Some time ago I read a comment on Facebook where the Jump Board was attributed to Joseph Pilates. I knew that was incorrect, so I did some research, also with Marjolein’s help.
The other “mistake” I often come across is considering the Jump Board similar, better or worse than the Cardio Rebounder. They are two different experiences. Neither was invented by Joseph Pilates, but both, when used as intended, interpret the fundamentals of Pilates in wonderful ways.
One of the first versions of the Jump Board was developed after Joseph Pilates’ death by one of his students: Eve Gentry.
Eve was born in California in 1909. From an early age she devoted herself to ballet, folk, ballroom and modern dance. Before turning 20 she moved to New York City, where she began her career as a dancer.
After years of dancing, Eve began to suffer from chronic back and knee problems. She sought help from Joseph Pilates, who at the time was well known among New York’s professional dancers. Not long afterwards, she became one of his loyal teachers and collaborators.
In 1955 Eve underwent a total mastectomy, which involved the removal of her pectoral muscles. After surgery she was unable to lift her arms, a condition that could have marked the end of her dancing career. Within a year, with the help of Joseph and Clara, Eve regained full mobility in her arms and upper body. After her recovery, she continued working with Joseph for another 10 years.
Joseph Pilates died in 1967 and in 1968 Eve moved to New Mexico, where she founded her own dance and Pilates studio.
By the early 1970s, she had already developed an early version of the Jump Board. Historical research carried out by Pilates educator Nora Gomez-Dears places Eve’s Jump Board precisely in this period: according to the accounts she collected, Eve and her husband had already created the apparatus when Michele Larsson began studying with her in 1973. [1]
The Jump Board was developed as a rehabilitation tool, particularly for dancers. Its original purpose was not cardiovascular exercise. Lying on the Reformer reduced weight bearing, while the firm and stable surface allowed dancers to practise jumping, landing, foot articulation and the correct absorption of forces against something more similar to the floor. Gomez-Dears’ research describes this rehabilitative use as the original and more classical approach to the Jump Board, while its use as a cardiovascular tool developed later. [1] The rigidity of the Jump Board, therefore, was not a limitation: it was part of its purpose.
This becomes even clearer in the story of the San Francisco Ballet. In the early 1980s, following building renovations, the dancers found themselves training on floors with very little shock absorption and injuries quickly increased. Many of them were treated through the dance rehabilitation programme at St. Francis Hospital in California. [1]
The Reformer was already being used during rehabilitation to retrain jumping: dancers would jump from the footbar using very light resistance. However, the solution had obvious limitations. They could miss the footbar on landing, making the exercise impractical and potentially unsafe for both the dancer and the physical therapist.
During a later meeting attended by, among others, Eve Gentry, Ron Fletcher, Kathy Grant and Pilates equipment manufacturer Ken Endelman, they looked for a safer solution. Eve explained that she and her husband had already developed a Jump Board in the early 1970s and that she had one attached to her own Reformer. Endelman developed the idea further, increasing the size of the board and creating a system that allowed it to be mounted in the footbar position. [1]
The rigidity of the Jump Board therefore had a very specific purpose: it was not simply a surface to bounce against. For dancers and other athletes, learning to organise the lower body and correctly absorb the forces of landing was part of the rehabilitation itself. Gomez-Dears explains that this work requires considerable lower-body coordination and dexterity, which is why she continues to use the Jump Board mainly with people who genuinely need to train that specific skill. [1]
Then came the 1980s, and it is important to remember the historical context. In 1982 Jane Fonda launched her first workout, aerobics became a popular training method and fitness began to be commercialised. The “No Pain No Gain” concept also arrived, diametrically opposed to the Pilates method. Despite this, and despite the popularity of very restrictive diets, the American population continued to experience a steady increase in obesity.
Pilates continued to expand, but remained an elite method because of the cost of lessons and equipment. It became one of Hollywood’s best-kept secrets, without ever losing its close connection with the world of dance.
In 1991 Eve Gentry founded the Pilates Method Institute in Santa Fe with Joan Breibart, a former student of Carola Trier, another student of Pilates who had opened a studio in New York.
