Remember when Alvin and his chipmunk friends sang about wanting a hoola-hoop? I didn’t. Until last Sunday, when I took a drive down to San Diego and spent the better part of an hour watching a girl perform tricks with her hoola-hoop. That looks like fun, I thought, remembering when I won a hoola-hoop contest in the 5th grade. Yes, I did. My grand prize: VHS of Endless Summer 2.
A lot has changed since I was 11, but the hoola-hoop remains as enjoyable today as it ever was, and many adults have taken it from the schoolyard to real exercise.
Hoola-hooping is an amazingly fun workout, burns calories, and wont leave you simply hoping your way toward a smaller waistline.
There was a huge hoola fad back around 2009, and though nowadays it is harder to find a wide array of classes, here are some definite places to start:
Hoopnotica, based in Los Angeles, are leaders in the high cardio, hooping workout. They offer private lessons and classes at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica every Friday and Sunday. Nothing quite like the ocean as a backdrop for your workout. Plus, the classes are $25 each and include a full day pass to the spa which features: lockers and showers, spa services, full gym, steam room, sauna and jacuzzi. Sounds better than a treadmill.
Enthusiasts in San Francisco formed their own organized hooping clubs like the Bay Area Hoopers and meet up every Sunday afternoon between 1pm-4pm. It would be similarly as easy to gather your friends and hoop the afternoon and your weekend indulgences away.
And if you aren’t too familiar with hooping moves, or aren’t quite sure where to begin you can order HoopGirl DVDs, and practice in your living room before joining the movement.
-Arianna Schioldager
