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When I think of a Hula-Hoop, I immediately have lots of funny moments in my head…from when I was 10 years old. It’s been a long time since I’ve had one in my hand, let alone circled one around my hips. But recently, as I’ve scrolled Instagram, YouTube, and other digital platforms, I keep running into people my age who have discovered Hula-Hoop fitness for themselves and swear by it.
So I decided it was time for me to finally try it out myself: I bought a Hula-Hoop, watched all the “Hula-Hoop Fitness for Beginners” videos I could find, and started training. Read on to find out what a fitness routine with a Hula-Hoop was like.
From my one-month Hula-Hoop fitness test, I expected to develop a better body feeling and more stability, which I hoped would benefit me in other sports such as swimming, for example. But more importantly, I wanted to find out if training with the Hula-Hoop could be something that can be integrated into everyday life in a sustainable way.
In my imagination, I pictured myself standing on my balcony swinging the hoop in the morning while enjoying the first rays of sunshine, or doing my workout in the evening after work while looking for a new season of my favorite series. In other words, I hoped to find a workout for which I had no more excuses.
Beauty editor Melanie Paukner tested a Hula-Hoop fitness routine every day for a month.
I had a bitter realization right at the start: I am an absolute beginner. So my first goal, before I even started doing a real fitness program, was to learn how to Hula-Hoop. But, I wondered, what was the best way to do that?
Learning to Hula-Hoop for beginners seems to be a popular video topic on YouTube, luckily for me, so I watched all the content that explains which hoop is best to use as a beginner and which direction to move the hips to keep the hoop up. Here, at a glance, are some of the most essential facts about learning to Hula-Hoop:
I’ve already mentioned above what I personally hoped to gain from my test. But there are other benefits to Hula-Hoop fitness, which is why it’s so popular with the masses. Contrary to what you might think, it is an effective full-body workout that can do much more than just burn calories. For one, it mobilizes the spine, which helps prevent back pain, and it works the abdominal and back muscles as well as the core. And that’s exactly what was super important to me, because my goal was to optimize my posture and train my lower back, since I am often plagued by back pain.
But Hula-Hoop fitness also makes you sweat, because it gets your cardiovascular system going. So if you’re hoping for a relaxed workout, you’re wrong. You also burn a lot of calories. One of the reasons for this is that the abdominal muscles are constantly at work.
The biggest advantage is probably that the workout is a lot of fun. And when something is fun, you stick with it—at least in theory. I wondered if that would be the case for me.
When I swung the hoop for the first time, it didn’t work at all, and you couldn’t really have called it a Hula-Hoop workout. After 10 minutes, that was it, and I didn’t feel like doing it anymore. The next day after work, I grabbed the hoop again; lo and behold, it worked. Rarely have I seen success so quickly, and the 10 minutes turned into 15. On day three I had to do it in the morning because I had a date in the evening; after 20 minutes of Hula-Hoop fitness, which included listening to a podcast, I no longer felt like a beginner.
Over the next few days, I really did always find between 20 and 40 minutes for my workout, and each time it was even more fun. I actively looked around for workouts with Hula-Hoop on the internet to bring variety into the routine, but sometimes I just felt like turning on the TV and doing it while I watched. Rarely had it been so easy for me to incorporate fitness into my daily routine.
After a week, though, I had to take a day off. Bruises had formed around my hips and the abdominal soreness was also enormous—but that’s all normal at the beginning of a regular Hula-Hoop fitness routine.
Beauty editor Melanie Paukner doing a Hula-Hoop workout
In fact, the equipment is versatile, and there are several different ways in which it can be used. These are my five favorites:
Grab the hoop with both arms in the middle at the outermost points and raise your arms vertically to shoulder height. Now move from the center to the right and then to the left. Always keep the torso tense. A great exercise to additionally strengthen the body’s core.
If you’re confident enough, you can also do steps forward and backward with the Hula-Hoop. Here’s how: Swing the hoop around your hips as usual. Once you’re ready, keep taking three steps forward and back again for about a minute. And of course, keep circling the hoop.
With this exercise, you train your the coordination (and also the arms). During your Hula-Hoop fitness session, stretch your arms out to the side and let them circle. This can take some practice, but it’s a lot of fun once you get the hang of it.
Place the Hula-Hoop on the floor and behind it. Now jump into the hoop, do squats, and jump out again. Very effective if you also want to integrate a short leg workout into your fitness routine.
Place the hoop on the floor. Lie behind it and lift your legs bent so that the soles of your feet hover above the circle. Now alternately lower one foot and briefly tap the floor. The perfect abdominal exercise for those who want to step it up a notch.
After three weeks, I already noticed how I walked straighter and my posture had improved. My core felt firmer and more stable. The workout also seemed to be effective against lower back pain—at least I haven’t had any discomfort since I started my test. On average, I still swing my hips for about 20 to 30 minutes a day.
To really break a sweat and burn calories, try a more holistic workout that combines Hula-Hoop-ing with other exercises like the ones mentioned above. All in all, I found Hula-Hoop fitness to be totally effective because it was perfect for a stressful workday and didn’t really feel like exercise. Win-win, in my opinion, so I will definitely continue to do it. It’s at least the best investment in an athletic activity I’ve ever made. No gym has ever seen me as often as I do Hula-Hoop fitness now—and that’s saying something.
This post was originally published in Glamour Germany. For more on beauty editor Melanie Paukner, check out her Instagram account @melaniepaukner
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