Fighting Childhood Obesity in America With A Hula Hoop

Remember how fun hula hooping was when you were a kid. It didn’t matter whether you were a boy or a girl, it was fun. Bet you never thought about how beneficial it was to your health at that time while you were doing it. You were just playing. Try to do it now and see how well you do it or how long you last. This was the challenge given to me by one of my daughters a while back. I had no idea what I was in for. Even as a healthy adult I stunk at it… And I used to be good. I can bench 320 lbs but could not hula hoop more than 2 or 3 rotations. It whooped my tale. It’s because I kept trying over and over and over. And then it dawned on me, a hula hoop provides an explosive core workout.

My challenge for all of you is to have your kids put down the remote or game controller for 30 minutes every day and offer challenges to them with a hula hoop. Make it fun and exciting. Kids love a challenge and you will too. Hooping on a regular basis is a great way to narrow those waist lines and strengthen the core muscles in which all body movement is centered around. The most dangerous fat on the body is the fat around your waist called visceral fat which is linked to heart health. It is also the hardest fat to rid yourself of as you get older.

Hula hooping incorporates many muscles, over 30, and burns huge amounts of calories the longer you do it. The more muscles working and the longer the duration the more calories will be burned. One of the most important muscles it will use is the heart. Within seconds of starting your heart rate increases and that’s what burns the calories. Not to mention it helps with stamina and muscle tone. And it’s all in the name of fun. The kids have no idea that their exercising. It’s almost like cheating.

Not only does hooping help the heart but also the entire cardio vascular system, spine, eye-hand coordination, joints and so much more. It even helps make the facial muscles stronger because of the huge smiles that are kept on the face for prolonged periods of time.

Try this out for fun. Basic hooping, It takes a little practice to get it but kids seem to master this so easily. Once they get the hang of it make it a challenge. We like to do time trials between the two older girls. If there is only one child then that is the perfect opportunity for you to be the opponent. Simply keep time from when they start until the hoop hits the floor and record that time. Then the next opponent goes. The person with the longest time wins!! You can even incorporate prizes for them to win to up the ante. Whether it be a HEALTHY snack, extended tv time, or whatever you can come up with. Just be creative and make it fun for them and you.

You can also get them to try some tricks like walking while hooping. Sounds easy but it is very difficult and will provide hours of laughs watching them do it. Hilarious!! You can even try to get them to move the hoop up and down their body. Crazy skills required. Get them to start it at their waste and then move the hoop as high as they can, preferably to their neck, with no hands. Us parents get a great ab workout just laughing so hard watching. Which, as a side note, is great for our heart, laughing that is.

You can even get them to spin a hoop on one arm while still spinning one on their waste. Or maybe one on each arm. Or have them stand on one leg and hoop. The possibilities are really endless. Just don’t make it impossible. You will surely get a lot of laughs and the kids will great an excellent workout… And maybe go to bed a few minutes earlier.