This hula hooping exercise isn’t quite as similar to what you might remember as all the rage on the playground. It turns out that this activity has been around much longer than that: experts tell us that it dates back to ancient civilizations. Egyptian children used dried vines as dangling hoops.
New research has identified that hoop jumping, as the activity is now known, expends the same energy as walking at a speed of about 4 miles per hour. That’s enough to tone up and lose weight. It has even become a choreographed group workout.
Trying to see if the hoop had an effect on fitness and was intense enough to meet the ACSM guidelines for cardiovascular conditioning, the research team studied 16 women ranging in age from 16 to 59 who participated in regularly in organized hoop classes.
The team took measurements of the subjects’ oxygen consumption, heart rate and level of physical exertion during the half-hour video-led jumping class.
The mean heart rate for those attending the half-hour class was found to be 151 beats per minute (equal to 84% of the predicted maximum for age), mean oxygen consumption was 20.6 mL/kg/ min; the average caloric expenditure was equal to 210 calories. The energy used was enough to help hoopers control their weight.
Hooping is very different from the hula hooping of the past. Anyone can do it as these hoops are bigger and heavier than the ones of yore. Any age, size or ability can keep a hoop moving.
Another benefit of the new bigger and heavier hoop is that when it moves around your waist, you get a solid massage. Those who practice the hoop regularly say that it makes you sweat, resets a bad mood, and can even be considered very meditative.
Your doctor will tell you that being active, hula hooping or not, on a regular basis is the key to keeping your body healthy and strong.
There is strong scientific evidence that regular exercise is the real way to maintain weight in the long term, and it will also help reduce the risks of heart disease and diabetes beyond any benefit you get from weight loss alone. That’s pretty powerful.
The amount of exercise needed appears to be highly individual, although the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends working up to 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of rigorous intensity (or some combination of both) each week. . Expert bodies call on all healthy adults to follow similar guidelines: 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise, 5 days a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise, three days a week, can help you lose weight. quickly.