Barlates: Bounce Total Body

Bounce Total Body is a series of 4 rebounder workouts from Linda @ Barlates. Unlike many of Linda’s other workouts, these are not available for free on YouTube. You can purchase the DVD that contains all 4 workouts, which is what I did, or you can purchase the individual workouts via download from Linda’s website. Despite the title of this DVD collection, all of the workouts are not total body workouts. Cardio Mat is lower body, Cardio Barre is primarily lower body with some arm and shoulder work, Cardio Band is total body and Cardio Pilates is works your arms, lower body and core. They are all cardio + strength workouts. Each of these workouts are broken down and reviewed below. I loved 3 of the workouts but did not care for Cardio Barre. Since doing Cardio Barre, I have upgraded to a Bellicon rebounder. I plan to try Cardio Barre again sometime in the future to see if I like it more using a higher end rebounder. I will update the review if that changes my opinion.

**01/07/21 Update: I have returned to several of these workouts now with my Bellicon and new, stronger bungees, and I have to say, the rebounder makes all of the difference. Cardio Band was as excellent as ever and I still love it. I liked Cardio Barre a lot more on a Bellicon with extra strong bungees. I got an awesome and intense workout but it was not nearly as awkward. It was still an advanced and exhausting workout. That didn’t change, but the strength of my bungees and the quality of my rebounder made everything less awkward. I also do rebounder workouts where you are on the rebounder the entire workout without shoes and I think that makes a difference, too. I have found that shoes tend to make rebounder workouts more awkward.***

Cardio Mat is 65 minutes; 5 minute warm up and 4:30 minute stretch. Here is a trailer for this workout. The only equipment needed is the rebounder. This is a cardio + lower body strength workout. The strength is all bodyweight mat based exercises but they are done on the rebounder which gives the legs a far greater range of motion than when the exercises are done on a mat. And wow–did I feel the difference. The lower body mat work was excruciating at times. It is also high rep, which mat work traditionally is, and I was definitely fighting to eke out those final reps of many of the exercises. The cardio on the other hand was fun. It was all basic easy to do but effective cardio moves–athletic drills, old school cardio moves and boxing. All while bouncing on your rebounder. Overall I got an excellent cardio + lower body workout. Normally I am all about form when exercising and I worked really hard to perform all of the exercises properly including boxing punches. However, executing perfect punches while bouncing on a rebounder is a game changer. My punching form was hideous and all over the place.

1. Cardio: butt kick runs; changes to high knee runs; changes to double hops side to side; hopping hip twists; keep repeating all of these cardio moves first for 8 reps each move then for 4 reps each move then for 2 reps each move (all of these cardio moves are done with various arm movements)
2. Intensity Burst: fast butt kick runs, pulling arms down from overhead; changes to fast high knees while crossing straight arms in front of you and straight out to sides
3. Kneeling squats (kneel on rebounder with knees wide and toes together, lower glutes to heels then straighten body pressing hips forward, fingertips are together with elbows out to side when squatting, open arms out straight to side in T when pressing hips forward)
4. Still kneeling on rebounder with knees wide and toes together, remain straight from knees to shoulders and do fast hip tucks
5. Still kneeling on rebounder with legs/knees together, lower glutes to heels and when you raise, tuck hips forward and to the side, alternate sides
6. On rebounder, lower onto one hip, bottom knee bent and leaning on bottom elbow, raise and lower top straight leg; bring top knee into chest then press foot out straight to side; extend straight leg in front of you but on a diagonal, raise and lower straight leg in this position; bring knee into chest and push foot out in front of you but on a diagonal; extend top straight leg behind you, raise and lower in this position; bring knee in front of you then push foot behind you
7. Repeat #6 on other leg
8. Cardio: hop with knee raise, alternate knees; changes to knee raise, tap foot behind other foot then knee raise again (hopping the entire time), alternate legs; changes to knee raise then tap foot in front of other foot then knee raise again (hopping the entire time), alternate legs; changes to hop skips; changes to hop skips kicking legs out to side; changes to jumping jacks; repeat everything, decreasing the reps like you did in #1
9. Intensity Burst: fast hop skips; changes to fast jumping jacks
10. Get onto all 4s on rebounder, extend one leg straight behind you, raise and lower straight leg
11. In straight arm plank with hands on rebounder and feet on floor, bring one knee to same side elbow on outside of body then press leg straight behind you
12. Get onto all 4s on rebounder again, with knee bent, press one foot up to ceiling then extend the leg straight behind you, bend the leg again and lower knee
13. Repeat #10-12 on other leg
14. Cardio: alternating front punches with hops to change leads; changes to single arm punches to side (with hops); punch low then high to side (with squat hops); changes to jumping jacks; alternating upper cuts (with hops side to side); changes to alternating hook punches (with hops side to side); repeat upper cuts and hooks only, decreasing the reps like you did in #1 & 8; single arm speed bags (while hopping); changes to double arm speed bag (while hopping)

