The bigger the better…?

 (Da daa da daaaaa …. A hula hoop post)

You’ve heard all the talk… hula hooping is a great exercise and gets your tummy in good shape (and all the other good stuff that goes with it)…

You’ve tried hooping with your child’s hula hoop, and failed… miserably…  Then you went off to a department store and found a hoop in the gym section, and thought you’d give that a try too.  Maybe it worked, perhaps it didn’t.  You try and try and try… And the hoop keeps falling.  You want to give up.  I nearly did, but I persisted.

Next step.  You google hula hoops and discover that hula hoops aren’t all the same.  You actually get such a thing as an ADULT HULA HOOP.  So what’s the difference?  A small kiddies hoop is made of very light plastic and is teeny tiny.  I know many kids who can’t keep a kiddies hoop up!! 

 So now that you’ve discovered this fact.  How do you find a hoop that suits your size?  You come across a LOT of “evidence” that tells you that your hoop needs to reach your belly button – or chest.  But that’s not entirely true.  Size – not just height – has a lot to do with the size hoop you’ll use, but there’s no hard and fast rule.  Bear in mind, the larger around the waist/ hips you are, the more likely it is that you’ll need a larger hula hoop than the next woman who is super skinny…  You may both use the same size, but you may use entirely different sizes altogether.

Very few of my students have started with a hoop that reaches to their belly button (or more).  Most find the hoop which I have named my “standard adult” hoop to be the easiest to use.  Those people who are much larger than average may need to use a large, or I may need to custom-make them a hula hoop.  BUT and here’s a big butt… I mean but… I have had women of average build and height who HAD to use the biggest hoop I had!  I have had yet another customer ordering a kiddies size hoop because the others are just too big and she couldn’t get the hang of it all with the big hoop. 

So with all this advise on “choosing the right hoop for you”, it turns out that you may choose the “perfect” hoop… which is not so perfect in the end.  Sometimes, as with many things, you need to try it out.  My recommendation is always to go with an average (standard size), and once you have the hang of it, you can change the size and weight to suit your needs.  Maybe you never change size. I have been hooping for 3 years, and I still like my standard size hoop.  I can hoop with a smaller hoop, but I enjoy the big hoop.

Why is it suggested that you learn with a big, heavier hula hoop?  It’s just a little easier.  Because of the size, it takes longer for the hoop to make each revolution so you have time to “feel” the hoop and movement.  The weight helps keep it going – it gets momentum and helps the hoop guide your body to move with the hoop.

It may seem like hard work at first, but when you allow yourself to make mistakes, let the hoop fall a few times, knowing that with each fall, the hoop just made a few turns… If you’re keeping the hoop up for 5 seconds at a time, you’re on the right track… Keep going!!  You’ll soon wonder why you nearly gave up doing something that’s so much fun.