Introduction to Hooping
"Hooping" is a term for hula hooping with large customized hoops. There are more and more people hooping all over America and around the world, but what the hell are they doing?
Historical Background:
The hoop has a long history, which pre-dates the 1950s hula hooping fad by several thousand years.
Hooping began creeping back into the American collective cultural consciousness a decade ago. Certainly, fans of The String Cheese Incident deserve some credit for kicking off the second revolution of hooping. The band has been known to toss hoops into the audience during shows since the mid-90s, and their fans began spreading the joy of hooping everywhere. Soon hooping began showing up at underground dance community events and raves. If you'd like to read more about this resurgant wave of hula hooping, check out: What Goes Around Comes Around.
Hooping vs. Hula Hooping: Hooping is way more fun than the hula hooping you remember as a child, because the bigger and heavier the hoop, the slower it rotates around your body. This means that even if you think you can't hoop, with one of these hoops, you can! Everybody can hoop, regardless of age, size, or sense of rhythm. When you're using a customized hoop that's four feet in diameter, the rotation is slow enough that even clumsy amateurs can keep the hoop going — and it's not too hard to get into dancing and even doing tricks.
Hooping also just feels good. Another advantage of a bigger heavier hoop is that as it circles your waist, it gives you a solid massage. Your intestines and organs get a firm rythmic rubbing. It feels great! Some claim that hooping has other energetic benefits as well, but I can only speak for myself: I find hooping quite meditative, and perhaps more importantly, hooping makes me smile. Playing with a hoop works up a nice sweat, and like any cardiovascular exercise, it can hit the reset button on a bad mood. It's simply a lot of fun; and I'm a firm believer that fun is healthy!
Want more inspiration?
Comments
A friend sent me this link because he knows I hula hoop daily. I love walking/running/dancing while hooping, but I've found that using my hoop during commercial breaks is a fun way to get off the sofa for five minutes and get some exercise. I've never heard of the type of hoop discussed on this site, but will check into them. I like the small one I have for dancing purposes, but the added weight would be good for exercise. Thanks for the tips!
Posted by: Jason | November 6, 2003 10:16 AM
Where can i buy the large black hoops and decorate them myself?
Posted by: elizabeth leonard | September 18, 2006 11:14 AM
Really the easiest thing to do is to make the hoop yourself. If you really wanted a naked hoop though you can try asking any of the hoop makers in our marketplace if they'd sell you one - or simply get the hoop decorated and remove the tape and start fresh. Tape not only adds decoration, it also adds weight and traction so you're not going to want to be hooping with a naked hoop for a variety of reasons, but I totally get wanting to do your own design.
Posted by: Philo | September 18, 2006 2:06 PM
just made a beautiful new hoop...hope to see you lovely hoopers at a festival sometime!
much love
Posted by: Mountain_Mama | October 9, 2006 4:20 PM
Hooping is also good for health! Look!
Posted by: Kay | January 8, 2007 3:16 AM
i just read, "what is hooping" and found out that i am not a hooper. as i use 1950's antique whamo's. so i am a hula hooper, but from the above, this distinction is clear. i suggest that hooping is hooping regardless of the size and that this 'ownership' of hooping is weak, and unfounded. It is that tendency of sheepish masses to subsume the past and put their name on it.
Posted by: anne | January 27, 2008 4:04 PM
Anne, I'd suggest embracing change today. Fear and resentment are worth letting go of. Try a larger heavier hoop, crank the tunes and see how much difference a pound or two and three times the space makes. We've already walked in your shoes and most of us we're not as blessed in being able to make it work with the store bought product. We're making our own or having them made for us and finding ourselves in the hoop. If the antique whamo's still rock your world, great! Embrace your inner hula hooper. The hooping community is inclusive and there are videos and photos and more of the old skool style here from time to time. But hooping 2008 is indeed different and it required language to get the point across, not to mention the Whamo patented trademark and their cease and desist orders for those that enfringe upon it. As many of the articles written about hooping today report: "These aren't your grandma's hula hoops." Hooping is a joy! Give it a spin and discover the difference for yourself. - Editor
Posted by: Philo | February 14, 2008 11:01 AM
What's your opinion of the massage hoop?
Which is better, the regular or the massage hoop?
Thank you!
Posted by: inessa zaleski | July 28, 2008 5:59 PM
i swear by hooping for the stomach...i had two weeks before a major party week end at a beach resort and i did the hula hoop for just 5 to seven minutes a day and voila! the results were just fab. i must admit i am not at all fat to begin with though my stomach is a tad bit loose and flabby.... it worked very well for moi!