Cardio Barre is 58 minutes; there is a warm up but I am not sure when it ends and the workout begins, however the first 40 seconds is intro and the next 2 minutes is low prancing then hopping, the break down starts when the workout gets more aerobic. The cool down/stretch is 4 minutes. Here is a trailer for this workout. Equipment: rebounder, light dumbbells (Linda is using 1kg or 2 pounds) and something to hold onto. Linda is using a barre. She says you can have a chair with a high back close to the rebounder to use. My rebounder has a bar on it, so that’s what I used. This was a very tough workout. Very tough. For several reasons. First, this is Linda and she just creates brutal barre workouts but in addition, I found a lot of the moves in this workout awkward to perform. I won’t lie. I got an excellent and exhausting workout but I just found so many of these moves awkward that I doubt I will return to this workout. It is primarily a cardio + lower body workout but the use of light hand weights gives your arms and shoulders some work, too. ***01/07/21 UPDATE: I have returned to this workout now that I have a Bellicon rebounder with extra strong bungees and it made a world of difference. This is still an advanced and very challenging workout but it was far less awkward with a high end rebounder with extra strong bungees. I enjoyed it a lot more.***

1. Hops with alternating front kicks, raise and lower arms overhead; continue the kicks but on an angle out to side; continue kicks but out to sides of body; continue kicks but kick legs behind you
2. Twist hips side to side with arms moving in opposition
3. (barre or chair should be beside rebounder) Hold onto barre with one hand and hop while also kicking outside leg straight in front of you
4. A sort of rocking horse hop, lifting outside knee in front of you and lifting inside leg behind you
5. Little hops while repeatedly kicking outside leg (you are no longer holding the bar and you are raising and lowering both arms in front of you as you kick)
6. Repeat #3-5 doing 4 reps of each
7. Hold onto barre beside you again and hold one DB in other hand, lift outside leg straight in front of you, keep it raised but bend knee, extend knee straight again then hinge forward while lifting leg straight behind you (you are also doing arm movements with DB arm); changes to remaining upright, leg remains raised to the front, bend and extend knee; hinge forward, extending leg straight behind you, raise and lower leg
8. (move barre or chair to other side of rebounder) Repeat #3-7 on other side of body
9. (move barre or chair back to other side of rebounder) Prance on rebounder while raising and lowering arms
10. Start with heels together and toes turned out, kick one leg out on angle then cross heel in front of other foot while also doing “swan arms”; changes to lifting leg out to side; continue lifting leg to side but now you tap foot behind other leg after kick; alternate between these 3 kick versions, doing 4 reps of each
11. (get one DB) Place one hand/forearm on bar and hold one DB in other hand, raise outside leg out to side in hydrant, from this starting position, bring elbow to knee then extend leg out straight behind you while reaching arm/DB straight in front of you
12. Bend outside knee straight out to side with sole of foot against inside of other thigh, elbow of outside arm is held against waist, arm/DB is extended out to side with palm facing ceiling, from this starting position, rotate knee and hand/DB to the front (keeping foot against other thigh and elbow against waist), rotate knee/hand/DB back to side then extend leg out straight to side while also pushing arm out straight (palm still facing ceiling)
13. Raise bent outside leg to side in hydrant with foot higher than knee, rotate leg, raising knee higher than toe while doing this leg motion, arm/DB will extend out straight when knee is higher, then bend elbow, bringing DB in to shoulder when toe is higher (the entire time, your arm from shoulder to elbow will remain extended straight out to side–you are only moving from the elbow)
14. Leg is still raised to side in hydrant, holding hydrant pose, push foot directly behind you
15. (move barre or chair to other side of rebounder) Repeat 9-14 on other side of body
16. Prance on rebounder while raising and lowering arms; with heels together and feet turned out, do narrow plie hops; continue doing plie hops but bring one foot in front of the other and switch feet with each jump; changes to 4 hops with one foot in front of the other + 4 narrow plie hops+ 4 hops with other foot in front; changes to 2 of each hop version
17. Prance hop side to side; changes to wide high knee runs; changes to alternating front kicks; alternate the wide high knee runs with the alternating front kicks, first 8 reps of each then 4 reps of each

