Nan Nan

there_sun@163.com

BORED with your regular workout routine at a regular gym? An exciting alternative has hit the fitness scene: bungee workout.

While most of your friends are all about hip-hop yoga and body pump, you can literally fly high thanks to a latest workout craze.

Originating in Thailand, the bungee dance workout involves putting on a harness and trying your hand at floor dives, wall climbs, and just generally gliding through the room like you’re in an elementary school rendition of “Peter Pan” — all in the name of burning calories and building muscle.

For a good Saturday afternoon workout, Shenzhen Daily invited eight readers to try a free session at the newly-opened JP Plus Bungee Workout Studio in OCT, Nanshan District. This is the second Bungee Workout studio authorized by the Thai chain brand in China after a first shop opened in Shanghai in June.

The OCT studio offers two types of classes, one called bungee workout, which combines hip-hop, jazz and modern dance, and the other called bungee fit which is basically your regular planks and squats with you being hinged onto a bungee cord.

“An amazing resistance training and full body cardio workout, one session will work and tone almost every muscle in your body, focusing on strengthening your core,” co-owner Liu Peiyu explained.

After sweating through a 75-minute class starting at

3 p.m., bungee instructor Teng Xiaowei made sure that all eight learned to do a four-minute dance sequence choreographed for aerial moves.

Hoisted on a bungee cord and bearing a resemblance with acrobatics, bungee workout allows people to perform movements that they would not be able to do otherwise, like one-handed push-ups with their feet suspended in the air, plunging to the floor, flying through the air and bouncing off the walls.

All participants were thrilled. “It’s a really liberating and exhilarating experience,” said American Vanessa Brown, adding that the tutor did a great job breaking down movements into easy steps.

Estonian Lagle Laidoja said bungee workout is so good that she would definitely try again. American Megan Franco enjoyed meeting new friends and trying new stuff.

Bungee workout is special because it is fun and exciting.

“It is also a chance to make new friends; the classes are highly interactive,” said Chen Weijian, co-owner of JP Plus.

“Another charm of bungee workout lies in its freedom and creativity. Partially set free from gravity, you can do almost anything you want,” Teng said.