Bounce to fitness - Wolverhampton personal trainer opens bungee fit studio

It’s the latest exercise craze to sweep the country and involves participants being attached to a bungee rope by a harness.

The elastic nature of the rope means that there is very little impact through the joints, making it an ideal way to keep fit if you have joint problems, sciatica, arthritis, or are recovering from injury.

Personal trainer Nikkie Smith, who lives in Wolverhampton, is hoping people will jump for joy when they try out this fun, aerobic workout for the first time. She has opened her own studio, Nikkie-Jay’s Bungee Fit, in Blakenhall, offering classes for beginners and improvers.

Bungee fitness is said to have originated at Bangkok’s Stories to Tales Theatre in Thailand around five years ago. In 2017, Tough Lotus in Arizona became one of the first studios to bring it to the United States and since then it has grown in popularity around the globe.

Fitness fanatics in the UK have been trying out the new style of workout and spreading the word about the benefits it can offer participants.

Nikki, who trained as a personal trainer two years ago, had been looking for a new workout to try when she discovered bungee fitness.

“I trained as a personal trainer after spending 12 years travelling. I moved abroad when I was 16 and it was only supposed to be for six months but I enjoyed so much that I kept on travelling. When I was living in Spain, I started working on my own fitness and people would see me using the gym by the beach and ask me if I could train them as well.

“I decided to train myself properly and returned to the UK and qualified as a PT instructor, and started up my own studio.

“I found out about bungee fit because I was looking for a new form of exercise that not many people knew about in the UK and wasn’t available in our area. I wanted something that anybody, of any age, could do and that was fun as well. I found bungee fit. There is only a handful of bungee fit studios in the UK.

“I travelled to the nearest bungee fit studio to me in Nottingham, and took private lessons to qualify as an aerial bungee instructor, passing my exams first time,” explains the 39-year-old.

Participants wear a harness and are attached to a bungee cord. Nikkie then takes them through different movements and exercises that will work their entire body while being kind to the joints.

“It’s very low impact because the bungee is taking most of the weight. People who would normally struggle to do exercises like press-ups and squats can do them much more easily. They can do a lot more than they would normally do and can build upper body strength, leg strength, and core body strength, with reduced impact on joints and ligaments.

“One of the other benefits is that it builds up your stamina and physical resilience. It raises your metabolism and burns a large amount of calories, helping you lose weight, become fitter and stronger, and improves your coordination,” explains Nikkie.

The exercises are progressive and regressive, so participants can perform more difficult versions of the same exercise if they find it too easy, and vice versa. Another big plus of the workout is that people find it very enjoyable and look forward to classes, Nikkie tells Weekend.

“Some people go to the gym because they absolutely love it and some go because they have to. People really love bungee because it’s fun and it doesn’t feel like exercise. That means they will keep going. There is no pressure on them or competitiveness, they can exercise at their own pace,” she explains.

Providing a welcoming environment is important to Nikkie and she says people will never feel rushed at the end of a workout, enabling them to have a chat and make new friends.

Nikkie’s studio, located on Sedgley Street, was officially opened by the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Greg Brackenridge last month.

At the event she ran 15-minute taster sessions so visitors could try out the workout for the first time. Nikkie runs classes, which are an hour and 15 minutes long, at 4.45pm, 6.15pm and 7.45pm Monday to Friday and at 8.45am, 10.15am and 11.45am on Saturdays. She also offers private lessons. “I’m really enjoying training people and they are having a lot of fun. Everybody who has tried a class, has booked to come back for more. I think bungee fit is great because it’s for everybody, all ages and abilities, and all levels of fitness, and it has lots of benefits,” says Nikkie.

For more information see nikkiejaysbungeefit.co.uk or email nikkiejaybungeefit@gmail.com