The best workout could be one you don’t even realize you’re doing because its premise is just so much fun.
Just jump and bounce, jump and bounce.
“When you’re just bouncing it’s using almost every single muscle,” said Rachael Pfeiffer, a Plainfield resident who teaches the Sky Fit exercise class at Sky Zone in Joliet. “When people go to Sky Zone with their kids they don’t even realize how much of a workout they’re getting. It’s a fun way to be active with your kids.”
The wall-to-wall trampoline park offers multiple play zones to pump your heart and work the upper and lower body, core strength and balance, from foam pits, jousting and hoops to full-on Ninja Warrior-style obstacles and a brand new “Star Wars”-inspired battle game.
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Sky Zone also hosts weekend parties for teens to jump around amid blacklights as well as calmer times open only to toddlers.
Guests of all ages can do as little or as much as they like at Sky Zone, where admission is based on increments of time. But take notice: even plunging into thousands of foam cubes can be a workout.
“It is very hard to crawl out of there and people have gotten stuck, but we have ladders,” Barbara Glazer, owner of Sky Zone in Joliet and Aurora, said of the Foam Zone with 6,000 foam cubes in three lanes.
The foam cubes come into play for Sky Fit, the exercise class which attracts mostly females from age 9 to 72 and is tailored to attendees’ ages and abilities.
“We can utilize the whole gym. We’ll jump into the foam blocks and crawl to the wall and that works all your muscles so you’re so out of breath,” said Pfeiffer, who runs and dabbles in yoga, but fell in love with Sky Fit upon attending with a friend. “I have a mom who brings her daughter to class so it’s bonding time plus she’s teaching her daughter good health habits.”
Class typically starts with a 10-minute warm up of jumping from side to side, jumping rope, jumping jacks and butt kicks. Participants break to catch their breath before a 25-minute workout.
“I like to do a minute on then thirty seconds off for a good workout for burning fat and training your metabolism,” said Pfeiffer, whose 12-year-old son will join her in Sky Fit and especially enjoys shooting hoops in the three-lane Sky Slam area.
Whether patrons take part in the class or play on their own, she says, “It’s a good aerobic exercise and it’s fun. Bouncing helps drain the lymphatic system, increases your capacity for respiration, improves coordination and stimulates your metabolism.”
“You don’t think of a trampoline as exercise because it’s so fun, but as a side bonus it’s also exercise,” Glazer added. “If you get tired of jumping, you can run the warrior course or climb the wall.”
In addition to Sky Fit, Sky Slam and Foam Zone, the trampoline park open since October 2016 also features Sky Wars, Glow Zone, Sky Joust, Challenge Ladder, Free Climb, Warrior Zone, Ultimate Dodge Ball, Glow Zone and Toddler Time.
A hit since launching mid-January, Sky Wars tests your team strategy.
“We turn one of the dodgeball courts into a battle zone with Nerf Blasters,” Glazer said. “It’s also really popular for 8- to 12-year-old boys’ birthday parties.”
On Friday and Saturday nights, Sky Zone transforms into Glow Zone with blacklights, LEDs and lasers. A DJ performs on Fridays while house music is played Saturdays. Tickets are best purchased in advance as the event tends to sell out.
“It is a huge success and the place to be in Joliet on Friday and Saturday nights,” Glazer said of Glow Zone, which typically draws 11- to 17-year-olds. “It’s designed for high schoolers and we really welcome preteens and teens here.”
While Glow Zone is an additional cost, a standard open-jump pass includes access to all the areas.
In Sky Joust, patrons try to push one another off Bosu balls.
“Parents and kids can do this together,” said Glazer, who became a franchise owner after taking her three sons to a Sky Zone while traveling years ago and getting hooked on the concept. “If you were to tell your child ‘We’re going to go work out,’ they won’t want to go, but if you say, ‘We’re going to Sky Zone’ they’re excited to go and then getting an amazing, low-impact workout. Especially with our weather, it’s a great outlet to get kids off their screens.”
Another obstacle at Sky Zone is the Challenge Ladder, “a wobbly slackline that requires a lot of balance and ability,” she said.
Patrons also can attempt a 17-foot-high rock-climbing wall without a harness and fall into foam in Free Climb or tackle slanted steps, swinging bars, a balance beam and trapeze net in three areas of graduating difficulty in Warrior Zone, the latter open to attendees at least 48 inches tall.
“You can do one level and be done. It’s not something most people do on their first visit,” Glazer said, noting many kids return week after week to progress like a warrior.
Sky Zone also has two courts for dodgeball, with one person per square and participants separated by age and size.
“On weekends there are dodgeball games running all the time,” she said, noting injury avoidance is a key factor at all times at Sky Zone.
“We are big on safety,” Glazer said, “and we have court monitors keeping people safe.”
Toddlers ready to bounce have the security of doing so without bigger kids on the court during Toddler Time on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Once a month a costumed character joins the fun, too.
Sky Zone also is available for birthday parties, corporate events and rental in its entirety.
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“We can execute an amazing birthday party that’s super easy for Mom and Dad with everything included,” Glazer said. “You just bring the cake.”
Vickie Snow Jurkowski is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Sky Zone
Activity: Trampoline park
Where: 2318 Essington Road, Joliet
Hours: Open Jump from 4-8 p.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays, 4-11 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays
Cost: Open Jump is $16 for 60 minutes, $20 for 90 minutes or $24 for two hours. Sky Socks cost $3 and must be worn by all participants. Other promotions offered.
Information: 815-314-4890; www.skyzone.com