Estimate calories and kilojoules burned trampolining, whether you're bouncing around on a backyard trampoline or at a trampoline park, or training in competitive trampoline gymnastics, based on your body weight and session length.
Trampoline calorie burn is captured here as two tiers: recreational bouncing on a backyard trampoline or at a trampoline park (MET 6.3) and competitive trampoline gymnastics (MET 10.3). The formula is calories = MET × body weight (kg) × time (hours). A 65 kg person bouncing casually for 60 minutes (1 hour) burns around 410 kcal (about 1,713 kJ), while the same person training at competitive intensity for the same 60 minutes burns around 670 kcal (about 2,801 kJ) — the extra height, rotation and control involved in competitive routines pushes the number up substantially.
| Tier | MET | Calories | Kilojoules |
|---|
The calculation combines three inputs: a MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) value for how intensely you were bouncing, your body weight, and the time you spent on the trampoline. This calculator uses two MET tiers drawn from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities — recreational trampolining (code 15700, MET 6.3), covering casual bouncing on a backyard trampoline or at a trampoline park, and competitive trampoline gymnastics (code 15702, MET 10.3), covering structured routines with tucks, twists and somersaults — because the skill and power involved in a competitive routine changes the physical demand far more than simply spending longer in the air.
Trampolining burns calories differently to most cardio activities because almost every bounce asks your body to do two jobs at once: absorb the landing, then generate enough force to launch straight back into the air. Your legs and glutes do the bulk of that work, but your core is working just as hard the whole time, bracing and stabilising your trunk so you land upright and centred on a surface that's actively pushing back and shifting under you. That continuous cycle of loading and rebounding against gravity, repeated dozens of times a minute, is a large part of why even a relaxed bouncing session can leave you noticeably out of breath.
The gap between the two MET tiers used here — 6.3 for recreational bouncing and 10.3 for competitive trampoline gymnastics — comes down to what you're actually doing between takeoff and landing. Casual bouncing is mostly about staying balanced and having fun: gentle seat drops, simple jumps, maybe the odd basic trick. Competitive routines add height, rotation and precision on top of that base — tucks, twists, somersaults and complex skill combinations performed at pace, often as part of a routine that has to be repeated cleanly under fatigue. Generating and controlling that extra rotation and air time takes considerably more power output than simply bouncing up and down, which is reflected directly in the higher MET value.
Trampolining sits in an unusually broad spot in Australian fitness and family life. At the casual end, backyard trampolines are a fixture of suburban Australian yards, and indoor trampoline parks have become popular destinations in most major cities and larger regional centres for kids' parties, school holiday activities and casual fitness sessions for adults. None of that requires any competitive ambition at all — it's simply an enjoyable, low-cost way to get kids, and plenty of adults, moving without it feeling like a structured workout.
At the other end of the spectrum, trampoline gymnastics is a genuine, recognised competitive sport in Australia, with dedicated clubs and structured pathways through Gymnastics Australia for athletes who want to progress from backyard bouncing into judged routines involving individual and synchronised disciplines. It's a smaller participation base than the casual backyard and trampoline-park side of the sport, but it's a serious athletic pursuit in its own right, demanding real strength, air awareness and technical skill. Whichever end of that spectrum you're closer to, the same underlying formula applies — it's just the intensity of what you're doing in the air that changes the MET value used to estimate your calorie burn.
This table holds intensity constant at recreational bouncing (MET 6.3) for a 60-minute session, so you can see how much body weight alone changes the total.
| Body Weight | MET | Calories (60 min) | Kilojoules |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 kg | 6.3 | 315 kcal | 1,318 kJ |
| 60 kg | 6.3 | 378 kcal | 1,582 kJ |
| 65 kg | 6.3 | 410 kcal | 1,713 kJ |
| 70 kg | 6.3 | 441 kcal | 1,845 kJ |
| 80 kg | 6.3 | 504 kcal | 2,109 kJ |
Because body weight is a straight multiplier in the formula, an 80 kg jumper burns roughly 60% more than a 50 kg jumper over the identical 60-minute recreational session, even though both are bouncing at the same intensity.
