Hooping

I am so trying to do this at home, as everything I've read about it is just fantastic, and it seems to be an activity that I can start/stop as my chest pain/fainting allow. The operative word here is "trying". I think that gravity is extremely concentrated in my house because I can't get that damn hoop to stay off the floor for more than the second or two of motion that occurs when I first spin it. Hoop spins, drops, pick up, repeat. I'm very good at the pick up part....

There seems to be a division of thought on technique, with some saying to rotate your hips while others say to have on foot ahead of the other and shift weight back and forth in a rocking motion. Neither approach has given me any success. The one thing most sites do agree on is that the standard hoop...eg purchased at a toy store, is too small. This is the hoop I am using. I'm contemplating making my own, as there are instructions out there. Has anyone had any type of success in using hoops, and if using a larger hoop, where did you purchase it? If homemade, how difficult was that, and how is the hoop holding up? Weighted or not? They look simple enough to make, but appearances can be deceiving.

Dawn

she custom makes her hoola hoops.

sarah

Hi Dawn,

I think you'll love the hooping!  It is true that the toy store hoops won't work, especially if you are a curvy person!

Toy store hoops are light plastic and only weigh a few ounces. THe hoops that me and my husband make are closer to 2 lbs, so give you a workout, and will stay spinning!  The types of tapes we use also help provide grip to the hoop.

My first hoop was 52" and we make from 38" to 52".   We will let you try out all of the sizes to see which one works best for you, and then you can pick out your favourite colours and custom tape job.  You gotta feel fancy when you hoop!  (and have the right size for YOU, completely personal!)

I do have a few tips that I'm happy to show people when they come over and try hooping. I want everyone to love their hoops because it is what got me moving!  It is what helped my hip pain.  I am passionate about this activity. 

Anyways, I don't want to come off as 'salesy', that is not my intent, so if you want more information you just need to ask me I'm here, send me a DM and I can answer questions and share my facebook page information with you.

You can do it and you'll have fun!  :) Talk to you soon!

I LOOOOOVE hula hooping.... I seriously credit it for my ridiculously tiny waist!   I do hula hooping for 5 mins between sets of my freeweights in my basement... but have been able to keep the hoop going for about an hour continuously.

The toy store hoops suck.... you could try wrapping yours in a thick tape to weigh it down a little... but I recommend either making one yourself, or else getting one made for you. It makes a WORLD of difference. I got mine by a lady I found on kijiji for $30. She was also offering hoopdance classes, but I was too broke to pay for the classes at the time.  I was gonna make my own, because it is pretty simple, but you gotta buy a lot of tubing and tape, etc... so unless I wanted to make at least 8 hoops, it was way cheaper just to have one made for me.  I'm thinking I might buy the supplies when I need a new hoop and make some for my friends too for next summer.

When I first started hooping my tummy/waist was sooooore! its much better now, and even getting some definition.  I'm trying to teach myself tricks, but so far all I do is keep knocking off my glasses and getting bruised. It's still amusing. There's some youtube videos that have been somewhat helpful.

Hoopgirl, do you do any classes or teach tricks?  I really wanna learn how to do hoopdance and some tricks now that I have the basics down.

Hey there :)

Isn't hooping awesome!  I know, that it helped me whittle down my hips and thighs really fast!

We do make them (my husband and I) and yes, you buy large rolls of materials, and tapes etc...so indeed we make 5-10 hoops each batch.  I do NOT make mine out of pvc (which many of the cheaper hoops are made out of pvc or really light tubing) mine is heavier, doesn't kink or bend, has a good tensile strength and resistance.  (I'm probably speaking a foreign language?) 

Anyhow, they are good hoops, I'm local and you know where to find me! LOL. 

Lhiannan:  I'm looking for a space to teach beginner hooping, there aren't alot of off the body moves in that class. Just moving from the waist to lasso over the head, and being able to bring it back down.  So if you were just looking for a class to jam and hoop with others it would probably be good.  Do you want to DM me your email, if I get a beginner level 2 class going? 

I also don't know when my surgery will be, so I'd probably be doing each class as a pre-registered drop in.  As long as we have 5 people minimum pre-registered...then we'd go for it.

Any feedback or ideas would be welcome!  I'm definitely open to suggestions.

My hooping page is on facebook, Send me a private message and I'll send you the link.  I don't want to violate any terms of service here (I'm not sure if it's okay to post links).