A while ago, we noticed a woman walking down the street with two brightly-colored hula hoops balanced on her shoulder. We ran after her to find out what she was doing with them, and where she was heading. She told us she was going to practice hula hooping, to which she was devoted. She called herself Suzi Hoops and she said she LOVES hula hooping because “Whatever is wrong and bothering you in your life disappears.”

Suzi came to hula hooping couple of years ago when she saw a sign for a free hula hoop class being offered at Groove Hoops, a hula hoop performance troop. She went to the class and got hooked right away, finding hula hooping to be the perfect exercise and a great way to meet cool people (“who are always have a smile”). “Hula hooping is hopeful.” she said. We asked her if she’d spin her hoops for us and she did (we’re sorry we didn’t shoot video)…

Suzy Hoops hoola hooping nyc

Suzy Hoops hoola hooping NYC

But we DID find a great video of hula-hooping from the point of view of the hoop (done with a tiny wide angle camera attached to a hoop).Video link here.

You can take hula hoop lessons at Groove Hoops for $12 most Monday nights (they provide the hoop). And according to Suzi Hoops, there’s a whole underground of hula hoop afficionados, with classes at local YMCA’s, and hoop dance videos on YouTube.

We gonna buy a hula hoop!

Video via Kottke

Related posts: the fun theory of doing things that are good-for-us

“get up off that thing”: improv exercise for home or work

treadmill desk p.s.: intelligent treadmill redesign

what would happen if you took a dance break?

roy arden’s blog: james brown’s dance lessons and homemade ferris wheels…

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2 replies on “hula-hooping as life-changing exercise

  1. Here’s a link so you can make your own hula hoops. It’s super easy, fun and nice to make exactly the size you want. If you prefer something cushioned, you can even use pipe insulation to cover the outside.

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