Smart Weighted Hula Ring Hoops for Adults, Weight loss Silent Hoola Hoop with 16 Adjustable Links Quiet Fitness Hoop with Ball, Fit Hoop Size 110CM, Digital Circle Hoops with Calorie Counter

This weighted hula came in a simple cardboard box with a basic sheet of instructions which were a little difficult to understand. In the end, I managed to work out how to slide the knots on and off; you might find that you need quite a bit of force to get some pieces apart and to get it to click together but they do go together eventually. I tried joining all the parts together for the largest size as I assumed you would hula in the conventional away. The ring felt extremely stiff and didn't look like it would go together to form a circle but with a bit of force and bending it did. I came to realise the ring can take a fair bit of abuse as the plastic is extremely robust and there was just about enough flex to make the largest size.After doing so, I looked on YouTube and realised that the ring was far actually set up far too big for me. The hoop is actually supposed to fairly snug on your hip without sliding down as the ring portion stays stationary and only the pendulum spins round. Therefore, getting used to how the bits clip on and off is essential to firstly get the right fit and secondly to extract yourself from the ring once done.Once I had it adjusted to the right size, I was initially worried about that big heavy ball hitting me in the privates, but once you learn to get going by confidently swinging that pendulum around your body it was easy enough to keep the ball spinning which was actually pretty satisfying and fun. One last thing to note, you will need quite a bit of space in your living room too, so just be careful that you are away from kids, pets and OLED TV's!

This arrives nicely packed into a colourful but unbranded box.The ring is nicely made of sturdy ABS type plastic.All pieces are easy to add and remove at the push of a button. This gives a good range of adjustability up to around 114cm or 45inches waist.Initially I thought I might break the ring when I tried to connect the final bit together - it just didn't look like it should fit and would break if I forced it. But it does fit. See photo.Don't forget to install the ball holder before finally completing the ring...The ball holder and counter is also nicely made, again ABS plastic and nicely designed so it is easy to read and operate.It can be turned on manually but will start as soon as you begin hula-ing.The calorie counter is good to have but I am sceptical how accurate this is.The ball has a good weight, almost 1lb and I was thinking this would take some swinging.In practice there is a knack to get it going and initially I thought I was going to struggle to keep it swinging, but after a few revolutions you find a rhythm, and after a few more revs it is surprisingly easy to keep it going with very little effort.This is in stark contrast to a genuine hula-hoop which takes a fair amount of hip movement to keep it up.As such, you need to do this for a long time to get any exercise benefit from it, by that I mean get out of breath or break a sweat.It is very good hip exercise though.My wife has had a double hip replacement and this is great for keeping them active.For less than £20 you get a decent, well made, fun device that has limited exercise value (in my opinion) but great therapeutically value, especially for hip op recovery.

The hoop arrives in a nice box. It comes in semi-built sections that you then put together at your chosen length before use, which involves adding or removing links to suit your waist measurement. The box also includes a weight that acts like a pendulum and a counter that it attaches to, and this is the part that spins around the hoop once you position.The build quality seems pretty decent on the whole, but it’s not the easiest thing to put together when you’re trying to add or take away links in the hoop to get to the right size. It takes quite a bit of hand strength to do this as you are pushing in buttons to click links into place at the same time as trying to bend the hoop to a circular shape as you adjust the links. If you need all 16 links (the maximum), you’re likely to think you’ll break the whole thing by trying to get it together as it does not look like it will go at all. It will, but you really have to force it and it’s not easy or ideal!Then you get down to the nitty gritty - how well it works when it’s actually ready to go.Well, I have tried and tried with this hoop, but sadly I cannot get it to swing smoothly enough to make this a part of any exercise routine that I’d want to keep doing. I get it going, but it’s not a smooth rotation and seems to stick quite a lot so that it loses its motion. Then you have to start again. And again. It’s generally a bit of a pain to try to use!I do think this could be related to how many links you put in, as the more you have, the bigger the gaps between the links as it opens up around your waist. This is part of the sticking problem I think and I really don’t believe it suits a larger waist to the point of using all 16 links. I noted that some other members of the family who are quite slim (and therefore needed less links) could use this much more successfully without the sticking issue.I think the design needs looking at to really suit the sizing it says it should suit. As for me, it’s a bit of a non-starter in my exercise routine, which is a shame as it looks like something I’d enjoy! I don’t think I can give this more than 3 stars from my own experience with it, but if you’re on the slimmer side then this may well work much better for you.