Unsolicited Endorsement: Trampercise

You probably used to have one in your backyard as a kid. They’d leave faint black marks on your feet when you jumped and, in the summers, you’d have to be careful not to burn yourself on the metal rim when you climbed up. Trampolines are synonymous with childhood, but these days, they’ve have taken on new life as more of them pop up: whole parks covered with the bouncy material, allowing both kids and adults to jump for hours, literally off the walls.

Now, a whole new brand of fitness has also been born. That’s right, trampoline fitness classes. Sky Zone trampoline park off of New Garden Road in Greensboro offers “Skyfit” classes, a half-hour or hour of cardio and strength training that you can do while bouncing. It’s like Insanity meets Chuck-E-Cheese. A 3-year-old will be waddling by as the upbeat, Shaun T-like instructor yells at you enthusiastically to give him five more push-ups or go deeper on your squats. And the thing is, it’s pretty fun.

Wearing a bright muscle tank top that shows off his slim but built frame, trainer Troy splits up the group of more than a dozen eager participants looking to subject themselves to exercise masked as fun, into stations. A Bosu balance ball sits in the corner waiting for someone to try to master it while a lady pumps out sets of bicep curls with the resistance band. The stations move quickly and by the end of it, you’re physically exhausted but kind of can’t wait to try it again.

Not only do you get to act a fool and remember what it feels like to be a kid, you burn a few hundred calories while doing it. Don’t get me wrong, the workout is pretty brutal. If you haven’t done it before, I definitely recommend starting with the 30-minute option. And at less than $10 a class, that’s cheaper than any other fitness class in town and you get to jump into a foam pit.