Despite the very crappy way we started November (with a hurricane and then a snowstorm), the weather took a lovely turn, melted all the snow, and gave me a chance to make it outside again with my hoops before winter sets in for good. You know, sometimes, I tell people that my main form of exercise other than walking and yoga is hooping and they look at me with the most blank stare ever. When I explain it's hula hooping, they then think it's just me swinging the hoop around my waist.
It's hard to explain that, no, hooping can be a full body workout. There's waist, hip, leg, shoulder, chest, and neck hooping on the body. You can weave your arms in and out of chest and shoulder hooping. You can move and dance around, making sure that your heartbeat is elevated at all times. Then there's all the arm work you can learn! But the most fun comes when you're just practicing, feeling the music, and putting the moves together.
I could hoop for hours at a time, and do! My body is a complete wreck later, having worked pretty much every muscle in ways that walking and yoga do not, and I often have bruises on my hands hours after I've been outside.
Yes, it can hurt. No pain, no gain, right? Besides, when you're having as much fun as I am, you look forward to it!
Vertical Halos! They really work the arms and shoulders and are great for building coordination. I cannot tell you how many times I've smacked myself in the head with my hoop.
Did I inspire you to buy a hoop and now you don't know how to get started? Let me give you a few free resources courtesy of the glory of YouTube.
- First, get inspired with the Hoopnotica channel – http://www.youtube.com/user/Hoopnotica
- I also like this beginner playlist on hooping – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL11C9F293FBE115EC
- Hoopsmiles has lots of great videos too (how can you not love a guy with wild hair hooping?) – http://www.youtube.com/user/hoopsmiles
- J.L. Baxter is pretty amazing and I also love the organization he belongs to, Hoop Path – http://www.youtube.com/user/jlbaxter
- And, lastly, I've collected a ton of tutorials and inspirational videos on my Hooping playlist – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8746477E079E488B
