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Are you missing out on these amazing benefits? What is hooping on the knees good for anyway??

Believe it or not it is actually very good for you to try and hoop while you are down on your knees! It has come up several times in my online courses and conditioning sessions for a reason! Usually I do not go into all the details but now I shall try my best to inspire you to get passionate about going down! 

1. Hurt Your Foot? This you may still be able to do!

Over recent years runners contacted me about foot injuries. There was a couple of ladies who kept in shape going for regular jogs and developed repetitive strain injuries. Their healthcare provider advised them not to run anymore or just take time off to heal. One of these ladies in particular was very upset, she was successfully managing her weight through her running and she was terrified that she would start gaining back the weight she successfully shed. She started exercising in the first place because of health concerns: she experienced signs of not only joint pain & lack of energy but Prediabetes. She then figured out that hula hooping may be something she could still do if the hoop stays up... She got in touch and I showed her some moves she could do to increase the intensity of just regular waist hooping. I knew she was too fit from running and for her the intensity had to be increased in order to maintain her physique. Well, she fell in love with hooping & her results so much that she has never returned to running. She no longer needs to rest her feet but she chooses to still do some of her hooping workouts on her knees like she started off. She says she never felt better & fitter. Sounds good enough to me... when you think you no longer can exercise and that is when you actually do get very fit! 

2. Fun Challenge - stimulate your body & mind!

You probably hear me talking a lot about progressions and regressions. We do a regression when we want to make a move easier and prepare for our desired goal, maybe a trick we wish to conquer. 
Then we move on to a series of progressions - little by little we increase the complexity or intensity of the exercise to make it a little harder. In Strength & Conditioning coaching we normally would increase repetitions or number of sets or increase the resistance or reduce the rest in between sets to manipulate the body to get to the next level. By conquering progressions we get to excel at our skill, achieve moves that we never even dared to dream of. By taking baby steps we can start off with the basics and reach advanced level at any skill. Hooping on your knees pushes your skills, it is a progression because it makes it harder. If you are a hula hooper you probably love the opportunity for growth, you love learning and adore challenges. Well this is your lucky day! 

Spice Up Your Cardio! Have An Epic Giggle!

3. More Cardiovascular

Do not take my word for it: TRY IT! If you have a smartwatch give my workout a try standing on your feet and then give it a try on your knees. The difference will be significant. On our feet we are very economical: if a move is familiar your body has amazing skills making it efficient. Because most aerobics exercise and even daily activities we conduct on our feet being able to use both legs, we become very economical performing all those tasks. So the above mentioned challenge is not just in your head, it is physiological, too: by having to do something alien, you work harder because your body has not yet had a chance to figure out the most energy saver version of that move. Your body just wants to save energy with every task. By confusing it and trying things differently you make it work. Keep it guessing to see more results! I know not everyone gets wet about calories burnt and energy expenditure of a workout but if you are keen to sculpt your physique and get into fat burning mode: once a week I would recommend trying a hoop workout on the knees. Do not let your body get used to it though! Once a week will do for the desired muscle confusion effect! Experience the increase in your cardiovascular fitness, enjoy how your body gets pushed to the next level of fitness. 

4. Increase Your Flexibility

Your range of motion gets reduced when you are on the floor compared to when you are standing on your feet. 
In Strength & Conditioning Coaching we use INHIBITION with athletes to boost their performance. Often that is why we would prescribe assistance moves that are unilateral which means that the exercise that is normally done on 2 feet or 2 hands we make harder by only allowing 1 foot or 1 hand to perform a task. An example would be a regular squat which you can spice up with an INHIBITION by making it into a single leg squat. That suddenly increases the intensity as well because the same resistance is what now only 1 leg has to work against... BUT it also introduces the benefit of increased demands on flexibility. You will experience it for yourself when you are down on your knees you have to achieve poses and moves from your knees upwards and this makes you contort your body further than usual. Hooping when down on the knees is an INHIBITION practice that could help you towards felxibility gains you would miss out on if you were standing on your feet. Your spine, shoulder girdle & hips are all going to benefit. So if you are hooping for flexibility, this could be part of your routine! The fact that you are generating epic amount of heat helps your synovial fluid to lubricate your joints more which again helps you achieve even more flexibility gains than usual static stretches or mobility work that has no cardiovascular element.

5. Leaking? Pelvic Floor Muscle Makeover!

Lots of ladies used to come to me during classes I ran in the past saying they prefer not to do any jumping or bouncing type moves because they 'leak'. Ever had this problem? You are not alone! Over the years our sedentary lifestyle results in problems we almost accept as part of being a woman or getting older. Ageing, hormones & childbirth really stretch these muscles and they are no longer able to contract efficiently. 
It is a fact that our anatomy predisposes us to have pelvic muscle weakness - the shape of the pelvis is different from the narrow male hips. For us to be able to birth babies: Nature gave us wider hips with wider openings and that is like a bridge over a river. Imagine how different it is to create a bridge over a tiny stream or build one over a large river. Your pelvic floor muscles have to bridge a bigger gap and leaking is a natural phenomenon when these muscles become unfit over years of neglect. Just like we brush our teeth or hair we could regularly do pelvic floor exercises to keep this area strong & fit. We are so insanely overwhelmed with hectic demanding every day chores that the last thing on our minds is the pelvic floor workout... What if you could include it easily in your fun hoop workout? You actually do use your pelvic floor muscles anyway when hooping but when on your knees you do that even more so. When your knees want to slide apart you squeeze it all together and if you do it often enough there will be no leaking BUT more pleasure & confidence. So going down on your knees can help you stay dry if staying dry is your goal ;) 

Can you think of any other benefits? Interested in more hoop workouts to try on the floor?

Give this workout a try and if you fancy more fun on your knees with me, leave a comment on YouTube to let me know! 

Read my previous blog post about the benefits of standing abs workouts!

even standing has benefits... let's see why that could be a good thing for you to try! Standing Abs with a Hula Hoop!