Have Fun Exercising With a Hula Hoop

How to start out as a beginner

Photo by Dmitry Dreyer from Unsplash

When I tell people I enjoy hula hoop for exercise, I often get one of three reactions:

‘Are you kidding me? Hula hoops are for kids!’

‘I can’t do it. I’ve never been able to keep a hula hoop on my waist long enough.’

‘It’s not worth bothering to use a hula hoop for exercise. It’s not a real workout.’

I’m here to say these are all myths. Many adults are getting into hooping exercise and plenty of online communities. Hooping has become more popular over the past few years. I’ve been doing it for a few years, and have fallen in love with it.

Why choose hooping as a workout?

• It’s an excellent cardiovascular workout and burns a nice amount of calories.
• This 2015 study found that ‘the use of a weighted hoop for 6 weeks, following the regimen described here, was associated with a slimmer waistline and hip girth.’
• The study found no evidence of changes to muscular endurance. Yet, my own experience has been that my entire body feels the soreness of a muscular workout the next day. Make of that what you will. I use hooping as a cardiovascular workout and choose other exercises to work my muscles.