Jan 28 2009
Hooping it Up and Around
Having grown up in the 1950’s, I was introduced to the hula hoop at a young age, and though I was never very proficient and I certainly NEVER considered it to be “exercise,” I always appreciated the skills that some of my school mates developed.
Today, the hula hoop is having a bit of a revival, and you may expect this to gain momentum now that we hear Michelle Obama likes to hoop it up once in a while too.
Most recently, I watched Marisa Tomei demonstrate her substantial skills with the hoop on the Ellen Degeneres Show. She was limber, smooth, athletic, very sexy and fit too!
She said she used the hoop to keep in shape and it was her “favorite” exercise. My favorite is watching her hoop it up and around.
Ellen also invited a member of her studio audience to demonstrate hooping skills, and the 50-something woman was REALLY good, and looked Very Fit indeed.
The word is, hula hooping burns 200 calories per 30 minutes. That doesn’t seem like a lot, and I have NEVER seen anyone hoop for more than about five minutes at a time.
So, while I heartily endorse the hula hoop fitness craze, I will pass up the experience THIS time around, leaving it to others. However:
I love watching others show off, and
I do have two hoops in our basement storage area!
I’ve been trying the hula hoop at the gym, but I still don’t have the hang of it. Thirty minutes of it? No way.
Maybe the benefit comes from muscle toning,and not the actual calories involved. I was never very good at hooping in my childhood years,so chances of me trying to do it now hover around ..er..zero.