Learn Hula Hoop Fitness & Dance | Vlog 2 | Stretching Flow

Looking to learn hula hoop fitness & dance? You have come to the right place! We will be releasing new beginner classes every week for the entire month of January here on the Periodical! You can visit our fitness section on the site or head over to our YouTube page to find the classes! So forget your typical workout routine, lets get spinning and having fun! But first, we need to stretch!

Stretching is incredibly important to do not only before hula hooping but with any physical exercise. Stretching and warming up before and after activity will keep the body from getting any injuries or pulled muscles. When you learn hula hoop fitness & dance you will be doing a lot of different motions that you may not be used to, especially in the torso. Please be careful, and follow this basic stretching flow a few times through before you begin your practice!

In this stretching flow video I take you through a simple warm up/stretching routine that you can utilize before you start your hoop dance & fitness practice. You can go through this flow before and after practice, and I recommend going through it more then once to be sure your muscles are ready for physical activity!

Stretching Flow Steps:

Start with the hoop around your body and your hands on the outside ends of the hoop in a relaxed position.
Square off the legs and begin slowly twisting the body back and forth in one position. After a few moments, begin to raise the hoop slowly towards the sky continuing to softly twist.
Continue this motion until the arms and hoop are above your head, and come back down to the hips. Continue this motion up and down the body 2-3 times, loosening the torso muscles and hips.
Twist the arms and hoop up so they are over the head and pause here to stretch through the body to the sky.
Lean the hoop and body slowly to the right, stopping where you can feel a comfortable stretch through the left side of the body. Hold for a few seconds and switch to the left side to stretch out the right of the body.
Bring the hoop back down to the hips in a relaxed position. From here, you can gently roll the shoulders forwards and backwards, as well as the neck.
Lift the hoop up and over the head, turning the shoulders back. Your hands will be placed on the inside of the hoop and you’ll want to gently press away from your shoulders. This stretch will open the chest, shoulders, and give the shoulder blades a happy squeeze. ( *Modification : If your hoop is too large to do this stretch, you can simply interlace your fingers behind you, palms facing away from the body, and press away. You will feel the same effects as using the hoop.)
Return to the relaxed position. Slowly bring the hoop and hands down towards your feet. Do not force a stretch here, just let the entire body hang down towards the floor. Feel free to sway side to side in this position.
Slowly (you don’t want to get dizzy) raise the hoop the whole way up to the ceiling creating a full body stretch to the sky. Come back down to relaxed position.