Decided to look up the hula hoop to know what magic it works? One of the main red herring regarding the Hula hoop is the thought that it is just for kids. Well, if you too have that opinion, think again because this article is here to change that for you and give you a different insight.
This colorful simple piece of equipment can provide you with the best workout routine that you wouldn’t ever think it could have, all the while highlighting the fun factor for you. The Hula Hoop is a fascinating and enjoyable addition to your aerobics sessions, leading to a toned body and a great burn-off of calories.
This article will provide you a trip to the important factors of a Hula Hoop, giving you a smart hula hoop review. We have listed below ten advantages and disadvantages of Hula Hoop for you.
Let’s dig them out!
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Best Hula Hoop for Weight Loos
NEOWEEK Exercise Hoop for Adults
The Neoweek is the best hoop to get advantages by doing exercise on it. This weighted product is suitable for adults, beginners, seniors, and master-level persons. Having eight sections and all of them are detachable to each other, soft and smooth for use. Available in the color combination of black and gray, made with foam material. This is an ideal top-rated hula hoop that works for long-term quality and one of the beneficial gym items for your body. With the help of its weighted design, the Neoweek weighted hula hoop plays an important role to lose weight and burn your calories. You can adjust the sizes of the section from 6 to 8 as per your requirements.
Advantages Of A Hula Hoop
Burns Calories:
On a journey from losing a few pounds to a complete transformation, creating a calorie shortfall is one of the primary goals that we all must go for. A Hola hoop is among the best go-to equipment for that. The effort that is put into keeping the Hoop in between your chest and hips by continuously moving your body in a repetitive circle serves the calorie losing purpose best. According to research conducted on the number of calories lost per session of 30 minutes, it was observed that women lost about 165 calories and men lost approximately 200 calories on average. You might want to get that hula hoop before and after the selfie!
When comparing Hola hoop to other aerobics, we can openly say that it is as good as salsa, belly dancing, and swing dancing considering the calories lost. With so many hula hoop exercise benefits we assume it is safe to say that it is one of the most pleasing ways to get rid of all those calories, and hula hoop benefits belly fat too so you certainly can’t go wrong with this one!
Budget-Friendly:
While many other cardiovascular equipment and gym sessions also help you achieve the same goal, yet they might cost you a bit more than what you are willing to spend. That is not the case with a Hula Hoop. Simply put, a Hola Hoop can be considered as a cheap yet very effective alternative to all those options. On average, a standard Hula Hoop might cost you about $8 to $15 and a weighted one will range from $20 to $50 approximately (slightly varying depending on the brand of your choice). The price may also vary depending on the weight of the Hula Hoop as there are many weighted hula hoop benefits too. Who wants to drop a few more bucks when you get the same (and relatively more fun) result either way!
Increases Body Balance:
When we consider control over our body movement, having a good balance is a vital point, which is one of the advantages of a hula hoop. Moreover, a key point to this is that it helps in maintaining a good posture. We all know the benefits of a good posture, and who doesn’t want one?
While most adults usually consider other gym-related body balancing exercises and yoga, these might not be the cup of tea for you. No need to brood tho, why not opt for one that is fun to do and doesn’t induce the feeling of boredom in your workout sessions. Keeping the Hola hoop going on for 5-10 minutes can be exciting and challenging but it can do wonders when we talk about body balance.
Fewer Conditions:
Unlike other traditional cardiovascular exercises like swimming, cycling, and running this one does not declare outdoor or built-up centers as a necessity and can be done almost everywhere. If you are limited to your home (be it because of a global pandemic, bad weather, inconvenient timing, or any other cause), this does not mean that you have to skip your workout session (because we know that you have worked hard to reach this milestone you don’t want any hiccup where your health and efforts are concerned). A Hola Hoop requires no such conditions and the activity can easily be done in your home or backyard.
Inches Reduction:
When we talk about adults using Hula Hoop, most people are attracted by the idea of losing a reasonable number of inches around your waist and butt area. Yes, it is true! A Hula Hoop can work like magic for inches reduction around these areas if done diligently. Not to forget a hula hoop benefits belly fat too!
Fun & Entertaining:
Now, a Hula Hoop is not all about losing weight, body balancing, and reducing inches only as it acts as a full-time fun activity as well. A Hula Hoop can serve as a fun family time activity for you guys when you don’t have anything else on your hand.
Give your child a Hula Hoop to enjoy his time if you are tired of watching them in front of their PlayStation all day long. And why only them! Grab one yourself and enjoy your time with him/her. Nobody is ever too old for hula hooping!
Boosts Cardiovascular System:
A Hula Hoop works as a game-changer when it comes to cardiovascular fitness. These Cardio exercises (also referred to as aerobics) work on the body by targeting our heart and lungs and improve the oxygen supply to the whole body, which helps in reducing risk factors of heart diseases, diabetes, stress, and many more.
Helps in Constipation:
One of the lesser-known advantages of a Hula Hoop is that it works wonders for constipation too. This is all due to the movement of the Hula Hoop in between your abdomen and waist, which stimulates intestinal movement further resulting in a better bowel movement, helps defecation, and relieving constipation. If a friend or a kid is facing such problems, suggest they spend 5-10 minutes daily on a Hola Hoop and wait for the hula hoop to work its magic!
Easy Access:
Using a Hola Hoop has a major benefit over many sports, it being that a hula hoop requires no prior preparation and settings. Also, you do not require a companion or a team to do it. A majority of people get lazy when they think about setting up equipment for their workout sessions and making arrangements as required. Well, let’s hope this point will keep you motivated to not miss out on any workout session with a Hula Hoop.
