The first thing my roommates and I decided to cross off our Senior Year Bucket List was going to a trampoline park. One of my roommates ran into one of their posts on Facebook and was convinced that we needed to go. After hoping on Facebook and taking a look at the pictures on their page, we were sold. Their Facebook easily directed us to the site to buy tickets, and before we knew it, we had set the date. Just goes to show how social media can convince us to do crazy things.
We all remembered spending hours on our own trampolines at home when we were younger, so it seemed like it should be just as much fun as adults. (If you don't know what a trampoline park is, think a huge room with trampolines covering the floor and walls, trampoline dodge ball, and foam pits for flipping.) What could go wrong right?
1)Don't do any physical activity before you go. I may have spent hours out on the trampoline as a kid, but times have changed. I was super winded about five minutes in, so you can go ahead and count this as your workout for the day. Otherwise, you won't stand a chance.
2)Wear the right clothes. This seems like a carefree activity but you may want to rethink your outfit before heading out to the trampoline park. You want to wear tight clothing like a workout tank and leggings to make sure everything stays in place while you are jumping and flipping around. The last thing you want is to have to keep adjusting your clothes while jumping.
3)Prepare to wear dorky socks. This may seem like a barefoot activity, but little do you know, they will force you to buy these dorky, neon colored socks to wear while bouncing. They aren't cute but the grips on the bottom of the socks will help you stick to the trampoline making it a safer experience. Be sure to hold on to your socks if you plan on jumping again in the future so you don't have to buy them again!
4)Don't pay for more than an hour. An hour may not seem like a long time, but I can guarantee, you will be completely exhausted after one hour of jumping. Paying for more than one hour will be a waste of money because you will either leave before you get to use it or you will spend it panting on the floor.
5) Prepare to hang out with kids who are maybe 8 plus years younger than yourself. Just like I loved to jump on my trampoline as a child, so do kids today. So don't be surprised to find yourself jumping side by side with someone half your size. Even if you go to the extended "Rush Prime" hours where only kids 13 and up can jump, there can still be quite the age difference. So try not to squash any one else.
6)Remember that you probably shouldn't throw all your old tricks. I use to throw some pretty crazy stuff on my trampoline as a kid. But after I did three back flips in a row, I had to lay on my back for a few minutes before the room stopped spinning. Yes we're young, but were also not 10 anymore.
7)Prepare to drown in the foam pit. It seems like the tiring part of this whole activity would be the jumping. But the real battle begins when you throw yourself head first into a deep foam pit. The long journey out of foam pit, that seems to suck you deeper every time you make an effort to get out, is a long and tiring one. You'll think twice before jumping in again.
8)It's not a matter of IF but WHEN you get hit in the face with a dodge ball. If you are daring enough to get in on a game of trampoline dodge ball, you will 100% get nailed by a speeding dodge ball. Those thirteen year-olds are ruthless and are stronger than they look.
9)You will be SORE afterwards. You probably get the point by now, but these trampoline parks are no joke. Don't expect to do any vigorous physical activity the day after you go trampolining because you will be too sore to do so.
10)You'll want to go back for more (after you recover of course). There's nothing quite like a trampoline park to make you feel like a kid again. Though we left sweaty and with aching muscles, we also left with happy hearts and full of new, hilarious memories. Needless to say, we will be back!