Cardio Band is 62:30 minutes; 45 second intro, 2:30 minute warm up and 4:30 minute stretch. Equipment: rebounder and a pilates band/dynaband. You use the pilates band for the warm up. I’m not exactly sure when the warm up ends, but I start the breakdown when the exercises become more aggressive. Here is a trailer for this workout. This was an excellent total body cardio + strength workout. I am so impressed and pleased with it. Linda works your back really well, too, which is always my complaint about some “total body” workouts–the back is skimped on or completely ignored. Not in this one. It is the first muscle group Linda hits and she hits it hard. Of course, how hard it is truly hit all depends on your band strength and how much you choke up on the band. I used 3 bands for this workout. A heavy, a medium and a light strength band. I used the light strength band for all of the cardio. When back was worked I combined the heavy and light band and choked up on it to give me lots of resistance. I used the heavy band for the bicep work (done right after the back work) and for the remainder of the strength exercises I used the medium band. The cardio was easy to do–nothing complicated–but since you are using the band you feel it more. You are getting arm/shoulder work and it helps to elevate your heart rate even more. Another excellent rebounder workout!

1. Holding one end of pilates band scrunched up in each hand so that there is about 2 feet of band between hands, band is held taut, do jumping jacks, raising and lowering the band; changes to double jacks (hop 2x in each position)
2. Continue doing jumping jacks but in an X shape–one leg forward and one back (both legs are still wide) and one arm forward and up and one arm down and back (arms are still wide), alternate arm and leg positions
3. Pendulum the legs, arms are held out straight with band taut and move arms in opposition to legs (Linda calls theses Wacky Jacks)
4. Jumping jacks, pulling band wider when lifting arms overhead and pulling band wider when lowering arms down to thigh level; changes to doubles
5. Repeat #2-4, doing 8 reps of each
6. (Linda wrapped the band around trampoline bar in front of her; my trampoline is different so I had to loop the band around one of my rebounder legs) Hinge forward with legs wide and holding one end of resistance band in each hand, do back rows, keeping arms close to sides; changes to fast alternating back rows
7. Stand up straight, legs still wide and do hammer curls (still holding one end of band in each hand); changes to fast alternating hammer curls
8. (remove band from tramoline bar) Stand on one end of the band and hold the other end of the band in opposite hand, elbow is close to side and hand/arm turned out to side, do wide bicep curls in this position; add an overhead press after bicep curl (curl up then push band overhead, lower arm then curl down)
9. (move band so you are standing on it with other foot, but you are still holding the other end of the band in the same hand) Extend arm/band out away from body then do a cross curl, bending elbow and bringing hand/band to opposite shoulder
10. In same starting position as #9 but with elbow bent, push arm further out to side then straighten arm, pushing band away from you (tricep kickback out to the side) + cross curl (see #9)
11. Repeat #8-10 on other side of body
12. (wrap band around back and bring it under arms, hold one end of band bunched up in each hand) Prance-hop side to side to while pushing arms/bands overhead
13. Cross jacks while also crossing arms/band in front of body
14. Scissor legs while raising and lowering arms/band in front of you
15. Jump forward and back in a V jump (feet close together then wide when jumping to the front), cross punch arms in front (pull elbows back at shoulder level then punch arms in front of you, crossing arms)
16. High knee runs with single arm speed bag arm
17. (hold band in front of you, one end wrapped around each hand and about 2 feet of band between hands) Wide squat jumps, raising and lowering arms/band
18. 4 wide leg hops holding arms/band overhead + one wide tuck jump bringing hands/band down to knees