In 1995, after her famous accident during a morning run, Marjolein turned to the studio founded by Eve Gentry for her rehabilitation, on the advice of her orthopaedist. There she worked with Michele Larsson and also became familiar with the Jump Board.
Marjolein was amazed by the results she achieved with the Reformer. Not only was she able to recover from her injuries, but she discovered how profoundly Reformer Pilates could change the body and the way it moved. It quickly became clear to her that it offered benefits that went far beyond those she had experienced with traditional fitness training up to that point.
However, lessons were expensive and beyond the reach of most people. Marjolein therefore began thinking about how to make the Reformer more accessible.
Between 1996 and 1997 there was a great deal of activity in the professional Pilates world. Marjolein studied with Romana Kryzanowska, one of Joseph Pilates’ students, and collaborated with home fitness company Stamina Products to produce an affordable Reformer that was easy to use at home. They called it the Pilates Performer and it sold out within minutes during its first presentation on QVC.
The Pilates Performer was sold not only on QVC, but also at the Pilates Inc. studio, where Romana was an educational partner and director of the training programme. Romana also used the Performer in her 1999 book The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning, a reference text covering the main Pilates exercises.
Marjolein recorded several videos with her, also using other pieces of equipment invented by Joseph, including the Chair, Magic Circle, Box and Pole, Spine Corrector and Small Barrel.
Marjolein was a runner and strongly believed in the benefits of cardiovascular exercise. At the same time, she realised that cardio was precisely the element missing from Reformer Pilates.
In 1999 she was diagnosed with her first foot microfracture and was advised to stop high-impact running, particularly in the long term. Marjolein therefore began looking for a way to continue cardiovascular exercise without repeatedly subjecting her feet to the same stress. She thought about Eve Gentry’s Jump Board, but she knew its limitations in relation to what she was trying to achieve. It is interesting to note that, during the same historical period, other jumping-based exercise systems were also emerging, such as Gary Graham’s Shuttle 2000, developed for cardiovascular purposes and which caught Romana Kryzanowska’s attention. [3]
The fact remained that the Jump Board had renewed the interest of some Pilates equipment manufacturers as a rehabilitation tool. Its rigid surface made perfect sense when the objective was to retrain jumping and landing. For a dancer, learning to articulate the feet correctly, organise the lower body and properly absorb the forces generated by landing was part of the exercise itself.
Marjolein, however, was thinking about a completely different audience. What would later become AeroPilates had been designed for ordinary people exercising at home, not necessarily dancers, athletes or people with highly trained landing technique.
For prolonged cardiovascular activity, she felt that repeatedly landing against a rigid surface still created too much impact. A rigid Jump Board is less forgiving of an imperfect landing because it is mainly the body, rather than the surface, that has to manage the forces generated by the movement.
She needed something different: a more forgiving surface.
One day, while sipping her favourite English black tea, she had an idea: instead of landing against a rigid board, what if the Reformer incorporated an elastic surface similar to a trampoline?
The idea was simple, but applying it to the Reformer created something completely different. The elastic surface could give under the feet, absorb part of the energy of the landing and return it as a rebound, transforming repeated jumping into a fluid cardiovascular activity rather than a simulation of jumping against a rigid surface.
This idea was subsequently developed together with Stamina Products until it became part of a patented exercise system: the AeroPilates Cardio Rebounder. [2]
And there is an important detail to underline: the patent did not cover the elastic mat or trampoline on its own. The innovation was the exercise system created by combining the Reformer with a resilient foot support. [2]
The original US patent, filed by Stamina Products with a priority date of 17 January 2003, describes an apparatus consisting of tracks, a movable body support, or carriage, a resistance system, represented by the elastic cords, and a resilient trampoline-like support. As the person returns towards this surface, the elastic material gives under the feet, absorbs energy and returns it through the rebound, helping to propel the carriage in the opposite direction. [2]
The patent even cites the existing Pilates Performer as an example of the type of apparatus to which this new system could be applied. It also describes the resilient foot support as an attachment capable of replacing the conventional foot support on an existing exercise apparatus. [2]
This distinction is important.
