Benefits of rebound exercise ~ AKA: jumping on the trampoline!

We have had the MOST fun with one Christmas gift that we bought our kids this year - a 15 foot trampoline! My friend sent this to me and I thought it was so fascinating that I had to share. I knew that jumping on the trampoline was a GREAT cardio workout, but I had no idea about all of these other benefits. SO FUN!! :)

The Benefits of Rebound Exercise: 33 Ways the Body Responds

By Dr. Morton Walker and Albert E. Carter

The study of the human body is fairly interesting. The moment it becomes no less than amazing is when we understand what happens as the body is placed under the demands of movement and resistance we call exercise. Today we examine, specifically, how Rebound Exercise benefits our bodies. Studies described and documented in the book The Ultimate Exercise for the New Millennium, proves regular rebounding can reduce your body fat, firm your arms, benefit the shape of your legs, hips and abdomen, improve your balance, stimulate your lymphatic system, protect your joints, strengthen your muscles and bones without the trauma of hitting a hard surface, provide an aerobic effect for your cardiopulmonary systems, revitalize your body when it's tired, and generally put you in a state of mental and physical wellness! In fact, we are just warming up!

There are at least 33 fascinating ways the body benefits from Rebound Exercise, detailed below:

1. Rebounding provides an increased G-force (gravitational load), which benefits the body by strengthening the musculoskeletal systems.

2. Rebounding protects the joints from the chronic fatigue and impact delivered by exercising on hard surfaces.

3. Rebounding helps manage body composition and improves muscle-to-fat ratio. Rebound Exercise benefits you by giving you more control over these.

4. Rebounding benefits lymphatic circulation by stimulating the millions of one-way valves in the lymphatic system. This benefits the body's immune capacity for fighting current disease, destroying cancer cells, eliminating antigens and preventing future illness.

5. Rebounding circulates more oxygen to the tissues.

6. Rebounding establishes a better equilibrium between the oxygen required by the tissues and the oxygen made available.

7. Rebounding increases capacity for respiration.

8. Rebounding tends to reduce the height to which the arterial pressures rise during exertion.

9. Rebounding lessens the time during which blood pressure remains abnormal after severe activity.

10. Rebounding assists in the rehabilitation of existing heart problems. Rebound Exercise also benefits recovery from heart procedures, providing gentle, low impact circulation. (Case: Cardiac Rehabilitation Using A ReboundAIR)

11. Rebounding increases the functional activity of the red bone marrow in the production of red blood cells.

12. Rebounding gradually improves resting metabolic rate so that more calories are burned for hours after exercise. Related, Rebound Exercise benefits the post-exercise "Glycogen Replenishment" process.

13. Rebounding causes core muscles and large muscle groups to contract, resulting in the rhythmic compression of the veins and arteries, which more effectively moves fluids, both blood and lymphatic, through the body and back to the heart, lowering peripheral blood pressure and lightening the heart's load.

14. Rebounding decreases the volume of blood pooling in the veins of the cardiovascular system preventing chronic edema.

15. Rebounding encourages collateral circulation by increasing the capillary count in the muscles and decreasing the distance between the capillaries and the target cells.

Happy June!!

Where did this week go? What about the month?! Sheesh! Next week is my kids last week of school, so we're in the middle of all of their end of year festivities. Open houses, musical performances, parent meetings, one kid getting ready for middle school, another kid graduating high school, family coming to town -- all on top of our regularly scheduled sports and day-to-day business. If only I didn't have to sleep!

So, I haven't had time for my blogging this week, but I've been conjuring up so many things that I thought I could at least give you a teaser of what's to come!

First~ this weekend, Sunday, June 3rd is the day that my guest post for Tosca Reno's blog goes live! I'm so excited to be a part of the launching of her new book, The Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook. I will be talking about my evolution of becoming a vegetarian and how Tosca's books have played a part in my learning how to be and eat healthy.

Second~ I've really been working to get more involved with my ~HH~ community and the pieces are finally starting to come together. I am going to be hosting my first reviews and giveaways! This means I get to try some great new stuff and share it with some lucky winners! Details coming soon, but in the meantime you can check out who I've teamed up with.

The first review and giveaway will be with The Blender Bottle. I've been seeing these things all over the place and they look so awesome. The hubs and I are always taking our shakes on the go and these revolutionary bottles seem like they would make life so much easier. Check them out and keep your eyes open for the deets!

The next giveaway... well, I think I'll keep you guessing for now, but I assure you it's going to be LOVELY!! Stay tuned!!

I was beating myself up because I only got in three workouts this week, and then I remembered that 3 is better than 0! The thing is, I LOVE my new gym and I just want to be in there every day, but right now our schedule just isn't allowing for it. Cool thing though... we're now able to take our almost 11 year old with us. Today was his first time inside of a gym and he loved it. He's such a super awesome sport and so enthusiastic about being healthy and fit. I mean, can you imagine how your life may have been different if you had learned about health and fitness at such a young age? I'm super proud to have him in there with us, and to have my other kids eager to get in there in the next few years. I think we must be doing something right! :)

Hope you've all had a lovely week and have a great weekend ahead!
As always, thank you for reading, following and supporting~

~Mimi~

I'm a FitFluential Ambassador!

<<---- See that cute pink badge over there? Yep, that's right! I'm now a FitFluential Ambassador and I'm tickled pink about it! ;) This is just one more thing that opens up a myriad of opportunities for me and Heavenly Healthy. 


But what does it mean, you ask? Well, it could be said that I'm sort of an employee, or business-fitness partner with FitFluential, Inc.. Being an Ambassador means that I will have opportunities to work with fitness brands and be invited to take part in exclusive events. It is also an amazing social networking partnership where I will get to meet and connect with others who share the same passion in health and fitness as me.


