UPDATE: 15 days of using this just to get my blood pumping because I do so much work on the computer, and I am pleasantly surprised to find that I have lost a little over 2 pounds! I usually use it for 10 minutes at a time, at least 3 times per day (just before mealtime, usually). I've also notice that my cardio fitness has improved. I don't wear myself out on the trampoline - I just put some Motown music on and bounce to the beat - it doesn't seem like much effort, but apparently, it's enough for overall health improvements in a very short time.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: By the time I was done reading all of the warnings, etc, I must confess, I was scared of severe injury or death and started having doubts about whether I even wanted to try it! I got it so that I could get some low-impact cardio as a way to break up the vast amount of time that I must spend on the computer (my job - but I mostly work from home). Going to the gym is great, but it's a minimum of 2 hours out of my day which is not always reasonable. Going for a walk is also great, but not always feasible (weather, etc). I looked into under-desk cyclers, etc, but I knew my knees would bang the underside of the desk (and it probably wouldn't add much cardio), so I decided to try the trampoline - it was very reasonably priced, and the reviews seemed good. Of course, it arrived on a day that I was home by myself, so I read all of the instructions where it says you must use 2 STRONG people to unfold it. I don't consider myself to be STRONG (they put the word STRONG in all caps - and I definitely don't consider myself STRONG in the all caps sense). In fact, they say you risk death if you try to unfold it by yourself as it could spring back and kill you - so you're supposed to get 2 STRONG people and hope that they trust each other enough that neither lets go while folding it back. I thought at first they might be over-exaggerating about how strong the tension was in the spring, but they weren't kidding - no way was I going to unfold this by myself without risking death...unless, as many of us weaklings discovered long ago, we use something as leverage. I took it outside and placed half of the trampoline under my porch railing - I fully trusted that my porch railing would not give way, and then pushed down on the other half of the trampoline railings until it popped open. It didn't appear completely locked in place, so I gingerly removed it, turned it right side up and pushed down on the rails until it was flat on the ground all the way around. I added the legs and then had fun figuring out how to get the protective coverring on it - the trick to getting that on by yourself is to hook one hole (there are 6 holes in the cover) over one of the leg threads, then screw on the leg to hold it in place. Pull it all the way across to the other side and do the same with that side. Then just work your way around.for each leg - it's actually pretty easy to do by yourself if you do it that way. So, within minutes I had it put together and jumping away! It seems quite sturdy and well-made, I think I will enjoy being able to get in some quick exercises while I'm working :)
Oh, and there's no way I'm undoing it - it will stay open forever as far as I'm concerned...it's low enough to fit under a bed if you need to get it out of the way.
