A popular fad of the 1950s, the hula hoop may seem like a childish toy, but it can actually be used as an effective exercise tool to firm muscles and lose weight. A standard hula hoop is a large plastic ring that you attempt to keep spinning around your midsection by moving your hips. While even a normal hula hoop can make for a fun aerobic exercise, weighted hula hoops should be used for a serious workout.
Sizes
Added weight makes a hula hoop easier to control and provides the necessary resistance needed to tone muscles and burn extra calories. A typical exercise hula hoop will weigh between 1 and 5 lbs. The size of hoop you’ll need depends on your height and weight. As a general rule of thumb, stand the hoop in front of you and see where it reaches on your body. A suitable hoop’s top edge should reach up to your lower chest, or at least to your navel. Larger hoops spin more slowly, meaning they require more effort and burn more calories.
Function
Many people make the mistake of rotating their hips in a circular motion to spin the hula hoop. In reality, the best way to spin the hoop is to merely place one foot in front of the other and shift your weight back and forth between your feet. The shifting weight moves your hips in a pumping, up-and-back motion. Hula hoop exercises can be performed with your arms and legs as well. For example, spinning the hoop around your arm can strengthen your shoulder and arm muscles.
Benefits
Working out with a weighted hula hoop provides both an aerobic exercise and a muscle-resistance exercise, helping to burn calories, increase metabolism and tone muscles all at once. Hula hooping can also be more fun than a traditional exercise routine, which may keep you interested and motivated longer.
Considerations
Of course, hula hooping alone won’t achieve much weight loss, no matter how long you spin the hoop around your belly. All weight loss occurs when more calories are burned than taken in. To ensure weight loss, first make appropriate diet modifications to reduce calories, particularly calories from saturated fats and refined sugars. Once your diet is under control, your hula hooping can assist with weight loss, the same as any other aerobic activity or muscle-resistance exercise.
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