Hey y’all!

In case you didn’t know, I love the human body. So much so that I got a degree in Exercise Science and have worked in the health/fitness field since 2012. I never hope to stop learning, and I plan to share what I know with all of you! So, today, I’m putting on my exercise physiologist hat and giving you some info on hooping as a workout today.

There hasn’t been much research done on hula hoops as a fitness routine, so today I will be referencing an article from ACE, the American Council of Exercise, specifically this article published in their January 2011 edition of their professional magazine.

In the interest of not boring you with my spiel on VO2max, METs, and the like, I’ll keep the findings brief:

Yes! Hooping is a great workout!

The researchers in this experiment used a 35-minute hoop workout video and found that there was a heart rate response comparable to other common forms of group fitness, such as Step Aerobics or Cardio Kickboxing.

Now, this experiment was by no means perfect. It had a small sample size (16 female participants), all of whom were intermediate-advanced hoopers (How did they define that? No idea). However, this is a great indicator to what hoopers already know:  hoopdance can get you in shape without you even knowing it!

My favorite part of ACE’s whole article is at the very end:

[hooping is] a total-body workout that has the potential to improve your flexibility and balance while strengthening and toning the muscles of the back, abdomen, arms and legs. The rhythmic nature of hooping may also be relaxing and almost meditative for some.

At the end of the day, it’s less about WHAT you do as your workout and more about how much you enjoy it. For years, the fitness industry was focused on how we can exercise most efficiently, but we are now finding that longevity is key, and people are more likely to continue exercising if they enjoy the activity. That’s why I’m so passionate about hoopdance.

So you want to hoop to get fit? Here’s the breakdown:

• Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity each week OR 75 minutes of vigorous activity OR a mixture of the two.
  • Moderate intensity = you could carry on a conversation, but not sing to your favorite song
  • Vigorous intensity = you’re huffing and puffing and can only speak in short bursts
  • 1 minute of vigorous intensity = 2 minutes of moderate intensity
  • Want more benefits? Double your minutes! There is no upper or lower threshold for physical activity. Every bit you do helps promote a healthy life and decrease your risk for multiple health problems. Increasing your activity to at least 300 minutes per week can help improve things like blood pressure, cholesterol, and other important health markers. **This does not mean you should overtrain, burn yourself out, or injure yourself. Please be careful and challenge yourself without going overboard.**
• Because I believe in being well-rounded, please please please do at least two days of strength training per week. I won’t go into details on why strength training is so important. I’ll post a hoop and bodyweight workout in the future, but for now, you can use ACE’s 5 Creative Body-weight Exercises.
• And be sure you warm-up! Not sure how? Check out the warm-up video I posted on IG!

Sure, hoopdance can be a great workout, but I believe the greatest benefit lies in learning to love ourselves through movement.

I truly believe that by moving our bodies, we can get more comfortable and learn to accept ourselves exactly as we are. Does that mean we always feel awesome? No, but hooping and movement practices can help us learn to love ourselves through those rough patches. We all have them, and I know that I somehow always make it out on the other side, hula hoop in hand.

xx

Ellie