19. 180 hop turns, punching to side each time you are facing the side (you are also doing one little hop to change sides, so it’s not really a full 180 hop turn); remain facing one side while doing double time punches with one arm (and hopping the entire time)
20. (Linda ties one end of her band to the front edge of her rebounder; again, my rebounder is different so I tied mine around the top of one rebounder leg) Stand on the rebounder with other end of band in one hand, step one foot off the back of the rebounder while also doing a single arm back row then tap foot back up on rebounder
21. Keep one foot on rebounder, the other on the floor, one hand is still holding one end of the band, keep that arm straight and push arm/band straight behind you as you lift floor leg up straight behind you; hinge forward holding edge of rebounder with other hand, raise one leg straight behind you and pulse leg up while also pulsing straight arm up in time with leg (Linda also gives you the option of lowering to your knee to make it easier)
22. Repeat #20-21 on other leg
23. (untie band from rebounder) Fold band in half and hold one end of folded band in each hand, sit on edge of rebounder, knees bent and toes on floor, lean torso back and, keeping arms extended straight, alternate lifting/straightening legs while also rowing band down to side
24. Loop band around one foot and hold both ends of band together in one hand, lean torso back with other hand on rebounder for balance, bicycle legs in this position (while bicycling legs you are pushing out against the band with one foot)
25. Lay back on rebounder, raise both legs straight to ceiling, band is looped around the bottom of both feet, lower straight legs then raise them back to ceiling, lower straight legs out to side the raise back to ceiling, lower straight legs to other side then raise back to ceiling, continue alternating through these 3 versions of the move
26. Get on hands and knees on top of rebounder, band is looped around the sole of one foot and you are holding both ends of the band together in one hand, in this position, bend knee in under body then push leg out straight behind you; bend knee and raise leg behind you so knee is in line with hip and pulse/push foot up to ceiling
27. (set band aside) Get into pike position on rebounder, hands holding the edge of the rebounder and legs wide and straight, from this position do butt kick runs with legs while remaining in pike position; changes to frog squats to pike (start in pike, then jump feet into hands, lowering glutes so you are in a deep squat then jump feet back out to pike)
28. Stand on rebounder and do high knee runs; changes to prancing side to side
29. Scissor runs while raising and lowering arms
30. Twist hop hips side to side
31. Cross jacks

Cardio Pilates is 49 minutes; 40 second intro, 2:30 minute warm up and 2:30 minute cool down/stretch. Equipment: rebounder and a set of light dumbbells (Linda is using 1kg or 2 pound hand weights). Here is a trailer for this workout. This workout was the easiest of the 4 in this collection. It was a great workout and I really enjoyed it. I did approach it with trepidation because I am not a pilates fan but this workout really did not remind me of pilates. It wasn’t a total body workout either. Linda works your arms and lower body. Nothing is hit super hard or burned out. The core is workout throughout. The rebounder itself engages the core because it is an unstable surface and the fact that Linda does everything on the rebounder–including non-bouncing moves–works the core. Even some of the cardio moves did double duty working the core. So that is probably the pilates aspect. One way to get more out of this workout would be to use heavier dumbbells during the strength portions and to hold light hand weights during the cardio. That would intensify it across the board. I used 2 pound hand weights like Linda and I didn’t really feel any burn. I felt some of the later exercises where you are holding both hand weights in one hand more but even those didn’t challenge me. I think in the future I will use 3 pound hand weights and continue to increase in 1 pound increments until I start feeling challenged.

