Have You Tried This? Hooping

We went to the park the other day to sneak in a picnic with the Doc. As the kids ran recklessly to the playground, I turned the corner and suddenly I felt like I walked onto the stage of a Cirque De Soliel production.

 I came face to face with my first hooper. A hula hooper.

She walked, turned, and pivoted all the while keeping perfect control of her hoop. She was using both hands, one hand, arms, neck, chest, waist, hips, thighs, calves and ankles. I just stared, pretty much mesmerized by her movements. I had never seen hula hooping done so gracefully.

Now, if you were to ask me about hula hooping before this chance encounter I would have laughed and told you my version of hula hooping:

Revving up a dollar store hula hoop by twisting it around me as far as I can manage, then unwinding and throwing it wildly around my waist. My hips start frantically swinging back and forth, while the hoop barely makes a single revolution before it hits the pavement.

She did not resemble that in the slightest.

We had a 45-minute conversation and that’s a good thing because otherwise I would have had to rudely stare at her from across the park. As she gave me a peek into this new (old?) form of exercise she was hooping the entire time. I’m not kidding, she never stopped.

It turns out there’s a new hooping movement out there and apparently it is a great workout. The hoops are weighted and websites are boasting that hooping can burn between 400-600 calories per hour (of course, you know me, Mandi the skeptic. I’d have to #1 - learn to hoop, then #2 - actually do it for an hour with my HRM on before I believed this... Sorry, that’s just how I roll, or spin in this case :) It is a no impact exercise, and after a few hoops have taken out their loved ones in the learning process it is very lyrical and creative. They do it inside or outside, in a park or in studio with other hoopers.

Of course, my children were begging to try. I stayed behind the camera like a coward and as I write this am kicking myself for not giving the hoop a whirl. I at least need to give it a try.

Check out these websites for more info:

Hoopnotica

Hooping.org

Hula Hoops:  From Child's Play to Real Exercise

How about you? Are any of you Fit Momma’s hoopers?  What do you think?

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