Though my favorite way to exercise is to go for a walk on a beautiful day, beautiful days can’t always be arranged. In reality, I end up doing most of my exercise inside, at home, because getting into my car to drive somewhere to exercise means I just won’t do it. I need convenience and simplicity.
When we moved across the country last year, we had to leave behind our nice treadmill because it wouldn’t fit in the moving truck. So, for the past year, I haven’t had an easy, go-to, no-brainer aerobic exercise that I could do inside the house, one where it was easy to listen to music, a podcast, an audiobook, or even to watch a show or movie. And I’ve felt the lack. I’ve tried to make do with exercise games on the Switch or yoga videos, but sometimes I just want to immerse myself in some media, get my heart rate up, and not have to follow along with someone else’s instructions.
I’d read about the benefits of mini trampolines/rebounders recently, and have seen how they’ve come back into vogue. I had a mini trampoline back in the 1990s, but I found I didn’t use it enough, and I got rid of it when I had little ones with tiny fingers that could be hurt by the springs. My little ones are grown now, but I still appreciate how mini trampolines today have more safety-oriented bungee options instead of springs, especially since the firmness of the bounce can be changed by swapping out different bungee tensions.
So I was pretty excited when I recently got to try out a FED Fitness BT4 Bungee Trampoline/Rebounder, which was sent to me for the purposes of this honest review.
Out of the Box
The box that the rebounder came in was quite big, since the main part is 40 inches in diameter. You have to assemble it the rest of the way, though, putting on the legs/feet and the handlebar. All of the elements were well packed, with foam protecting the edges and all of the sharp bits.
In addition to the rebounder itself and a set of firmer bungees, this set comes with a few bonus features, such as two pairs of no-slip socks and a pouch to keep them in, as well as a phone holder that you can optionally attach to the handlebar. There is also a well-done user manual that tells you how to assemble the rebounder, change out the bungees, decide which combination of bungees to use, etc. The set includes all the bolts, nuts, and washers, plus an excellent hex wrench and a tiny regular wrench, that you’ll need to assemble the rebounder. It also includes the two tools you’ll need to change out the bungees: a hook to help you remove them, and a strange long wire shape to (very expertly) help you put bungees back on. It comes with so many tools and extra bungees that you’ll need to keep track of after assembly that I wish it came with a pouch to contain them all, but most of us have something sitting around that we can use for that purpose.
Tip: I highly recommend taking a photo of the tool set before opening it, as the labels get all torn up when you try to remove the paper backing from the plastic front.
The assembly instructions are quite clear, but there are also QR codes to access assembly videos and also to contact the company, if you need any help or are missing any parts. It feels like they thought of everything with this set.
For safety, they do tell you to inspect the pre-assembled rebounder to ensure that the bungees are lined up safely (with the metal clip in the right place), with clear instructions so if you change them out it’s easy to know if you’ve done it correctly.
The six legs are higher than the ones were on my old traditional spring mini trampoline, which surprised me at first, but it later made sense with how much bounce you experience. I’ve seen some brands have legs that curve out wider than the main circular frame, for stability purposes, but these go straight down. The legs do have rubber feet, however, which hold fast to the wood floor I have the rebounder on.
The handlebar has padded handles, which is nice. It also has a leg that goes all the way to the floor, giving the whole thing added stability, so any force you push down with on the handlebars is transferred to the floor and not the rebounder. Since the handlebar is adjustable to different heights (26″ to 36″), it does wobble a bit at the adjustment point, but it’s still pretty sturdy.
Setting Up Your Bungees
The rebounder comes already set up with all black bungees, which are the softer, bouncier type. Depending on your personal preference and your weight, you may want to swap some number of black ones for green ones, which are more rigid and provide less bounce. The set includes two spare black bungees, plus two spare green bungees over and above the maximum green bungees recommended for setup.
Tip: If you think you’ll want to change out any of the bungees, consider doing this before putting on the legs and handlebar, as some of the bungee locations straddle the leg spots.
Issue: The user manual illustration has you installing or swapping out bungees with the rebounder upside down, but once you install the handlebar leg, you can’t easily turn it upside down, except on the edge of a bed or table. And, since you might want to swap out bungees semi-regularly due to weight loss/gain or stiffness preference, that’s an issue for me.
I didn’t notice that I’d have to make bungee changes until I’d already assembled the whole thing, so I had to be creative. It doesn’t help that the pages in the user manual relating to changing out the bungees comes after the full assembly instructions, so:
Tip: Read the entire user manual before beginning assembly. And then set aside at least an hour if not two hours to get it set up to your liking. It may not take you that long, however, depending on whether you’ve done this kind of thing before.
When you turn the rebounder over to swap out some bungees, there are four clearly marked spots, akin to the four cardinal directions, to make it easier for you to evenly distribute your bungee combinations.
Changing out the bungees is no small feat, so you’re not going to want to do it very often. Especially any around the feet. Once you do your first couple of swaps, though, it does get easier, but there are a lot of them, so it isn’t very quick. The bungee that’s around the handlebar leg is very hard to swap out, though, especially if it’s green, unless you dismantle the thing, and doing that frequently would eventually loosen the whole thing up too much, which could be a safety issue down the line.
