Hula Hoop Workout: "Hoopnastics" 15 Minute Ballet-Inspired Leg Toning Workout Video

Last week I introduced a workout program I developed called “Hoopnastics” that uses a huge and slightly weighted –but inexpensive– “fitnesss” hoop as the only piece of equipment (you can watch the video intro by clicking HERE).

Hula Hoop Workout: Ballet-Inspired Leg Toning Circuit Training Video

This week I thought I’d share some of the standing ballet-inspired floor exercises (see video clip above) from the Hoopnastics workout program. If you don’t have a hoop you can use a chair for balance but if you want to buy the hoop I suggest getting it from Hoopnotica. The ballet-inspired exercises work your muscles from many different angles and help develop strength and tone, but not bulk. Most of the standing exercises are done on one leg, which dramatically increases the intensity of the exercise by adding an instability component. By performing the standing exercises on one leg you immediately engage your core. You also simultaneously bring many more stabilizer muscles into play that support each main muscle group and help you stay balanced. By recruiting all of these tiny stabilizer muscles that surround your major muscles, you’ll be able to achieve fabulous muscle tone…in a very short amount of time!

What is Hoopnastics?

Hoopnastics is a fun, no-impact series of exercises using a fitness hoop to incorporate interval training with resistance training. It’s basically a circuit training workout…with a twist. It fuses legendary fitness techniques from ballet, rhythmic gymnastics, pilates and yoga to firm, lengthen, and shape your body while creating superb balance, posture, flexibility and endurance. Hoopnastics “fusion fitness” works joints through a full range of motion to keep your body limber and flexible while the controlled movements and weight bearing exercises strengthen and tone every major muscle in your body. It’s a fitness program that can be adapted to all ages and all fitness levels. And, it’s a great workout for breaking through a fitness plateau because it works your muscles in totally new and challenging ways.

How Can Doing Hoopnastics Help You Get You Fit?

Because hoopnastics is basically a circuit training workout, it combines cardiovascular conditioning with muscle conditioning exercises. The “hooping cardio-core” segments provide a completely no-impact cardio component that burns calories and fat while simultaneously targeting the notoriously neglected transverse abdominal muscles with the “drawing in maneuver”. Training your transverse abdominal muscles improves spinal stability and helps flatten your abs…fast. The Hoopnastics muscle conditioning exercises are dynamic no-impact movements that not only burn calories, but simultaneously build metabolism-boosting lean muscle mass. By fusing flexibility training with firming exercises your body is lengthened, tightened and toned from head to toe.

Star Workout:

Marisa Tomei Gets Fit with a Fun Hula-Hoop Workout

By the way, I’m not the only one hooping it up these days! Actress Marisa Tomei has recently discovered hula-hoop workouts are a super fun way to tighten and tone just about everything. She demonstrated her basic hooping skills recently on The Ellen Show, but she also uses the hoop as a fun tool for toning exercises.

What is the Hoopnastics Workout Routine?

I teach Hoopnastics as a 30-minute workout divided into 2 parts: PART 1 is a 15 minute “Hooping cardio-core” workout that alternates between segments of hooping-cardio core intervals and standing lower body strength and balance exercises blending moves from ballet and yoga incorporating the sports hoop. PART 2 is a 15 minute toning and lengthening pilates-inspired mat workout incorporating the sports hoop for lying down and seated core exercises plus an intense arm toning sequence using resistance bands attached to the hoop. The workout ends with deep muscle toning exercises for the glutes and thighs and a stretching routine that uses the sports hoop.

Best of all, this routine is fun and totally different than what you are probably used to doing…which is perfect for boosting your fitness to a whole new level!

Looking for more smoothie recipes?