Improves Mind and Body Coordination:
By spinning a Hula Hoop daily, one of the biggest benefits that we humans can extract is the ability to sharpen our senses and better the coordination among our mind and body. A Hula hoop requires the dedication of both the mind and the body. Using a Hula hoop with utmost dedication can make such a fun game so beneficial.
With that, we will wrap up the advantages of a hula hoop! But before deciding on buying one, you might want to know about the disadvantages of a hula hoop too, which are listed below.
Having a sound view of both sides of a coin is necessary. While we are considering the advantages, let’s not turn a blind eye towards its disadvantages.
Here are some!
Disadvantages Of A Hula Hoop
Irritates the Skin:
While enjoying your time on a Hula hoop, the main problem faced by people is the irritation it causes on the skin around your waist and abdominal area due to continuous friction. But keep in mind that this friction cannot be eliminated, as it is among the core factors which allows you to maintain the hoop around your waist area (if not present you won’t be able to use the hoop anyway). Furthermore, a Hula Hoop is made up of plastic and sometimes covered with adhesives or sticky tapes. Others may be sanded. All these become a contributing factor to cause irritation and rash on the skin.
The ideal precautions to avoid irritation is to cover that body area with proper and tight clothing so that the hoop doesn’t come in direct contact with your skin.
Inconvenient to transport:
The typical old Hula Hoop is a single-piece, solid hoop (Some new breakable hoops have made their way to market as well now, but they’re not that common yet.). Considering the diameter and overall dimensions of a Hola Hoop, mostly of the one used by an average adult, it is inconvenient to transport a Hola Hoop from one place to another over a large distance. On average, the dimensions opted by adults to buy a Hola Hoop range from 38 inches to 42 inches which might be difficult to fit in average to small automobiles.
Takes a lot of time to learn:
If you are thinking that you will pull off Hula Hooping just fine in one or two tries, sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s not going to be the case (unless you’re the golden maknae). A Hula Hoop requires a lot of determination, patience, and coordination between mind and body.
You have to keep on practicing and give this new activity some time so that you can master it. Some people get the hang of it right away but the majority require time. Still, remember to have all the fun while doing it!
Muscular strain:
For beginners, a sore body is a predictable situation as a result of all the strain produced, especially around your mid-body. This can be a reaction to your body going through the fun yet a bit demanding activity. After you ease into the routine tho, these sour muscles will themselves chill out and you will be good to go. Don’t worry if it is a mild strain only!
But if the soreness and strain do not subside even after many days of regularly following your workout routine, it is better to consult a professional or someone who has more experience and profound knowledge regarding physical fitness and health concerns of workout sessions.
Spinal problems:
If overdone, using a Hula hoop can shift towards a regrettable decision. The continuous movement of your waist and hips can put pressure on your spine which, if maintained for a prolonged period, can result in musculoskeletal disorder. If the twists are not periodic, this too can cause the spine to react painfully. Try to limit your workout session to 15-20 minutes on average daily, and not more than that. We don’t want those hula hoop dangers to hinder us when we can evade them with just a little self-care!
Fatigue:
We do acknowledge that spinning a Hula hoop fun and a source of respite for people, but unfortunately, that’s not all that comes with it. The majority of people start to feel fatigued in these sessions due to the repetitive movement of the hoop and your body. Moreover, if your body movement is not moving in a timely rhythm, the issue might worsen. Give more time to your technique coordination and make sure it is consistent. That’s the key to avoid hula hoop dangers!
Minor Accidents:
When properly used, it is unexpected to attain any injury by spinning a Hula hoop. But for people who play tricks and like to do stunts with a Hula Hoop, injuries on the nose, neck, lips, face, or any other body part can surely be a possibility. When considering a weighted hula hoop vs regular hula hoop, dealing with a weighted Hula Hoop can be a more tricky and patient-demanding task.
Perirenal Hematoma:
Although it is very rare for a person to attain any injury at all from a Hula Hoop, in some cases the unpredicted does happen. By excessively using a weighted Hula Hoop daily, a person can surely damage and bruise the waist area. If the damage is severe and continuous, the damage to arteries is expected to cause a Perirenal Hematoma. In case you have misused or over-worked in your session with a heavy Hula Hoop, and are feeling pain near your abdominal region, don’t put off a visit to your doctor and do get yourself checked.
Musculoskeletal Disorder:
If you are using a weighted Hula Hoop, in some cases the repetitive movements of the waist and hips can lead to problems in your bone structure. This, if not taken care of at the right time, leads to MSDs and can pain you a lot. Try to talk to an expert as soon as you notice this, as it might be due to a wrong poster, or incorrect workout techniques applied by you for over a prolonged period.
Improper Exercise:
Though a Hula hoop is wonderful for inches reduction around your waist area, still it cannot be declared as a proper or complete workout session. When using a Hula Hoop, the main focus is the waist and hips area. Try adding other exercises if you are aiming for complete body engagement (especially arm exercises and so). You will still further require weight-bearing exercises as a Hula Hoop does not cover that aspect as well. Unfortunately, but we can’t have it all!
Final Words
Apropos to all that, we hope you were able to thoroughly consider all the possible aspects that will come with buying a hula hoop. Browse through the advantages and disadvantages of a hula hoop carefully before deciding on what you want for yourself and your child. We think the pros outweigh the cons, but your decision should be purely subjective! Happy hula hooping and stay safe!