FitFluential says, "We consider our Ambassadors to be the highest rank in our rapidly growing community of fitness fanatics."


I'm honored and so thrilled to be part of this community and fit-fanatic-family! :)


I'm still learning what this all means to me, but I'm super excited to share yet another fun journey with you all! 


If you want to learn more about FitFluential, just click on that badge and check it out. If you have a great love any realm of fitness whatsoever, I actually recommend that you do! There are many ways for you to get connected and involved.


Thank you for all of your love and support!!


Fitfully yours,
~Mimi~ 

Hollywood Half Heaven!

Wow! I can't believe we did it. I mean, I KNEW Angel would do it, but I really thought I was out of the half marathon game. I imagined sitting on the sidelines cheering on my daughter as she crossed the finish line. With an injured foot half way through my training and a whole month off of the schedule, I really wasn't imagining still being able to make it out there. And then about 2 weeks before the big day, the thought popped into my head, "maybe I still can?!" I had some things on my side... I had just done a mud run with my family and I wasn't a bit sore afterward. I recently cranked up my weight training with the Hubs and two of our friends and I was feeling stronger than I have in a long time. Maybe even stronger than ever!


Could that be the strength I needed to make it through 13.1 miles? Maybe...


Or was it something else that would fuel my fire? Was it the fact that I started something a couple of months ago with my daughter that really meant so much to me? It meant taking on something physically bigger than I ever had. It meant challenging mental and physical limits that I had never touched. It meant strengthening and solidifying new and higher standards that I have set for myself. It meant teaching my daughter a lesson in completion that she might not get now, but she surely will some day. It meant an amazing bonding experience with her before she graduates high school and starts college!

Turns out it was ALL of the above and so much more. Thinking back and looking at pictures, that experience was incredibly priceless. It fills my heart beyond measure. The energy of all of the people around us; the incredible stories that you hear/see from people who are out there for their first (like us) or their 50th time; people that have lost hundreds of pounds and transformed their health; people of all ages, shapes, colors, sizes and personalities.

If they can do it and If *I* can do it - 

then YOU can do it and ANYONE can do it. 

And EVERYONE should do it. 

At least ONCE. 

Big, special thanks and so much love to my daughter for allowing me to drag her through this experience. Thank you, Angel, for sticking with me as long as you did even though I know you could have blown me out of the water from the get-go! ;) 

It wouldn't have been the same without you, my dear! 

I love you so much!! 

And thank you to the crew that put on the Inaugural Hollywood Half Marathon. I know you guys put a lot of hard work into that and had a lot of flack to put up with to the very end.

For me, top to bottom, it was an amazing experience!! :) 

Mud Run Fun!!

Wow, my first mud run was more fun than I imagined! I will definitely be doing that again! 

I never really thought about doing a mud run until one of my girlfriends bought me one for my birthday. As the time approached, it morphed into a family affair and the Hubs and three of our kids were all registered. On the day before the event, our youngest son (6 years old) informed us that he wanted to participate as well (we assumed he wouldn't be into it because he's not a big fan of running or getting dirty). So, we were all in! 

Thankfully, my friend had done this before so we were very prepared.

• The easiest bet is to plan to throw away every single item that you wear. That's what we did.
• The tighter the clothes, the better. Think of jumping in a swimming pool fully clothed. Everything that you're wearing becomes very heavy and weighs you down. Tight shorts and shirt sticks closest to your body without having to worry about losing clothing along the way. 
• Wear higher socks and duct tape your shoes so you don't lose them in the mud pits.
• Bring a change of clothes & shoes.

• Bring a towel per person and plan to shower in the coldest water ever! 
• If you're including the kids, their race will likely be at a different time than yours. Bring water, snacks and sunscreen.
• Bring a camera. You can bring a water proof, disposable one if you want to carry it with you. I preferred just to bring one for before and after. I don't want to have anything else in my hands to bog me down.
• For the utmost fun, bring everyone! Family, friends.. the more the merrier!  And next time, I'm pretty sure we'll have to do a costume theme of some sort. ;)

If you're into fun, adventure and not afraid to get dirty, you MUST put a mud run on your bucket list!! TONS of fun!! :)

One proud mama!!

Words cannot express the burning inspiration, love, and humble pride that my kids have ignited inside of me. Today was SO awesome - our longest run together so far - 3 miles! These kids amaze me beyond words. 


My son had his absolute best run yet - while he's the one that we usually have to push a little more, there was no stopping, no complaining, he just ran straight through! :)


My younger daughter struggled a little more than she usually does, but she never complained or wanted to give up, she just pushed right through. :)


My oldest daughter has to slow down for us because she's so fast, but I'm so thankful that she chooses to hang with us slow pokes! ;)


This has been one of the coolest ways to bond with my kids ever! Not only do we thoroughly enjoy our time together, but we are all encouraging each other to push beyond our mental limits. When one of us thinks about quitting, the others are there to encourage and push us through. We are helping each other realize our capabilities and it is so enlivening. 


I'm not sure if my younger ones understand the full value of what we're doing yet, but I'm confident and proud that this is something that will stick with them through their whole life. The memories, athleticism, physical endurance, mental strength, confidence, character, commitment, and the list goes on... 


When my son said to me a little over a month ago, "Hey Mom, let's do a 5K!" I knew it was going to be amazing, but to what extent I had no idea. The feeling is indescribable. I'm so proud of my babies and I can't wait for the big day this weekend! 


I urge each and every one of you - whatever it is that lights that fire inside of you - go get it and get a LOT of it. Overdose on it. That's the kind of high I desire everyone to feel in their life. 



Thanks for reading and supporting my Heavenly Healthy and insanely HAPPY journey!! :)