Posted by: Anonymous | September 7, 2008 6:30 AM
The massage hoop is good for ten minutes of hooping. Other than that it's pretty useless. It's too heavy to do much with other than waist/core hooping and if you hoop with a "regular" adult size hoop you're much more likely to spend more time exercising because you're having more fun doing it. Break out of the box that you want to hoop "to exercise" and you'll wind up having a lot more exercise as a result. - Editor
Posted by: Philo | September 29, 2008 6:13 PM
Can anyone tell me approximately how many calories hooping burns??
Posted by: llynny | October 20, 2008 3:48 PM
i am making my own hoops for other people (weighted with water)but am having a hard time getting them not to leak. can anyone give me advice? i used sand and i don't like the way it feels.
thanks,
julie
Posted by: julie | November 21, 2008 12:54 PM
Hi Julie,
I tried making a hoop with water and found the same thing. I think what you might want to do is:
1)see if you are using the barbed tubing connectors that have really big barbs/ridges on them. They should be reaaaally hard to insert into the tubing (the small-barbed ones just pop right in).
2)maybe use some wine corks and caulk or something else to plug the tube on both ends (far enough in to allow the connectors some space) prior to inserting the connectors.
I think what happens is that the tube flexing back and forth actually pumps the water around the connector barbs. So keeping the water away from the connectors may help.
Would love to hear if you have any luck!
:)
Posted by: Mad Maxine | March 12, 2009 12:37 PM
My friend and I are making our own hoops but, we don't know how to weight them. We've used 3/4" 160 psi. Does anybody know how to weight hoops?
Posted by: Kori Printz | March 24, 2009 9:37 AM
To weigh hoops you might try weighing yourself and hen weigh holding the hoop. The difference in your weight and the weight of you and the hoop would be what the hoop weighs,
Posted by: Barbara Taylor | April 5, 2009 5:38 PM
lool i thinl Kori meant Weight - as in make heavier, not weigh as in measure.. right?
Posted by: Lisa Carter | April 13, 2009 2:16 AM
we used to use a copper hoop which was pretty heavy, but after moving to the US last year couldn't find anything similar... finally found a wide range of weighted hoops at http://sports-hoop.com/ - we are currently using a 5lb one which is similar to the one we left in russia - these all break down into pieces as well so are great for traveling
Posted by: krutoi | May 24, 2009 3:46 PM
Hoops! Lucky me, I could hula-hoop a little, way back when. When I purchased a large, defective hula(r)hoop with no shak-shak noise, that changed my life! When a PVC hoop was given to me at BurningMan, I could not stop hooping. Besides the fun, just five minutes a day will give you a trim waist, even if you are chubby. Try it. Hooping is easier than evah. I plan to make my own out of PVC, but also just ordered some from sports-hoop.com / anyone had experience with these hoops? I like that they are collapsible.
Posted by: Wendy Renee | June 27, 2009 10:15 AM
For those who like the collapsible-type hoops, I'd recommend checking out infiniti hoops. I started hooping and making my own hoops a year ago and this year was introduced to the infiniti hoop. Basically it's a hoop that can be twisted into a figure-8, then folded in half to create two interlocked hoops that are about 1/3 the diameter of the original. I just found some pics online here http://bodyhoops.com/pages/infinity-travel-hoop , but fyi, for hoopmakers, it's just as easy and takes just as much time as making a regular hoop! Much better product with no additional labor or parts (just one extra connector). Check it out!
Posted by: Ted Koslowsky | July 23, 2009 1:53 AM
Perhaps traditional hoop dances such as Hopi and Navajo hoop dancing deserve a mention here, even if modern hoop dancing did not evolve directly from them? Many of the moves are identical.
Posted by: Emma | December 1, 2009 5:24 PM
Will be in san francisco this weekend, wondering if there will be a hoop gathering on sunday and where? Will there be hoops to share, b/c too hard to bring on the plane for one day?
Thx,
Sage
Posted by: sage navarra | February 10, 2010 6:57 AM
i am 62 when i was about 10 this was all the range.if funny how things come around .its a good way of exersise and its great fun.what some of the better than i was can do with those hoops is well mind bloggering
Posted by: clivejones | March 30, 2010 8:46 PM
hi! Im making hula hoops for my school for an activity night were having. Because im in a middle/high school (Oh, Im 13 by the way)the sizes of the kids vary. I was wondering if any of you have had done this for a school or an event with older kids Because I need a measurement that will work for all!!! Thanks
-Laiken
Posted by: Laiken | April 16, 2010 6:26 PM