Creating a Well Rounded Exercise Routine for your Flow

Author Jill Janosek incorporates yoga into her workout plan and hula hoop flow

Please note this post is about what has been successful in my journey, please seek professional advice from a doctor before starting any exercise routine.

At a certain point in my hoop career I realized that in order to advance to the next level in my hooping abilities I needed to increase my overall fitness. I would see something in a video and think “well that is awesome, I need to do THAT” and when I would attempt the move I realized that I simply did not possess the ability to do the motion on its own, let alone with a hoop. While hooping is a great weight loss tool (There will be a blog to learn more about that soon!!!) the notion of increasing my hoop skill was a huge inspiration for me to workout in other ways.

Joining a gym is an option for many people and you can carry through with pretty much everything suggested here in this blog by doing so, but I know another bill added to my monthly budget was not an option. I also become too self conscious to really get in a workout unless I am alone. So, low budget at home options are what I have to offer!

So what did I do?

I got up on the treadmill. If you ask around enough there is sure to be one or two people with a treadmill purchased a few New Years Resolutions ago that is not in use. I am the third owner of mine and it has a squeak, which means it came with a tiny price tag. If this is not an option for you, check out the great outdoors which comes with an awesome price tag: FREE.
The goal of the treadmill is to help increase stamina. I started by simply getting on it and trying, the first month or so I doubt I ever went a full mile at once, but over time you will see improvements. A year later of just doing it and I can now go 15 miles, just start with a single step and you will blow yourself away with progress in no time. Yes cardio is great for your heart blah blah blah but what it really does is allow you to hoop longer, with more energy, to get in better hoop practice sessions!

Arms! Prop manipulation is all about the arms. If you have ever drilled isolation’s, you know just how much of an arm workout hooping really is, so if you are looking to increase your strength- try lifting! No, you do not need to get a huge set of weights and start bench pressing 100 lbs. I personally have two sets of weights, 2lbs and 5lbs these weights were donated to me with the tredmill, so again ask around to see if anyone has some extra sets. If not, these can be bought at any major box store for about $10. Picking these up just a few times a week and working on bicep and for-arm strength will show a mass improvement with not only your isolation’s but your tosses, hand spins, and so much more! The best part, you can combine curls with walking on the treadmill for a full body experience or even work with them while watching tv if you are looking to waste some time!
As an extension of arms make sure you are showing your wrists plenty of love! Wrists are often overlooked and one of the key points on your body being taken advantage of while hooping. Whenever you find a moment, stretch them out by tucking them under your knees and sitting on them, rolling them, and laying them again something flat and adding some pressure. Keeping your wrists flexible and strong will improve your flow tenfold!

Yoga, yoga, yoga, did I mention yoga!? Yoga.

Are you having trouble getting one leg out or back in while hooping? It can help to increase your balance, how do you do that? Yoga. Did you see that one chick pull her leg above her head and hoop on her toe? It can help to increase your flexibility, how do you do that?Yoga. When you use four hoops on four limbs it doesn’t look quite right? It can be useful to increase your core strength, how do you that that? Yoga. Looking to create better lines? Try increasing your spacial awareness, how do you do that? Yoga.
Youtube has plenty of free tutorials to start your practice at home. I highly suggest Yoga with Adrine to get you going!

Hooping is a wonderful art form that uses all aspects of physical abilities, increasing your overall fitness will allow you to get the best out of your practice sessions!