Save the Sofa - Buy a Trampoline

A popular game for children is to use the sofa and arm chairs to bounce on, from one to another, trying to escape the imaginary lava from the boiling volcano or crocodiles in the deadly jungle river.  Why not get them a trampoline which will be far more bouncy, get them outside in the fresh air and save your sofa’s springs?

Trampolines have a poor image with some people owing to the reputation they have for children hurting themselves when using them.  This is unfortunate as when a trampoline is used correctly it can provide hours of fun and exercise for children, their families and their friends.   All play involves some risks like cycling on a bike or climbing a tree, even playing football or running down the pavement.  Learning to understand risk is part of growing up.  The trampoline also offers a very valuable source of exercise for children when play outside of the boundaries of the family home if often restricted.

Follow some simple rules to play safely on your trampoline

I was asked recently to give some simple rules that we recommend people follow when using our garden trampolines.  All our trampolines come with full safety instructions and we recommend parents read these before the trampoline gets used for the first time.  We suggest parents then discuss the safety instructions with their children and, if necessary, attach the safety sheet to the outside of the trampoline for all users to read.

It is then down to the parents and the children to ensure the rules are adhered to. Safety is everyones responsibility and understanding the risks involved is vital.  We also recommend taking classes at your local trampoline club as this is a great way to improve your skills on a trampoline.

Five Rules for Trampoline Safety

My turn! One person at a time – at all times. 75% of all injuries occur when more than one person is on the trampoline

No summersaults or complicated moves you aren’t trained for. We suggest you join a gymnastics club to practice these skills

Trampoline should not be used if it is damaged in any way, for instance the netting is ripped or the padding covering the springs is missing.  We supply all the replacement parts for our trampolines (and most other makes too) and our Trampo-line team can give advice on what you need.

Never go underneath a trampoline when someone is using it. Fit a safety skirt if necessary to stop children and animals going under the trampoline when it is in use. We supply a range of trampoline skirt sizes to fit round trampolines.

Never jump off a trampoline. You could hurt yourself by jumping off the trampoline on to the ground.  To get off stop bouncing, then climb down using a trampoline ladder that is secure.

We believe that if you follow these rules your risk of injury when using a trampoline will be significantly reduced.  All that’s needed is a little common sense for hours and hours of safe fun and exercise!

Easter Bunnies bouncing on their Atlantic Trampoline

The Easter bunnies love playing on their Atlantic Trampoline but even bouncing bunnies need a safety enclosure to stop them falling off.

Ikea Product Recall

We liked the humour in this Ikea Recall Notice issued on 1st April. I wonder how many people will actually take their assembly tools back to the store to swop them for the right handed version?

These guys make some great videos of their trampoline tricks.  They make it look so easy too.  Still snow on the ground in Sweden I see. Thanks boys.

iTrampoline

iTrampoline is the world’s first iPhone application designed for use on a trampoline.  It has been developed by Atlantic Trampolines, the UK’s leading garden trampoline supplier.  iTrampoline makes use of the ingenious accelerometer technology incorporated within an iPhone which enables the app to count the number of bounces the user makes.   The app also calculates the height of each bounce and shows the cumulative height of each trampoline session either as a total height in meters or against a famous landmark ranging from a London Bus (5m) toMachu Pichhu (2,430m).  The app will also show the calories used up in a trampoline session either as a total number of calories or by comparison with a popular food, for instance against a slice of pizza at 140 calories.

Counters Screen

The app is available to download free from the iTunes store to any iPhone, iTouch or iPad by searching the store for “iTrampoline”.  It is designed to be used on a trampoline and only the trampoline bounce motion will make it count bounces properly.  You can hold the iPhone in your hand as you bounce but your risk damaging the phone.  If you try to do it this way then hold your arms by your side as you bounce so you don’t confuse the bounce counter by the movement of your arms.  Alternatively, get one of our sports armbands to keep the iPhone attached to your upper arm as you exercise.

There are five  iTrampoline screens:

Target – the target screen scrolls and will allow you to pick either a landmark, for height achievement, or a food type, for calorie achievement.  There are 14 landmarks to choose from and 12 food types. Once a choice is made the screen automatically reverts to the progress screen.

Settings – for accurate calorie counting you need to enter your weight which can be done either in metric of imperial weights.

iTrampoline Progress Screen

Progress – for the choice of landmark or food type the progress screen shows the chosen target and the blue bar on the right hand side indicates the achievement so far.  Once the target has been bounced successfully the counter increases by one on each occasion.

Counters – the counters screen is an alternative to the progress screen and indicates the time the session has taken aswell as the calories, height in meters and total number of bounces.  To pause the session tap “stop” then tap “start” to restart.  Simply tap “reset” to clear the screen and then “yes”.

Contact – the contact screen makes it easy for you to contact us either by email or phone.  It also provides a simple route to access our website

If you download the app please write a review on the app store as it really helps us to find out what the app users like about it and any ideas you have of how we can develop it further.  We have lots of ideas to incorporate in version 2 but we’d like to hear yours too.

For more information follow the link to iTrampoline on our web site.

iPhone App presentation

iTrampoline App

The Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories (1928) by Joyce Lankester Brisley opens with the following verse:

It’s good to be sitting still,
And it’s good to be running wild,
And it’s good to be by yourself alone
Or with another child.

And whether the child’s grown up,
Or whether the child is small,
So long as it really is a Child
It doesn’t matter at all.

A trampoline lets you be a child again whether you are big, or small.

Competitive trampolining is difficult enough without the added skill of having to copy your co-competitor. This video was taken at the Synchronized Trampoline World Championships in 2010. Remarkable to watch! We suggest you don’t try to copy this at home though, even if you do have two trampolines.