Hula Hoopin' to a Different Beat

You did it as a kid; you did it with your friends. Maybe you had the one that rattled while it whirled around, one with battery-operated, flashy lights, glitter-filled or the kind that glowed in the dark. No matter what yours looked or sounded like, you had one and you weren’t cool unless you knew how to use it.

Hula hooping is an art that dates back to ancient Greek and Egyptian civilizations, but we know it best from 1950’s America where girls in poodle skirts hula hooped outside their homes or in the parking lot of their favorite diners. As anyone who has ever hula hooped at length knows, it’s an aerobic exercise that helps trim the waist and hips, making it a popular new way for adults to fight against excess pounds and stay healthy. Today, hula hooping is seeing a comeback as a way to get fit, have fun and step back into the days of our youth. The hoops haven’t changed much since we first picked one up, but the fun, as an adult, has.

Fitness centers are picking up hula hooping classes for adults, and many are combining hooping with belly dance, pilates, yoga and drumming. Drummers using portable Djembe or Djun Djun drums can establish the rhythm for the hula hooping and change up the speed to help the hula hoopers get the most out of their workout, or take a well-deserved breath. Hula hooping to a beat can be difficult task for a beginner, but what better way to make it fun than to invite a circle of live drummers to the class and see where the rhythms they beat take the hoops.

Drop everything and pick up a hula hoop (and a friend to drum for you!), its not for kids anymore. Hula hooping has become more than a childhood activity; there are adult hula hoopers all over the world, reinventing their childhoods and bringing the hula hoop straight into the adult world.