How to Exercise With a Hula Hoop

That cheap piece of plastic that kept you busy as a child has turned into a fitness empire. The Hula Hoop is back and more sophisticated than ever, offering numerous benefits when used in an exercise routine. By swinging your hips around, you tone every angle of your torso and get a fantastic cardiovascular workout to boot. Hooping can also improve your grace and coordination.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Buy yourself a Hula Hoop. Though there are benefits to using a hoop you picked up from the dollar store, make an investment in a weighted hoop for better results. A hula hoop weighing two pounds or less is good for beginners, or those who wish to maximize the amount of time they can exercise.

2. Warm up for a few minutes by jogging or doing some jumping jacks.

3. Begin your routine by challenging yourself to hooping for two 10-minute intervals. To get some help with the technicalities, see the related eHow article titled "How to Use a Hula Hoop."

4. Move your arms for an even more challenging workout. Once you're comfortable with the basic hooping routine, try adding some arm movements. You could punch, swing or wave; whatever gets you energized. This will increase your heart rate and burn more calories than moving your hips alone.

5. Join a hooping class or buy a DVD to get more from exercise with a Hula Hoop. If you find yourself enjoying hooping and want to take it to the next level, there's nothing like a guided workout. Many routines teach you to dance with the hoop, for a full body workout.

Tips & Warnings

• Fun is the appeal of hooping, so blast some music and swing to the beat.
• Don't be discouraged if you can't master the art of the Hula Hoop right away. In the beginning, even attempting to keep the hoop up will burn quite a few calories.

Who Can Help:

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Resources

• Check out YouTube for some free clips on how to exercise with a Hula Hoop.
• A popular site that sells hoops and instructional materials.
• A free zine devoted to the Hula Hoop.

[misscristi]

on 7/7/2009 Sorry, spacecase. They're at yourhoop.com

[misscristi]

on 7/7/2009 Just a comment to save potentially happy hoopers some headache. I'd bought a weighted hoop online and was SO excited. Unfortunately, when I got it, it almost came to my chest. I kept trying but eventually got discouraged...it was just SO SLOW. After searching online for what seemed like forever, I found Your Hoop. They sell weighted hoops built to size which is awesome for those of us under 5'11". Now I'm a hooping fool!