Hula hoops have come a long way from the children's toy in the 50s. Much larger and heavier, weighted hula hoops are all the rage now. They provide an excellent form of exercise and offer cardiovascular conditioning and weight management health benefits, according to a study done by The American Council on Exercise.
Description
Weighted hula hoops weigh from 1 to 4 lbs. and are 37 to 45 inches in diameter. Because of their weight and diameter, they rotate more slowly around the body and are easier to twirl than the smaller, lighter versions. They offer greater resistance; the brightly-colored tape used on weighted hula hoops also makes them adhere or stick to the body better. This makes them effective at burning calories and eliciting improved health benefits. They can be homemade or bought online.
Full-Body Workout
There are online resources such as hooping.org that can teach you everything you want to know about weighted hula hooping. There are more ways to twirl a hoop than simply sending it one direction around your waist for 30 minutes. Tricks of varying degrees of difficulty can be done to increase the intensity of the workout and therefore also increase the health benefits derived from it. The variety of hooping movements provides a total-body workout which can improve your flexibility and balance. The muscles of the back, abdomen, arms and legs are strengthened and toned. Some people also find the rhythmic nature of hooping to be relaxing and almost meditative.
Calories Burned
A study sponsored by The American Council on Exercise and conducted by exercise researcher Jordan Holthusen, M.S. and John Porcari, Ph.D. found that in terms of heart rate and calorie burn, hooping improves cardiovascular fitness and compares favorably with boot-camp classes, step aerobics and cardio kickboxing. Weighted hula hooping burns approximately 7 calories per minute or 210 calories in a 30-minute hooping session, falling within guidelines for weight management.
Heart Rate
The average heart rate for the subjects tested was 151 beats per minute, which was approximately 84 percent of the age-predicted heart rate maximum for the average subject. Holthusen was surprised that the heart-rate averages were so high. "I was really impressed by how intense of a workout you can get hooping and how many calories you can burn," says Holthusen.
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