What if I told you that for 10 minutes a day, and a piece of equipment that usually costs under $30 from eBay, you could improve your posture, increase your muscle tone, enhance your timing, sharpen your vision, improve your coordination, improve your balance, and elevate your energy levels?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this exercise is another one of those 'miracle' exercises that will solve all your health, well being and the world's problems. But, for such little effort applied on a consistent basis, it can add so many benefits to your life and your fat loss goals.

This little piece of equipment is called a rebounder, or more commonly known as an exercise trampoline. It's those little trampolines you always see those aerobics instructors using. It's a small, low to the ground, circular trampoline, many of which can be folded away for ease of storage and convenience.

All you're required to do, is get on the trampoline and bounce! Yes, that's all!

Like anything, there are certain things you can do to maximise the results to your body. While you are bouncing, make sure you do your best keep your toes planted on the rebounder so that only your heals and 75% of the bottom of your foot is leaving the rebounder - this will give you the best results.

Benefits of Rebounding correctly

Ok, so how does bouncing up and down on a trampoline for a 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at night help me?

The simple answer is gravity. You are working with and against the earth's gravity to give the cells in your body a 'workout'.

When you are at the top of your bounce, for a fraction of a second you experience weightlessness. When you're at the bottom of your bounce, you experience a gravitational pull twice what you're used to. Now all of the sudden the cells in your body are put under pressure. This squeezes out the waste materials in your cells and delivers it to your lymphatic system.

For simplicity, look at the lymphatic system as the piping system in your body that helps carry waste from your cells to places in your body where it can get rid of it, like your urinary tract.

Further, when you're rebounding, you're saturating your cells with oxygen. This enables your cells to convert more glucose in your cells to ATP and also into glycogen. This translates to more energy throughout the day and more energy during your workouts.

Consistent rebounding will actually train your body to store more glycogen and have it released when you need it for a sudden burst of energy. So next time you go on that run, or train with those weights, don't be surprised if your reps start to become easier! You'll be pushing yourself further, burning more calories, increasing your metabolism and you'll be straining a lot less.

Research has also shown that rebounding may help rid your body of toxins, cancer cells, wastes, trapped protein, bacteria, viruses, and other waste cells in addition to all of the benefits already mentioned. Namely; improved posture, better muscle tone, improve timing, sharper vision, improve co-ordination, improved balance, and elevate energy levels.

It is a good idea to do the cleansing breath, which you can read about in "Deep Breathing Exercises", while rebounding a great start to the day, and a great way to finish off the night before going to bed.

The best thing about rebounding is you can easily do it in front of the TV. You don't need to find an extra amount of time, just do it during your TV time, or while you are talking on the phone.

What about if you don't have a rebounder? The next best thing is to bounce up and down on your feet, lifting 75% of your leg up, making sure to keep your toes planted on the floor. It's not as effective but still does the trick.

All of this advice is of course assuming that these 'alternative' exercise tips should supplement a full exercise program for controlled, long lasting weight loss.

You might be wondering how you can get access to an exercise program that works for you. I recommend two programs:

Tom Venuto's "Burn The Fat" ebook is the first recommendation because apart from containing a great section on exercise (he's a natural bodybuilder and personal trainer), he also has the best overall book on weight loss - from the many I've reviewed.

If you're only interested in the exercise section, then I believe Craig Ballantyne's "Turbulence Training" is best for you. His nutrition package may not be as comprehensive as Tom's book, but his exercise section is just killer. It is the best one I've seen that's targeted for weight loss. He even covers bodyweight exercises in his course (which is using your own bodyweight to simulate weight training without the weights).