I’m always looking for interesting, new, fun, forms of exercise. I’ve read about a lot of celebrities who use hula hooping as part of their regular exercise routine to keep their core trim. I found a local drop in class in our area and recruited a friend to try it with me. I was never good at hula hooping as a kid so I was relying on the instructor to show me what I had been doing wrong all those years.
We met in a small theater downtown with a class of about 6 of us. My friend and I were the only “drop in class” newbies. Everyone was really friendly and helped us find a hoop. You start with a bigger one and then go smaller as you get better.
I immediately hula hooped the longest time in my life, ( that wasn’t a hard time to beat) thanks to the weighted hoop. That made such a difference! Also, I had always tried to move my body side to side while rotating the hoop. Turns out you want to try to have the hoop hit the front of you and the small of your back when you rotate the hoop.
Our instructor was very friendly and positive as she guided us through trying several techniques. My friend and I definitely had the “most dropped hoops” award during the class. It was nice to see that everyone in the class had moments of runaway hoops or a hoop that fell to the ground. It was hard not to laugh as we tried a trick that rotated around our hand and then our hoops would fly toward a fellow classmate. Everyone was gracious. And none of our classmates were seriously injured by our runaways.
During the class, we tried rotating the hoop around our ankles, up and down our hips, around our hands and then around our backs in a fluid motion… well almost fluid.
The hour class went by really fast and I can see why celebrities do this for their core. It was one of the most enjoyable exercise classes I have ever been to and was really relaxing when I got the hang of it. I would definitely recommend it and would love to take another class.
Want to see what all the hoopla is about? Check out a class at Audacious Hoops or Hoopnotica to find a class near you.
Nedra, I am going to get my girlfriend to go do this with me. I would love to have you there with us. I’m gonna check into it. thanks girlie! I’ll let you know when we’re going to try.
I love hula hooping! I found out about hooping for exercise from someone on an online forum, and I ordered my own weighted hoop online.
I loved that it doesn’t feel like your exercising because your having so much fun. I would love to take another class again.