Have you ever found yourself wondering about the safety of trampolines? The same as with most other types of exercise, if you dont do it right, or if you misuse the equipment, then you are always giving yourself the risk of an injury. Jumping on a trampoline or rebounding is just the same. If you, or any of your children are already participating in activities such as riding a bicycle, football, or roller skating, then theyre already performing activities where there is a potential risk of injury if performed without caution. Riding a bicycle is relatively safe... but dodging in and out of traffic, doing wheelies, or jumping, are not the safest ways to practice it though.

Here are some of basic, but commonly overlooked rules to using trampolines:

On the trampoline, you must only have one person at a time - Certainly, the weight capacity may allow for more than one person to be on at a time, and some manufacturers might even say it is alright for more than one user, but the bottom line is that trampolines are only safe when just ONE person is using it at a time. Think about it this way; if you on the way down when someone else is on the way upwards, then the trampoline bed is coming up towards you. Hitting the bed then, is about the same impact as hitting the ground feet first. And if there are several people bouncing at once, then there is always the risk of banging heads, launching someone off by purely bouncing them, and people landing on top of one another. It should always be one at time, every time.

Always make sure that there is some sort of supervision - There should always be supervision by an adult, who is also called a spotter.

Take the proper precautions - Use pads for safety to cover the areas of metal frame around the edges of your trampoline. Crash mats, as they are called, can be used on the areas around the trampoline as well, which will give added security. To prevent falling off the trampoline, safety nets which are specifically designed for the purpose can be used on the outdoor versions.

Remember the various restrictions - Always, always refer to your trampolines manual to see what the limitations are on your trampoline. If you knowingly over-burden your trampoline, you will probably break it right away, and can cause the breakage of a bone or two of your own as well. Also, you must beware of putting your trampoline near trees and other over-hanging objects. You might find yourself rather surprised by how high you can bounce, which in turn will allow you to hit them even harder