If you are bored of doing crunches and conventional ab exercises, hula hooping provides an alternative which is fun and effective. Whether you are fit and wanting to tone your core to rock hard status or your aim is to lose weight, hula hooping will assist in reaching your goals.

We spoke to fitness expert Helga Williams about why the hula hoop is such an essential part of your fitness routine.

Benefits of Hula Hooping

The Hula Hoop is a hidden little secret waiting to change your life.

It's a calorie-burning, waist-cinching, ab tightening, inch busting piece of equipment that makes every workout feel like you’re at play. Sweating off last nights extra glass of wine has never been more fun!

How to hula hoop

The last time you can remember hula hooping may seem like a very distant memory, but thankfully it's very easy to use a hula hoop.

Start by swinging the hoop clockwise as long as you can and then change direction to a counter-clockwise movement. Repeat a few times and increase the duration of each set as you get stronger.

To keep the hoop around your waist, move your hips in a forward and backward motion as opposed to a circling movement. Keep your hands in front of you to keep from swinging your upper body around too much.

To further isolate your abs, concentrate on keeping your lower body steady.

Build up your hula hoop routine

Start with only five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening. Build this up to 10 minutes each and most importantly (I cannot emphasise this enough) keep it consistent.

Swaying your hips to keep the hoop circling around your waist activates all the midsection muscles including your obliques, lower back and hips. Initially, it may feel like you are reinventing the ‘twerk’ but you’ll be busting those moves in no time if you keep at it.

Incorporating a few additional hoop exercises as opposed to just swirling it around your waist will see the arms, legs and back shape up. Mirafit has taken your goals into great consideration for faster and more effective results by producing a Weighted Hula Hoop. Since you have to keep your muscles tight in order to whirl the hoop around your hips, weighted hoops work your muscles harder than their light-weight counterparts.

Slim your waist with a hula hoop

Whether you are a couch potato aiming to ‘un-potato’ yourself, or whether you are already fit and needing to change up your routine with a new challenge, the hula is versatile to your style. Another big benefit of hula hooping is that just ten minutes twice daily is really all you need to see those inches come off.

However, if you are wanting to amp it up slightly you can start a 15 – 30-minute Hula circuit. Your program at this stage would include some cardio, upper-body, lower-body and core exercises.

Want to add some toning into your routine? Check out these Mini Dumbbell Set.

The below sample workout will not only help you shed pounds faster but also tone you up from top to bottom (excuse the pun).

Hula Hoop Workout Plan

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Tags: Equipment > Hula Hoop ; Exercise Type > Conditioning ; Target Area > Core