The user guide has a handy chart for choosing which bungee combination to set the rebounder up with. It recommended 20 black and 16 green bungees for a “normal bounce” for my weight range. Just for comparison sake, I tried a few jumps with all black bungees, and it definitely was far too squishy for comfort or safety. So, I swapped out the recommended 16 of the black for green, evenly distributing them around the circle.
But that was still far too squishy for my taste. So I tried some more green bungees, and it was still too squishy. So, I went to the maximum number of green bungees, going firmer than the maximum recommended for my weight range (all the way to “extra strong”). It’s still a little squishy for my taste, but it’s mostly there. Honestly, I could see using all green bungees for my needs, but I’d have to buy extra green bungees to make that happen.
Which may be something I can do in the future, since the manual suggests that both the bungees and the jumping surface are only supposed to last 6-12 months, which was surprising and a bit disheartening to me. You’re supposed to contact their support team if you need replacements, but it’s unclear how much they will cost.
Some people have chosen to own more than one rebounder, with different combinations of bungees for different tensions, either for different family members or different kinds of exercise. I tend to be a “set it and forget it” type of person, and I’m the only one in my house using it, so I’ve just set it to the best arrangement that I can manage with what was provided.
You can see more about assembly and the user manual on their website.
First Impressions
The first thing I noticed when jumping on the FED Fitness BT4 Bungee Trampoline was how quiet it was. I was used to my old spring mini trampoline, which produced the high-pitched scritchy-scritchy sound every time you jumped on it. It wasn’t loud, per se, but it was significant and grating. The only noise I heard when jumping on this rebounder was the crackling of my 50-something-year-old knees.
The next thing I noticed was how the mesh that you jump on seemed to stretch, ever so slightly. It’s thinner and a bit more flexible than the mesh I had on my old mini trampoline, which could definitely become an issue at some point, and probably why they say it wears out in 6-12 months. I wish it were thicker and stiffer, but perhaps a thicker version is available as a replacement somewhere.
I also noticed that I prefer to jump barefooted. They include the two pairs of grippy socks, but I have an aversion to grippy socks and don’t like to wear shoes on trampolines. So, bare feet it is for me. For you, please use the footwear that you can exercise in most safely.
I started watching some beginner rebounder videos, and found one lady who had all green bungees on her same rebounder, though she looks a little smaller than I am. And yet there was still plenty of bounce as she did her routine.
Speaking of bounce, for anyone with boobs of any significant size, a well-fitting exercise bra is an absolute must, for both comfort, and ease and efficiency of movement.
In terms of a workout, if you haven’t been jumping on trampolines recently, you’ll notice your calves start burning pretty quickly. But, by mixing up the movements you do, and starting with shorter workouts, you quickly build up some tolerance to the new forces on your leg muscles. But overall, especially once you’ve done it a few times and have gotten your legs accustomed to the movements, jumping and bouncing on the rebounder is a surprisingly good workout. My heart rate gets up into the aerobic zone without much effort, and I can maintain that level of activity for longer than I can on solid ground. Which leads me to:
One thing I observed is that you might feel like you can keep going for a really long time, but instead you stop and get off and then you can hardly move. Almost like how it feels when you get out of a swimming pool, once you no longer have the support and upward buoying force of water (or bungees in this case). You’ll eventually get a feel for when to stop your workout and still be able to manage the rest of your day.
The handlebar is really helpful for balance. I usually don’t hold onto it while exercising, but I do grab it periodically when my balance is a little off or I need to yawn or something. It is in the way for some types of movements, but it’s better overall to have for safety, especially while you’re building strength and balance. I could see removing it at some point, though, for ease of movement and ease of storage, since it’s unwieldy to store with the handlebar on. But, for now, it’s very helpful for me.
After One Week
After a week of doing rebounding exercises, 10 to 20 minutes’ worth most days, I felt more confident about being in control of my bouncing and I felt stronger. Despite my not-great knees and ankles, I didn’t have any injuries or pain. I could exercise longer and more vigorously than when I began. And, I had fun while doing it.
After Two Weeks
After a couple of weeks of regular exercise, I did notice that my stamina was improving and my ability to exercise vigorously increased. I could do longer workouts, stronger and higher bouncing, and even jumping jacks with ease.
Some of the guided workouts I did had music to bounce to, but I did find that you’re a bit restricted in how fast of a beat you can bounce to, based on the rebounder tension, your own weight, and even chosen footwear or lack thereof, because of how far down you bounce and how long it takes to redirect your body’s center of gravity. You can’t always rebound to the beat without hurting your knees. So choose your music or workout videos accordingly.
Conclusion
I am very happy having the FED Fitness BT4 Bungee Trampoline/Rebounder in my toolbox of exercise options. My body seems to enjoy jumping and bouncing up and down, and I’ve felt the benefits already, feeling better overall and feeling more fit. I find myself turning to it, as I’d hoped, as an easy “I don’t have to think about it” exercise choice. I can bounce on it to a guided exercise video, I can put on a playlist, or I can even lose myself in an audiobook. I find it a fun and enjoyable way to exercise, though I do need to supplement with some arm exercises, as my arms don’t get much of a workout on a rebounder.
I do wish I could set it to a higher tension than the included bungee options allow, and that the mesh you jump on were thicker and stronger, but all in all, for the $299.99 price and the fact that it’s an easy thing to use daily (and I do actually use it), it’s a good value in my opinion.
Note: I received a rebounder for review purposes.