Elastic trampolines already existed. Reformers already existed. Jumping on a Reformer already existed through the Jump Board. What was patented was the integration of these principles into a single exercise system, in which an elastic surface works together with the movable carriage and the Reformer’s resistance system. [2]
The Cardio Rebounder therefore brought something genuinely new to Reformer Pilates: cardiovascular exercise was no longer simply an alternative use of a rigid Jump Board, but became part of the design and function of the apparatus itself.
It was the missing piece in Marjolein’s idea: the possibility of combining the strength, flexibility and controlled movement of Reformer Pilates with continuous cardiovascular exercise, replacing the rigid landing surface with one designed to give and rebound.
AeroPilates was born as a portable, foldable home Reformer accompanied by a lightweight Cardio Rebounder that was easy to insert, remove and handle. For people exercising at home, it offered something completely different from the original rehabilitative purpose of the Jump Board: an accessible way to add cardiovascular exercise to a Pilates workout. Historical research into the Jump Board confirms that its widespread use as a cardiovascular exercise was a later adaptation. [1]
And perhaps this is the simplest way to understand why the Jump Board and the Cardio Rebounder should not be considered two competing versions of the same accessory: the Jump Board was developed to retrain and recover the management of impact; the Cardio Rebounder was developed to reduce impact. Two different ideas, created for two different purposes. Neither is a better version of the other.
Clinical observations and pilot studies on AeroPilates supported the development of the invention, showing that it was possible to expend energy effectively while lying horizontally and that, using low resistance, it was possible to engage the abdominal muscles and train the core at the same time.
Compared with the Jump Board, the Cardio Rebounder also worked well for deconditioned or untrained people. The elastic surface was more forgiving of variations in landing, making repeated rebounding accessible even to those who did not have the movement precision of a professional dancer.
The Cardio Rebounder therefore became the perfect companion to the foldable home Reformer. Its sturdy steel frame, lightweight durable fabric surface and distinctive elastic cords replaced the heavy wooden panel and possible padding of the Jump Board, making it easy to insert, remove and handle.
AeroPilates was born: a portable, foldable home Reformer with a lightweight Cardio Rebounder that could easily become part of the workout.
Compared with the original rehabilitative purpose of the Jump Board, it represented something completely different. People could finally add cardiovascular activity to their Reformer workout while continuing to benefit from Pilates exercises designed to improve strength and flexibility.
The first AeroPilates machines equipped with the Cardio Rebounder arrived in the early 2000s. The development of this system led to the patent application with a priority date of 17 January 2003. [2]
Studies were conducted in collaboration with several universities to better understand its effectiveness.
The results showed measurable improvements. At the same moderate level of effort, maintained at a constant perceived intensity on a professional treadmill or elliptical trainer, working with the Cardio Rebounder allowed energy expenditure while simultaneously engaging several muscle groups and reducing the impact associated with cardiovascular activities performed in an upright position. It also allowed movements that would be impossible to perform standing, making this new type of exercise more varied and complete.
It therefore became an ideal companion for steady, moderate-intensity exercise in the so-called “fat-burning zone”, where the body can proportionally use more fat as an energy source. During the studies, those who combined regular AeroPilates exercise with a balanced diet were able to improve weight management while also increasing muscle tone, strength and flexibility.
AeroPilates, thanks to the Cardio Rebounder, therefore brings cardiovascular exercise into Reformer Pilates, transforming it into a more complete training platform suitable for different ages and fitness levels.
What Marjolein perhaps did not imagine, while sipping that cup of English black tea, was that the solution to a very personal problem would help change the way so many people would approach complete, low-impact cardiovascular exercise.
Historical references
[1] Nora Gomez-Dears, The Jump Board Mystery, All Things Pilates with Darien Gold, Episode 41, 23 September 2020.
[2] Exercise Apparatus with Resilient Foot Support, US Patent US7179207B2.
[3] The history of the Shuttle CMC began around the 1960s as a project for a device intended for use on space stations to counteract cardiovascular deconditioning in astronauts. The original project was abandoned, but its inventor, Gary Graham, later revived it, patented it in 1987 and introduced it to the market in 1991.