Just like Suppa Jump, hula hooping is something that I associate with being a kid again. And so it’s not surprising that when a group of us, for the Fashercise launch and in conjunction with Voopy, started hula hooping on the fake grassy patch by Shoreditch High Street Station, grumpy morning commuter frowns turned into smiles as people pushed their way to work.
Marawa, who took our hula hoop session, is petit with a shock of black frizzy hair. She has a childlike way about her, which I imagine, is why she does what she does, and her delight at the wireless headsets was apparent. It reminded me of a kid playing with a walkie talkie, ‘this is amazing!!’
The instructions are simple and clear and the lessons started with basics before they were ramped up significantly. To start, we practiced with one hoop just getting it to go round in one direction. Luckily, all the practice I put in as a kid paid off and I could competently manage to keep a hoop going – on both sides. Go me! A bad technique results in all the motion coming from the hips, which keeps the hoops up but doesn’t have the benefit of working the abs. To work the abs, a forwards thrust with the stomach is needed. As I looked around at everyone awkwardly jerking around, I thought…
“Take away the hoops and we’d be in a ‘Dad Dancing’ competition, Mr Bean-esque.”
To say that I was a natural gives you an idea of how bad my dancing is…
Satisfied that everyone had given one hoop a go, we swiftly progressed: from twirling a hoop on each horizontally outstretched wrist to spinning one off a vertical hand. Sadly, my co-ordination skills imploded at this point and all I could manage was to spin hoops by my armpits or to hit myself on the head. Think that was hard? The piece de resistance was to hoop as many hulas as you could. You can see my attempt here:
So was it a workout? It’s hard to say! You can definitely feel it on your stomach and arms but you don’t really break a sweat. Looking at Marawa though, if all she’s doing is hooping then there has to be some benefit! Since you can essentially stand in one place and still get the hula hoop going, this is an activity that those with limited mobility could do. Mum, come here, I’m getting you a hula hoop…
Leave a Reply