Hula-Hooping it Up for Exercise Fun and Fitness

I’ve never been a particularly active person. Give me a good book or movie, a soft couch with a few pillows, and a warm afghan and I’m good to go. However, I’ve discovered that couch potatoes like me do need to take a break now and then and get moving in order to stay healthy and keep the pounds and the extra inches off. An easy way to do that? With a hula-hoop!

When my active 74-year-old mother had a problem with her knees and had to stop jogging in place during her Curves workout, she decided to use a hula-hoop instead. In time, she recommended that old childhood toy-friend to me – and I’m so glad she did. She had purchased her hoop at Wal-Mart and recommended I get one like hers, a water-filled hoop. The extra weight of the water made the workout more effective and, actually, made the hoop turn a little more slowly, thus making it easier to keep going. I’m old enough now that I’ve learned to listen to my mother’s advice, so I rushed right out and purchased my own water-filled hoop from the toy department (look near the bikes) at my local Wal-Mart store.

When I was a kid I was really good at keeping a hula-hoop going and it was a lot of fun. I guess that’s one of those skills like riding a bike; it came right back to me. Soon I was spending less time on the couch or in front of the computer and, instead, I began spending time during commercials of my favorite TV shows or even in the kitchen waiting for water to boil, just little snippets of time, hooping it up with my new piece of exercise equipment, my hula-hoop.

I’ve read more about exercising with an exercise hoop since then and it turns out that larger hoops are easier to use, as are weighted hoops. I found a website of a company that sells weighted hoops, a place called Sports-Hoops. They also have a page that shows pictures of how to hoop plus other ways to use their hoops, including a chin workout and an arm workout, both of which I need to try. I’m not sure I can master any of their additional workouts, but I won’t know until I try – and you won’t know if you can hoop it up until you try.

Take a look at the Sports-Hoop instructions and consider either ordering a weighted hoop from them or, for a quicker alternative, trying an inexpensive hula-hoop from your local Wal-Mart or toy store. Try it for a few minutes a day then work up to eight or 10 minutes per day. You may find your waistline whittling away and your fitness level improving. Who would have thought that exercising and being active could be so much fun!

(As with any exercise program, check with your doctor to be sure this one is safe for you.)