The Fitness Hula Hoop Is the Thing (and Why You Should Try It)
You may know how to spin a hoop like a pro , but did you know that you can apply those skills as part of the latest social media fitness craze? Pop sensation Lizzo went viral on Tik Tok this week for reacting in duo to a video of one of her fans dancing to her single “About Damn Time” using a hula hoop. It was just one example of a wider trend on the social media platform highlighting the resurgence of 1950s toys increasingly being used for fitness.
The hula hoop subreddit has 16,000 members, and YouTube hula hoop exercise videos regularly get hundreds of thousands , if not millions , of views. According to a study by the American Council on Exercise , hooping burns an average of 210 calories per 30-minute workout, comparable to boot camp style, step aerobics, and cardio kickboxing. Maybe that’s why he’s caught the attention of celebrities from Catherine Zeta-Jones to Jennifer Hudson (or maybe their pelotons just broke).
Hulahoop is approved even by health experts. Samantha Noderer of the Massachusetts Public Health Blog writes , “Hooping is a great way to tone your thighs, abs, glutes, and arms without even feeling like you’re exercising.” The Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge recommends hula hooping as a physical activity for children, and Dr. Edward R. Laskowsky notes, “You can use a weighted hula hoop as part of a general fitness program. to diversify your workouts or just as a fun way to get more active.”
How to get started hula hooping for fitness
Here are some YouTube exercises to help you get started incorporating the hoop into your cardio workouts. Note that many of the exercises use a weighted hoop , which is different from the one most often sold in a toy store.
- Warm-up/ Hula-Hoop Cool-down: Add some hoop jumps at the beginning and end of an existing workout with this warm-up that uses the hoop for stretching but does not include active rotation.
- PINC Active Fitness Hula Hoop Workout by Rachel Attard : This 15-minute beginner program includes multiple hoop stretches and long hoop rotations in a variety of poses that target different muscle groups.
- Hula Hoop Dance Workout : A 30-minute full body workout designed for intermediate to advanced hula hoopers.
Grab your gym clothes and hit play on one of Spotify’s many hula hoop playlists , and you’re good to go.