Varza – uncabbaging corona

Varza: Un-cabbage your corona crisis, the rebound way.

Varza is a delightful word. Literally it means “cabbage” in Romanian, but varza is so much more than merely cabbage. In Romania, capital country of the rebound world, varza can describe anything, from the way you feel to the state of your shoes. If your springs need replacing, your rebound boots are varza. If you’ve just had a really hard workout, you are varza. If your rebound instructor forgets the steps of the choreography, he/she is varza. In Romania, even the previous Prime Minister, Viorica Dăncilă, is varza.

Sure, varza is also something you can eat – shaorma (as shawarma is confusingly spelled in Romania) is pretty much varza without varza. And sarmale without varza would be totally varza.

No matter which country you live in, or which language you speak, we can agree on one thing: The corona crisis and the resulting lockdown is totally varza. Fortunately there is something we can do (besides social distancing and washing our hands) to combat the corona virus and prevent COVID-19 infection: Exercise. Boosting your immune system is the best thing you can do to protect yourself from infection. And the best exercise to boost your immune system is rebounding. As we stated in the post Rebounding Benefits, item number 4:

Rebounding benefits lymphatic circulation by stimulating the millions of one-way valves in the lymphatic system. This benefits the body’s immune capacity for fighting current disease, destroying cancer cells, eliminating antigens and preventing future illness.

The lymphatic system is a key part of your body’s immune system, and rebounding is the most effective exercise to optimize the lymphatic system. Of course all exercise is good – the fitter you are, the stronger your immune system, but rebounding has been proven to be the most efficient type of exercise to get fit fast, and to stay fit.

But the gyms are all closed due to the lockdown!

Yes, that is true in most countries of the world. But fortunately we are not dependent on gyms to rebound. While aerobic-style group fitness classes are the most well-known form of rebounding, there are also other options.

• For those who do want to do aerobic-style workouts, there are many free live online classes to follow, like at WeJumple. If you don’t want to be tied to a specific time, there are also online videos of classes you can follow.
• If aerobics isn’t your thing, you can also wear your rebound shoes around the house, or jog on the spot.
• In countries where the lockdown rules permit (or once the rules are lifted), go outside and run on rebound shoes. They work on any surface, and protect your knees from the impact of normal running and jogging.
• There are many bootcamp-style exercises suitable for rebound shoes. Think of pushups, sit-ups etcetera.

Don’t have rebound shoes? Get your own pair of the best rebound shoes on the market, with a special corona 10% discount. (In the post Which rebound boots are best you’ll find an explanation of the criteria we used to establish why they are the best) So yes, while the corona virus is a terrible thing, it also provides us with a unique opportunity to change our lifestyle, get fit and beat the virus. Let’s all use these extraordinary times to un-cabbage corona!