so I will mention some negative observations as well. The right and left sides are not cued in reverse or mirrored and the cues are in a voiceover in case either of these aspects may bother you. Each cardio segment in the modules were done to different songs but I would have personally preferred more upbeat tempo songs for some of the aerobic segments. This workout is screaming for dvd format so the options of doing say all of the cardio segments back-to-back would be so much easier. Unfortunately, the dvd is barely in its planning stages and may not become a reality for a long time.

The cardio included various moves at 3 different levels of intensity, mostly easy to follow that were variations of pulsing (vigorous healthbouncing), rhythmic walk bouncing, jumping jacks, shuffles, hopscotch, one legged twists, Jack in the Boxes, etc. The cardio in Module three became quite intense and alittle trickier to follow if using the instructor's arm motions as well.

Most of the sculpting seemed Pilates inspired and were found to be very effective.

Starbound breakdown

excluding introduction and ending credits

it was ~ 1:45 minutes of actual workout footage

Minutes may vary slightly from vcr to vcr or tape to tape

Zone one Foundations lasted 6 minutes and included posture instruction and gentle healthbouncing.

Zone two Warm Up lasted 21 minutes and included 16 minutes of movement and 5 minutes of stretching, some of which off the rebounder.

Zone three (~total of 40 minutes aerobic bounce for cardio) and Zone four (~total of 30 minutes sculpting) were combined in three modules

Module one lasted 15 minutes including 8 level one cardio and 7 sculpting

bar work with the rebounder on its side

Module two lasted 23 minutes including 15 levels one and two cardio and 8 sculpting

lying on the mat

Module three lasted 31 minutes including 17 levels1-3 cardio and 14 sculpting

on and around the mat

Zone 5 Pure Spirit lasted 10 minutes including 8 minutes of stretching on the rebounder then a lying meditation for a couple of minutes