Hazel Hoops founder and instructor Jen Rose, left, teaches a student during a beginning class Tuesday evening at the South Side on Lamar building in southern Dallas. More information is available at www.hiphazelhoops.com. (MICHAEL DANSER/The Daily Campus)
Goodbye yoga mat, hello hula hoop.
The bright, sparkly toy ring that once swung around the waists of children in their backyards has gotten wider and heavier and now swings around the hips of fitness enthusiasts around the country.
The hula hoop, which established itself as a staple in American households in the 1950s, is making a comeback today in the fitness world.
Hula hoop classes are popping up all across the country in cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.
“Dallas has been slower than other cities to pick up hula hooping as a form of exercise,” Jen Rose, director of hooping center Hip Hazel Hoops on South Lamar Street in Dallas, said.
“When I was younger I was the champion hula hooper at my country club, and now I am working hula hoops into my exercise routine,” said SMU junior Mari Schoder.
Hula hooping parallels other emerging workout routines, including belly dancing and zumba dancing. Hula hoops are also being rediscovered not only as exercise devices but also as meditation tools and dancing partners.
According to Anne Lawrence of Hip Hazel Hoops, people who have trouble being still while doing an exercise such as yoga enjoy hooping because you can close your eyes and relax your mind while getting your blood flowing.
Hip Hazel Hoops caters to all levels of fitness, hosting beginning, intermediate and advanced hooping classes and a free hoop group once a month.
Instructors Rose and Lawrence focus on hooping around the waist, arms and chest in a full body workout that they say calms the mind and increases coordination, balance and flexibility.
“It’s that ‘aha! moment’ when you have been working on a hooping skill and realize you’ve been working out for 30 minutes straight,” Lawrence said.
Hula-hooping burns an average of seven calories per minute for a total of about 210 calories during a 30-minute hooping workout, according to a study sponsored by the American Council on Exercise.
This calorie count falls within ACE’s accepted guidelines for exercise that can contribute to weight management.
“Hooping compares pretty favorably with most other group classes in terms of heart rate and calorie burn. In fact, exercisers can expect similar results from hooping as they’d get from boot-camp classes, step aerobics and cardio-kickboxing—all of which meet fitness criteria for improving cardiovascular fitness,” Dr. John Porcari, program director of the clinical exercise philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, said in the study.
Hula hoops date back to the ancient times. Greeks used hooping as a form of exercise, Eskimos used hula hoops to practice hunting skills, and, for Lakota Indians, hoop dancing became a sophisticated art form.
Hip Hazel Hoops is located at South Side loft 110, 1409 S. Lamar St. Beginning hula hoop classes include three one-hour sessions for a fee of $55 and a discounted $30 hand made hula hoop.
