Hula Hooping - Try it!

Read on for our first guest-authored post!  Cynthia Narcisi, our inaugural Hoop instructor at Hip Circle Studio, shares her love of hooping and gives you a peek into what you can expect in your first Hula Hoop class!

You might’ve noticed that hula hooping is a big trend (again) and no longer just for kids. It’s gotten a ton of media attention lately.  You’ve seen Kelly Osborne hooping, Marissa Tomei hooping, and even Ellen DeGeneres hooping (who knew?).    Good Morning America recently did a segment on it, too.  So all this might be what has inspired you to try hooping. And if it has, then great! But maybe there’s more to it than that. Maybe you want to lose weight. Or spend an hour having fun and connecting with other amazing women. Maybe you want to just move your body in a brand new way.  It could be you just want to prove to your inner child you finally, FINALLY, got that hoop to stay up! As kids, some of us were great at it, but most of us really really struggled, myself included.   I’d wind it up, give it a whirl, and then PLOP!   You can expect you absolutely WILL learn how to waist hoop. And you’ll have a LOT of fun while doing it because we don’t just stand there for an hour with the hoop on our waists. We hoop it like we mean it! 

Aside from waist hooping, we also:

• Hoop on the hips, chest, and shoulders.

• Hoop off-body such as on the hands and above the head.

• Hoop while we move (it’s no fun to just stand still, so we walk, turn in circles, do grapevines, all while hooping!)

What else can you expect? You can expect to use a larger sized hoop! They’re adult sized (and hand-made with L-O-V-E), meaning they’re much larger than the toy hoops you’re familiar with. Larger sized hoops are excellent for beginners so please don’t feel offended if I suggest you use really big hoop, probably MUCH bigger than what you’ve ever seen before.  A larger hoop will spin more slowly around the body, making it easier to control.  Remember how fast those lightweight, small toy hoops would spin? That’s why you had trouble with them. 

You can expect NOT to use weighted hoops. With hooping being so popular you may have been tempted to buy hoops that weigh anywhere from 3-15lbs. While that might not sound like much, all that weight (plus the additional force of the spin) pulling against your spine can actually cause injury to the lumbar area and bruising on the hips. Our hoops weight less than 2 lbs. and people love them! So we also ask that you don’t bring your weighted hoops to class as we really don’t want you to injure yourself. We provide hoops and you can also purchase them at the studio.

There are a million reasons why I love hula hooping and why I think you will too. Here are a few:

• According to American Council on Exercise, waist hooping burns 400-600 calories per hour

• Hooping strengthens your core and back

• Hand-hooping will give you amazingly toned arms
• It improves your balance and coordination

• Here’s the best part: It reduces stress!  

• Always wanted to try meditation but couldn’t do it? Hooping is literally a moving meditation!

What else can you expect in Hula Hoop class? You can expect lots of individual attention since we keep this particular class size small (max of 6) due to space requirements. It’s like a semi-private lesson every time! You can expect me to cheer you on like crazy because I really REALLY want everyone to walk out of class feeling accomplished!  Expect a variety of ages, sizes, and backgrounds which means, you guessed, you will fit right in!

When you come to class please wear:

• Cotton everything! The hoop will slide on anything shiny or synthetic.

• Fitted tops (or at least nothing baggy). The hoop will get tangled in loose-fitting shirts. Bottoms can generally be as loose fitting as you feel comfy with.  Yoga pants are great for hooping too.

•  Footwear? You can go barefoot or wear an aerobics shoe or a Zumba shoe if you have them.   Running shoes are nice too because they’re lightweight.  

Here’s the last thing you can expect: You can expect to become addicted to hula hooping! 

I hope to hoop with you soon!