Why we jump

“Once you stop jumping, you start dying” 

This is a phrase that I remember hearing that has always stuck with me. Now while it may sound a little dramatic, I feel it perfectly captures an important part of our philosophy here at Rise. 

At Rise, we believe in training the body’s ability to produce power: the ability to produce force quickly. As we age, this ability naturally declines and research suggests that power can decline earlier and quicker than muscular strength. To combat this, we can intentionally train this ability and maintain, if not improve, one’s power. One of the simplest ways to do this is through jumping. 

Why train power?

When most people think about resistance training, they often focus on building muscle and getting stronger. While these are valuable goals, people often forget about how quickly they can use their strength.

Think about the difference between picking yourself off the floor and quickly catching yourself when you lose your balance. Both scenarios require strength, but the second situation demands that you produce force quickly. Wink wink…that’s power!

Maintaining power as we age helps to preserve the physical capabilities that we take for granted every day. Climbing stairs, playing with our kids or grandkids, or reacting to sudden movements without falling, all play an important role in how we live our lives. 

Our goal isn’t to simply be stronger, it is to remain confident and independent for a long as possible.

Why jump?

While we try our best to apply everything we do at Rise to everyday life, some exercises that are performed in the gym are completely new to our members. However, I can almost guarantee that everyone who has joined Rise has at some point in their life jumped. 

Jumping is a natural movement. It gives us a familiar and practical way to train power, while also challenging our coordination and ability to absorb force when landing. It helps us train our capability to control our bodies through movement. It also offers additional benefits such as maintaining or improving bone health, and our muscles and tendons strength and function. 

You don't have to jump high to reap benefits

A common misconception surrounding jumping is that it’s only about how high someone can jump. However, jumping doesn’t have to be extreme in order to be useful. 

Depending on one’s ability or health, jumping may need to be modified or even temporarily avoided due to pain, injury, or other health concerns. Some of these modifications can take place in the form of calf raises, explosive throwdowns, or small light pogo hops. Once someone is ready to progress, we can then move them onto more challenging variations. 

It’s important to us that we meet our members where they are and challenge them appropriately. The goal is to help everyone maintain and improve upon the physical abilities that matter to them and are essential to their wellbeing.

Training for life

Aging is inevitable, but losing our physical ability to do the things we love doesn’t have to be. 

At Rise, we believe that training should help you continue to enjoy the activities, and experiences that make life meaningful. That means building strength, maintaining mobility, improving cardiovascular endurance, developing balance, and you guessed it…preserving the ability to produce power. 

Don’t just train your body for today, train it for the life you want to live for decades to come.