5 BENEFITS OF HULA HOOPING
Looking to switch up your cardio game and try something new? We've got you! Grab a hula hoop and get those hips moving.
It's a great form of cardio
One of the main benefits of hula hooping is that once you get the hang of maintaining the hoop around your waist, it's a great cardio activity, increasing your heart rate and pumping blood around the body being a perfect alternative to running miles on the treadmill... Yes we know, that can get a little boring!
In comparison to those long-winded runs on the treadmill, hula hooping is a low impact activity, therefore putting little to no strain on joints which is not the case when running...
Cardio activities provide a wide range of benefits for the body and mind, stronger heart, improved sleep, and boosts moods. These a just a few of the benefits, we have attached a great article explaining the benefits in further detail: 13 Benefits of Aerobic Exercise
Feel the core burn
When hula hooping, the aim is to maintain the hoop around your waist, to do so you're engaging the core while swinging your hips. Engaging the core over a long period of time will ultimately improve core strength allowing you to perform the movement for longer. A strengthened core does not only improve your hula hooping ability but benefits overall life, supporting better posture, balance, and protecting vital organs behind the abdominal wall. The 10 Benefits of a Strong Core
Improves coordination, balance and motor skills
To be able to keep the hoop around your waist requires you to know where your body is in relation to the hoop. Lucky coordination and balance, like many things, can improve over time with practice.
Our tips for unlocking balancing – try waist hooping and raising one leg off the ground. Point your toe first, and then see if you can lift your foot off the ground. As you master this part you can take it up a notch by pointing your foot out to the side, or even behind you. Just keep practicing, we believe in you!
More than just physical benefits
There are many other physical benefits of hula hooping but psychological benefits too. Hula hooping has similar benefits to yoga in that it is a mind/body activity involving coordination. The rhyme of the movement can be very calming and relaxing while being able to speed up or slow down the revolution of the hoop. As you become more advanced with your hooping technique you can begin to incorporate dance.
It's fun, get your groove on
We have all experienced that feeling of cardio days feeling like a chore at some point on our fitness journey, endlessly running miles on the treadmill. Spicing up your cardio days with a hula hoop can definitely make it more enjoyable and less like a chore. Fitness should be fun and enjoyable first, if the exercise is more enjoyable, you'll more likely continue to do it consistently and we all know that without consistency no progress can be made.
Not a fan of hula hooping and looking for another form of cardio you can do? Maybe running is for you: 5 Running Tips for Beginners