History repeats itself. Fashions come and they go and then come back again (thanks be to Lucifer, however, the 80’s came back with a little less shoulder pad), super hero movies are made and remade (why is Spider-Man’s Mary Jane all of a sudden Gwen Stacy?) and now, an exercise trend of the 50’s and 80’s is back again: hula hooping, or, to use the proper verb, hooping.
I noticed some hooping going down this past weekend in San Diego. Guys and girls were hooping all along the beach, some in groups, some were hooping solo, some with one hoop, and others with two. One champ had two hoops, a no-joke Walkman stuck in his pants, and a shirt with a stick figure fellow holding two hula hoops with the words, “I heart Poop” written inexplicably underneath. Riddle me that. Anyway, I started wondering why this was all of a sudden happening and then I thought about the movements it takes to keep a hula hoop moving. It is a LOT of hip swiveling. Hip swiveling can get real tiring too; I think about nights spent in da club and how sweaty it gets when Shakira comes on. Maybe Mr. Poop is on to something.
According to hulahooping.com, this particular bout of hooping fever began with the band The String Cheese Incident, whose members chuck hoops off the stage in an effort to get people to dance. This started a wave of fitness DVDs, hooping classes, and teacher certifications. Go-go dancers at clubs have started incorporating them into their routines as well. Some folks, like this trick, make up raps to go with their routines (check her out; it’s unreal.) The hoops are weighted, averaging around two pounds, and taped with sweet glittery or black light tapes for something trippy to look at.
Just plain hula hooping for ten minutes is workout enough, but the more into you get, you can start to add different moves with names like the Knee Knocker, Stork, and Wrap the Mummy, and learn how to move the hoop up and down your body. Some pretty common results are whittled waists and better hand-eye coordination. And laughing tons, duh.
There are a few places in Denver to take a class, like Hoop Horizon, and hoopers tend to meet up for a jam sesh throughout the week too. Let me know where you like to hoop!