Now that trampolines seem to have become like modern-day gnomes, happily nestling into all the nation’s best gardens, we thought it right that you knew a thing or two about them. Like where did they come from, what do they do to you and all that kind of stuff. So here goes with our definitive guide:

Trampoline seems to come from the Spanish word ‘El Trampolin’ which means diving board. Not surprising really as the guy who invented it was a diving competitor! To this day trampolines are used in training divers, as well as cross-country skiiers, wake boarders, gymnasts, astronauts and pilots.

George Nissen was the American responsible for inventing the trampoline in 1936. He was inspired by watching trapeze artists using safety nets and thought he could make something similar to help with his diving and gymnastics training. He and his gym coach Larry Griswold went on to form their own company selling the ‘rebounders’, as they were first called, and putting on acrobatic displays to help market the product.

Trampolining took off quickly in the United States as it was used by the US military in training its pilots. Many clubs developed and the sport was then spread to Russia and Europe. In 1959 the British gymnastics body organised its first national championships. Today there are more than 400 trampolining clubs across the UK. Competitive trampolining uses a bed which is a14ft x 7ft rectangle and each routine includes 10 contacts with the bed with a maximum bounce height of 10 metres.

Yes, the last five years have seen an explosion in home use of trampolines in the UK with some retailers recording year on year growth of more than 300 per cent. Celebrity endorsements have come from a range of stars, including rap star P. Diddy, Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest men, actress Reese Witherspoon and even three-year-old Suri Cruise who is taking lessons. Variants of the sport include Slamball which is basketball with trampolines and Bossaball which is the same idea with volleyball.

Yes, it was one of George Nissen’s goal to make it an Olympic sport and therefore fitting that he was there – aged 86 – for the first Olympic trampolining at Sydney, 2000. Both male and female gold medals went to China, which is one of the new powerhouses in the sport, but for London 2012 all eyes will be on British hopeful Laura Gallagher. 21-year-old Laura from Somerset was the under 19s world champion in 2007.

That depends on who you listen to! Some paediatricians think they should be banned due to the large number of accidents which they cause. However, Peter Cornall, head of leisure safety for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) says: ‘The boom in trampolining has almost certainly led to an increase in accidents, but that does not mean parents should not buy trampolines for children.’ Safe use is what it’s all about and since around 75% of accidents happen when there’s more than one person on the trampoline, the general rule is that one is best. Also, it’s common sense but make sure the trampoline you buy is designed for the age and size of people who use it. Under 6s are most at risk, so always supervise and if in doubt take your child to lessons.

Yes, according to NASA, who have described it as the ’most efficient and effective exercise yet devised by man‘. Celebrity devotees include Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Posh Spice and if you are looking for the latest DVD then you can get bouncing with ‘juice master’ Jason Vale‘s latest DVD, available on Amazon at £14.90. Did you know that a 20 minute session is all you need? In summary, rebounding is more effective than sit-ups at strengthening your stomach muscles; it is the best low-impact exercise besides swimming and burns an impressive 200 calories an hour!

Welsh-born rocker Julian Cope released a hit single called Trampoline in 1987. There are three albums called Trampoline, by bands The Mavericks, Steel Train and The Confusions. The original version of the film ‘Bedazzled’ featured a snippet of trampolining and more recently the American children’s TV show iCarly showed Carly and friends trampolining in the lounge. And then of course there’s Youtube – a rich vein of trampolining exploits featuring both humans and animals! Historically, there are many accounts of people attempting to defy gravity with trampoline-like contraptions for one reason or another. The Inuit Eskimos have for generations used a blanket of bearded seal skins to throw dancers into the air at their thanksgiving celebrations; in European plays and novels the mob seem to have enjoyed throwing victims skyward in a taught blanket; and the Native Americans used a walrus skin for spotting wildlife on the horizon.

Yes, in 1999 Dominic Swaffer of London performed 84 twisted somersaults in a minute. The furthest forward flip trampoline slam-dunk (that is bouncing off a trampoline, doing a forward somersault and then dunking a basketball through a hoop) of 5.2 metres was achieved by Willy Martinon of France in 2007 and most recently in March 2010, 14 year old Jordan Ramos from Sheffield achieved the furthest slam-dunk of 7.15 metres. Wow!

Yes, trampoline is a computing term – associated with moving to different code paths; it’s a boating term – relating to the material used to tension the hulls of catamarans; and finally Trampoline was a famous thoroughbred racehorse, who in 1831 foaled Glencoe, described at the time as ‘the best horse in the world.’