Here body weight is fixed at 65 kg while session length changes, with both tiers shown side by side so you can see how quickly the gap between recreational and competitive intensity adds up over a longer session.
| Duration | Recreational (MET 6.3) | Competitive (MET 10.3) |
|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | 205 kcal / 857 kJ | 335 kcal / 1,401 kJ |
| 60 minutes | 410 kcal / 1,713 kJ | 670 kcal / 2,801 kJ |
| 90 minutes | 614 kcal / 2,570 kJ | 1,004 kcal / 4,202 kJ |
Australian nutrition panels list energy in kilojoules, not calories, so it helps to see your session in the same unit your food packaging uses. Multiply your calorie figure by 4.184 to get kilojoules. A 65 kg person bouncing recreationally for 60 minutes burns about 410 kcal, which is roughly 1,713 kJ — worth keeping in mind next to the energy value printed on an after-bounce snack or sports drink.
How many calories does trampolining burn?
It depends on how intensely you're bouncing. A 65 kg person burns around 410 kcal in a 60-minute recreational session on a backyard trampoline or at a trampoline park (MET 6.3), and around 670 kcal in the same 60 minutes training at competitive trampoline gymnastics intensity (MET 10.3). Lighter or heavier people, and shorter or longer sessions, will scale proportionally — use the calculator above with your own weight and duration for a personalised estimate.
Is bouncing on a backyard trampoline really exercise?
Yes. Even relaxed, casual bouncing sits at a moderate-to-vigorous MET of 6.3, similar in intensity to a brisk cycle or a game of touch sport, because every bounce requires your legs, glutes and core to absorb the landing and then generate force to launch back into the air. It doesn't need to look like a structured workout to genuinely raise your heart rate and burn a meaningful number of calories.
How does recreational trampolining compare to competitive trampoline gymnastics?
Competitive trampoline gymnastics uses a MET of 10.3, about 63% higher than the 6.3 used for recreational bouncing, because routines add height, rotation, tucks, twists and somersaults performed at pace under fatigue. For the same 65 kg person over 60 minutes, that's the difference between roughly 410 kcal recreationally and about 670 kcal at competitive intensity — a substantial gap driven by the extra power and control that competitive skills demand.
Is trampolining good for kids' fitness?
Trampolining is a genuinely popular way for kids to get active in Australia, whether on a backyard trampoline or at an indoor trampoline park, and the continuous bouncing works the legs, core and balance in a way that doesn't feel like formal exercise. It's a great complement to other activity, though it shouldn't be the only source of movement in a child's week, and safety precautions — supervision, safety nets, and one jumper at a time — matter more for children than for adults given their lower body awareness and higher injury risk.
What safety precautions matter most when trampolining?
Trampolining carries a real risk of injury, particularly for children, so a few precautions make a meaningful difference: use a trampoline with an enclosed safety net and adequate frame padding, stick to one jumper at a time rather than letting multiple people bounce together, avoid attempting flips or advanced tricks without proper coaching, and keep close adult supervision for younger children. Trampoline parks generally have staff supervision and padded surrounds, but the same one-jumper and no-unsupervised-tricks principles still apply.
Does an indoor trampoline park session count the same as a backyard trampoline session?
Broadly yes — both fall under the recreational MET of 6.3 used here, since both involve continuous casual bouncing rather than competitive routines. In practice, a trampoline park session may involve more varied activity, such as dodgeball courts, foam pits or basketball hoops built into the park, which could push your real energy use a little higher than a straightforward bounce on a backyard trampoline, but there's no published MET figure that separates the two settings.
Do tricks and flips in competitive trampolining burn more calories than casual bouncing?
Yes. The competitive MET of 10.3 specifically reflects the extra power, rotation and control required for tucks, twists, somersaults and complex skill combinations performed as part of a structured routine, compared with the simpler bouncing captured by the recreational MET of 6.3. Attempting tricks casually and without training isn't reflected in either figure, and given the injury risk involved, isn't something to try without proper coaching.
What are the limitations of this calorie estimate?
This calculator uses two published MET values multiplied by your body weight and session time, which gives a solid population-level estimate rather than a personalised one. It doesn't account for your fitness level, how continuously you were actually bouncing versus resting between turns, your skill level on more advanced tricks, or the specific mix of activities available at a trampoline park. Use the result as a reasonable planning figure rather than an exact measurement.