1. Jumping jacks
2. Cross jacks
3. Repeat #1 & 2, 8 reps of each
4. Double jacks
5. Repeat #3 & 4 for 8 reps of each
6. Wacky jacks (alternate lifting straight legs to side, arms are in goal post, bring elbow to same side hip when raising leg)
7. Repeat #5 & 6 for 8 reps of each
8. X Jacks (jack legs forward then back w/ arms opening in a V overhead then raising them from thighs out to sides in an X pattern)
9. Repeat #7 & 8 for 8 reps of each
10. (get light DBs) Stand on rebounder with legs wide, hold arms in front of you at shoulder level with elbows bent, squat deeply so elbows tap tops of thighs, stand and push DBs overhead and lean torso to side, alternate sides after each squat
11. Still standing on rebounder with legs wide and arms/DBs extended overhead, lean to side and lower same side arm, bringing DB to thigh, alternate sides
12. Lower into squat and hold isometrically, reach one hand/DB toward opposite foot while reaching other arm to ceiling, alternate sides while remaining in squat the entire time
13. Stand on rebounder with legs together, lower into narrow squat with torso hinged forward slightly, extend one arm/DB straight in front of you and the other arm/DB straight behind you and pulse 2x, alternate arms while doing small pulsing squats
14. Stationary lunges (both feet are on rebounder) while also doing double arm tricep kickbacks
15. Stand on rebounder in split stance with both arms/DB extended overhead, do single knee pulls while also pulling DBs down to knee as it raises
16. Repeat #14 & 15 on other side of body
17. Prance hop side to side
18. Hopping alternating knee raises
19. Alternating insole tap hops (arms are held overhead in a V until they tap opposite insole)
20. Repeat #18 & 19 for 8 reps each
21. Alternating hopping hamstring curls tapping same side ankle
22. Repeat #20 & 21 for 8 reps each
23. Double knee raises (with hops)
24. Repeat #22 & 23 for 8 reps each
25. High knee cross knee runs, tapping knee with opposite hand as it crosses
26. Repeat #24 & 25 for 8 reps each
27. Hold one DB in one hand, get on all 4s on top of rebounder, extend arm holding DB straight in front of you while also extending opposite leg straight behind you (move in and out of bird dog pose)
28. Kneel on rebounder with knees wide and toes together, do bicep curls while lowering glutes to heels; remain in high kneeling (body straight from knees to shoulders) and lean torso back slightly while keeping that straight line from knees to shoulders, arms are extended straight in front of you at shoulder height, hold arms isometrically at this level while curling DBs to shoulders
29. Still kneeling on rebounder but now legs are together, lean hips to one side, holding both DBs in one hand (same side hips are leaning toward), lower glutes to mat while bringing elbow to hip then when you raise into high kneeling reach DBs overhead to other side of body w/ a side lean; remain in high kneeling while doing wide single arm bicep curls
30. (set DBs aside) Hop prance side to side
31. Skier runs, raising arms overhead and pulling them down to sides
32. Alternating straight leg raises behind you on a diagonal with a hop (you are also scissor crossing arms in front of you)
33. Repeat #31 & 32 for 8 reps each
34. Lift straight leg out to side while hopping (stay on one side of body) while still crossing arms in front of you
35. Repeat #33 & 34 for 8 reps each
36. Repeat #34 on other leg
37. Repeat #35 & 36 for 8 reps each
38. Alternating front leg raises (legs are straight)
39. Repeat #37 & 38 for 8 reps each