Types of rebound boot classes
The formats that exist, what each one is called depending on where you are, and how much of what gets said about them holds up. Where a figure has a measurement behind it, we cite it. Where it doesn't, we say so.
One format, four names
Much of the confusion when researching this comes from the format being called something different in every market. In Mexico people search for botas de rebote — rebound boots, or boots with springs. In Brazil the class has its own name, Hopping, and the boots are botas de salto; large chains such as Cia Athletica list it that way on their timetable. In English they are rebound boots. And Kangoo Jumps®, the name almost everyone reaches for, is a manufacturer rather than the name of the exercise: there are several boot brands, and the class format is independent of which pair you wear.
The six formats
Almost every rebound boot class fits one of these six. The commercial names change from studio to studio and brand to brand, but what happens inside the class does not.
Dance and choreography
The class follows continuous choreography to music, with the bounce keeping time. It is the most common way in, because it feels like dancing rather than training. It asks more of your memory and coordination than your strength, and it hides the effort better than any other format: you finish tired without once having thought about the fact that you were doing cardio.
Walk and run
Travelling, marching and running to music at varying speeds, with active recovery intervals between blocks. It is the closest thing to conventional cardio and the format several gym chains use, precisely because there is nothing to learn first. If you come from running and want a similar stimulus with less pounding, start here.
HIIT and intervals
Short blocks of maximum effort separated by rest: stop-start rather than holding a pace. It is the most demanding on conditioning and, paradoxically, one of the easiest to follow, because there is no choreography to memorise. It is also the fastest way to learn that boots tire you differently than trainers do.
Bootcamp and strength
Circuits performed with the boots on: squats, lunges, split squats, leg and core work. The spring completely changes your base of support, so a movement you own in trainers becomes a different exercise with far more stability demand. Better to arrive with some technique than to start here.
Combat
Kicks, knees and punches drawn from kickboxing and karate, performed on the boots. It works the core more than people expect, because every strike is thrown from an unstable base and you have to recover balance between them. Technically demanding, and a poor choice for a first class.
Technique and basics
The class that teaches the boring, necessary part: standing, walking, stopping, turning and falling in the boots before adding music and jumping on top. Several programmes require it before any other format, and they are right to. If you are only going to take one class before deciding whether this is for you, make it this one rather than the dance class.
How popular is it, really?
It is a fair question with no good public answer. Search for market figures and you will find dozens of “reports” promising the size of the rebound boot market with projections out to 2033. They are auto-generated, they copy one another, and several do not even show the number: they literally print “XXX million” where the figure should be. We do not cite them and we suggest you don't either.
What does hold up: this is an established format, not a three-month fad. It has appeared on gym chain timetables in Brazil under its own name for years, the boots sell widely on the major Mexican and Brazilian marketplaces, and there is peer-reviewed research on the equipment — which three-month fads do not have. Exactly how many people practise it today has never been measured publicly and reliably, and inventing a number would not improve on that.
What has actually been measured
On impact there are two peer-reviewed studies, both published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies and both with Brazilian research behind them. They are small — ten and fifteen participants — and neither is the last word, but they are the only measurements that exist.
With the boots on, the leg lands with greater hip and knee extension and less activation of the lateral calf. In other words: the boots change how the leg absorbs and transmits force, not merely how much of it arrives.
Rossato M, Dellagrana RA, Lopes dos Santos JC, Carpes FP, Gheller RG, Seixas da Silva DC, Bezerra ES, Libardoni dos Santos JO. Rebound boots change lower limb muscle activation and kinematics during different fitness exercises. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2017;21(4):873-878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2017.03.002
In fifteen women, the boot reduced peak impact by roughly 20% on jump landings and 11% while running compared with a normal running shoe, and lengthened the time to that peak. It also produced slight asymmetries between one leg and the other.
de Britto MA, Lemos AL, dos Santos CS, Maroneze BM, Stoelben KJV, Carpes FP. Effects of a rebound shoe to reduce impact forces in jump-landing tasks. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2021;26:77-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2020.12.033
Those figures are worth setting beside the advertising. Manufacturers speak of up to 80% less impact; what was measured in a laboratory was 20% on landings and 11% while running. The boots do reduce impact and that is documented, but not by the order of magnitude the marketing claims, and the authors themselves note that long-term use still needs studying. Calories go the same way: a sustained hour of vigorous cardio comes to roughly 500 to 600 by MET-based estimate, so the 800-to-1000 per hour some boot manufacturers publish would take athlete-level effort for a full hour. None of those high figures has a public measurement behind it.
Choosing yours
If you are starting out, technique first and dance second; the reverse order is the most common reason somebody quits during their second class. If you come from running or spinning, walk and run will feel familiar immediately. If you have the conditioning but little patience for choreography, HIIT. Bootcamp and combat work better as a third or fourth class than as a first.
One distinction almost nobody draws, and worth looking for: how tiring a class is and how technical it is are two different things. A technique routine can leave you wrecked while being simple to follow, and a gentle class can be hard if the choreography is fiddly. Every MyBootLab class states its intensity and its skill level separately, precisely so you can choose without guessing.
New to this? Start with the frequently asked questions How you actually take a rebound boot class online
Kangoo Jumps® and Fit Boots are registered trademarks of their respective owners, and MyBootLab is not affiliated with either. We name them only to describe equipment compatibility.
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MyBootLab classes are recorded and in Spanish, and each one tells you which type it is before you press play.
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