Hula Hoop Workout: Who Else Wants to Have Fun while Burning Fat?
Are you looking for a way to get in shape while having fun? Consider a Hula hoop workout - you’ll be surprised, it's NOT just for the kids!
Hula hoop exercise is one of the best workouts to lose weight quickly without the expense of gym memberships or health risks of fad diets.
The Hula hoop workout is not only sensual, relaxing and fun, it works your core abdominals and tones your butt and thighs muscles.
Believe it or not, in a 30 minute workout you can burn about 200 calories.
Have kids? They’ll join you in your hula hoop exercise without too much asking ;)
Even a weighted Hula hoop, which you should use for exercising, is easy to master, low-cost and easily stored away, making it a convenient exercising equipment option over stationery bikes, treadmills and other big and expensive gym equipment.
The Benefits of a Hula hoop workout...
...are surprising. Take a look.
1. Not only will you quickly re-shape your hips and tone up your thigh and abdominal muscles with the Hula hoop workout, you’ll get rid of those unsightly love handles as well. The Hula hoop exercise works your mid-section muscles the best - there's no other circular ab workout like it.
So if you’d like to re-shape your body and get a smaller waist, this is the workout for you.
2. With such an energizing cardio workout you’ll also regain better flexibility and coordination, as it stretches and strengthens your back muscles, increasing the flexibility of your spine - all with minimum impact on your joints.
3. Because it improves the flow of blood to your brain, a Hula hoop workout makes you feel more refreshed and clear-minded than after a power nap - due to the increased brain oxygenation.
4. The unstoppable fun of Hula hooping increases your endorphins level giving you a motivating "high" - much like most trampoline exercise routines.
5. Contrary to the drag of going to the gym for boring and repetitive workouts, the fun Hula hoop exercise is more likely to find time for and easily done in the park or at the beach.
6. Did you know that Japan once banned the Hula hoop because the rotating hip action seems indecent? No wonder - unlike any other workout - the undulating Hula hoop exercise is utterly feminine, making you feel sexy and flirtatious regardless of your weight - when did you feel like that lately?
How to Do the Hula Hoop Workout
The Hula hoop instructions call for the well-known basic hip rotation for the mid-section toning. Start with a 10 minute workout and build it to 30 minutes (or more) as your condition and time permits.
Get a weighted Hula hoop for a more intense effect. However, even with a regular hoop there are many variations - the size of the hoop and your height determine what exercises you can do.
For example, with a larger hoop, the hip exercises are more challenging; you can also use it to "jump rope" Hula hoop.
But even with a medium sized hoop you can still give your thighs a workout by jumping through it.
The Hula hoop instructions for a great workout of your leg muscles are to hold it touching the ground at waist level hopping through it as you swing it back and forth.
Give your arms a super workout by rotating the hoop out in front of you while raising and lowering your arms.
There are also more challenging variations you can do during a Hula hoop exercise, like the "bump hump" and "angle hooping".
Hula Hoop Workout: a Short Hula Hoop History
Twirling willow or vine hoops around the waist, arms and neck by belly-dancers was common in Egypt 3,000 years ago and a noted entertainment craze in England much later, during the 14th century. However, the modern Hula hoops appeared during the 1950’s being named after the Hawaiian Hula dance where the dancers originally used bamboo or stiff grass hoops.
In 1957, when an Australian company began making wood rings for sale in retail stores, the item got the attention of Wham-O, a new California toy manufacturer that made plastic hoops in a variety of bright colors. The following year, Knerr and Melin of Wham-O promoted heavily the Hula hoop on Southern California playgrounds, doing demonstrations and giving away hoops to get the kids (and playful adults) to learn the move.
This turned Hula hoop into a trendy toy, 25 million hoops being sold in just 4 months!
Although the Hula hoop craze died out in the 60’s, the Hula hoop workout is now en vogue again - thanks to the concept of getting fit while relaxing and having fun. What better way to melt the bulges around your waist and hips and exercise to lose belly fat? >>