One of the most affordable and at the same time effective home fitness equipment is hula hoop. Reviews about this sports equipment are mostly only positive, after all, giving only 15-20 minutes a day to practice with it, you can burn enough calories and adjust your waist, stomach, and hips. Exercises with a hoop involve the muscles of the abdomen, back, legs and even arms. In addition, the state of the cardiovascular and respiratory system improves.
We set goals
To achieve a good result, it is important to set the right goals. And already proceeding from this, choose a projectile for classes. There are several types of hoops, but mostly they are divided into lightweight and heavy. So, which is better in your case to choose a hula hoop? Feedback from lovers of this sport suggests that it contributes to both weight loss and overall muscle strengthening. If the main goal of your classes is to keep your body in good shape and burn a small amount of calories, then it is better not to overload yourself and take an ordinary thin hoop. Its weight does not exceed 1 kilogram, but this is enough to keep the abs, legs and back muscles in good shape. The lightweight hoop is mainly made of plastic or aluminum, it is thin (no more than 2 cm) and about 80 cm in diameter. Hula hoop for weight loss is a weighted option. Its weight varies from 1.2 kg to 3 kg. The advantages of such a hoop are that it contributes to a greater reduction in body weight, because by holding such weight you burn more calories. Moreover, most of them are equipped with a variety of massage elements (balls or rounded spikes). Thanks to this, an effective “breakdown” of body fat occurs.
How to choose the hula hoop?
The feedback of the fitness trainers suggests that a correctly selected hoop is already half the success. First, as mentioned above, you need to look at the goals that you are striving for (weight loss, body shaping, or overall tone). Secondly, calculate your strengths: look at your physical fitness, health status. Heavier and thicker hula hoops are designed for women who have previously worked out in the gym. For beginners, it is better to take a lightweight option so as not to give a large load on the spine and back muscles. Thirdly, the diameter of the hula hoop directly depends on growth: if you put it in front of you, it should be slightly higher than the waist.
Hula hoop exercises
A hoop is a wide range of sports equipment. The stereotype that with its help you can only adjust the waist is incorrect. It can be rotated on the hips, legs, and other problem areas. If you need to adjust the waist, then everything is simple. You need to rotate the hula hoop alternately in different directions, while the position of the legs is not so important. They can be held together, shoulder width apart, or alternately put one foot forward.
Some useful tips
Often, after the first lesson, bruises remain on the waist. This is especially true for women with closely spaced capillaries or very delicate skin. In such cases, practicing with a hula hoop on the second and even on the third day is almost impossible due to pain. For beginner athletes, there is one piece of advice: Turn the hoop over your sweater, sweatshirt or weight belt for the first week .
Hula hoop: contraindications and warnings
Despite the fact that daily classes do not take much time and do not carry large loads, it is still worth considering the second side of the coin. Does the hula hoop have contraindications? Reviews of doctors and fitness trainers are unambiguous. As in any sport, there are also pitfalls here. It is strictly forbidden to deal with this projectile for pregnant women, women in childbirth (especially after a cesarean section or if the uterus has not shrunk to normal sizes), people with spinal injuries, with inflammation of the abdominal organs and with diseases of the back.