In recent years, weighted hula hoops have gone viral, with workout videos garnering tens of millions of views, promising benefits that range from improved posture to weight loss.
A weighted hoop is usually larger than the toy version and can weigh up to 5 pounds. A 2019 study published by the National Institutes of Health found that people who used a weighted hoop for 13 minutes a day for six weeks lost more fat and gained more strength in their core than people who walked every day for that same amount of time.
But locals like Alley Westbrook are proof that any form of hooping — weighted or not — can be a path to fitness.
When Westbrook began hooping in 2015, she says that she was 300 pounds, on eight medications and in an unhappy marriage. She discovered hooping at a dance party, and the very next day, she went to Walmart and bought one.
Despite watching YouTube tutorials and practicing every day, “I could not belly hoop to save my life,” Westbrook remembers. Eventually, she took a class with Chattanooga Hoop Group founder Jessica Boyangiu. “She told me, ‘Sweetie, just get a bigger hoop.'”
Most toy hoops, like the first one Westbrook bought, are lightweight and around 30 inches in diameter. The smaller and lighter the hoop, the more difficult it is to keep it spinning.
“The bigger and heavier the hoop, the slower the rotation,” explains Boyangiu, who makes custom hoops through her company, Hooper’s Bazaar. For beginners, Boyangiu recommends a hoop between 40 and 45 inches in diameter — when held vertically on the ground, it should reach just above the belly button.
But even before Westbrook upgraded her hoop size and began honing her on-body hooping skills, she was already seeing a difference.
“Within the first month, I noticed better breathing and endurance. Within three months, I noticed changes in my pants size,” Westbrook says.
According to the Mayo Clinic, hula hooping is an aerobic activity comparable to mowing the lawn with a push mower, burning between 165 and 200 calories per 30-minute session.
“I’ve never been a gym person,” says Boyangiu, who learned to hoop while living in Brooklyn, New York, in 2010. At first, she just practiced waist hooping while doing squats and lunges.
On-body hooping, for example, refers to spinning a hoop around the waist, shoulders, legs, hips or other parts of the body. This style requires a larger hoop usually made of HDPE or MDPE plastic piping, which is heavier than a toy but lighter than a weighted hoop.
Off-body hooping, however, is when the hoop does not encircle the body but is thrown, rotated or spun — like in a palm spin, for example, where the hoop is spun vertically on an open hand. These tricks require a lighter, smaller hoop, commonly made of polypro plastic, though dollar-store toy hoops can work too, says Westbrook.
The latest style is fitness hooping, usually with a hoop made of weighted plastic and padding. Generally, experts suggest starting with a hoop that is 1.5 pounds or less and discontinuing it if it causes bruising or back pain.
The best workout plan, says Westbrook, is the one you enjoy.
“If you can have fun being bad at something, then it’s for you,” Westbrook says. “My weight loss happened naturally because I was moving more.”
Hooping, she says, was a gateway to a healthier life, helping her lose 100 pounds, which she has now kept off for nine years.
“Hooping gave me fitness. Fitness let me come off the medications, and that gave me the clarity to make changes in my life. Back then, I could never have dreamed as big as I live now,” Westbrook says.
Give It a Whirl
On Sundays, starting at 7 p.m., Tennessee Academy of Gymnastics, 2501 Riverside Drive, opens its space to the flow-arts community, which includes those interested in poi spinning, acro yoga, hooping and more. Another place to find hoopers, Westbrook says, is Chattanooga’s summer Nightfall concert series or any music festival.
Find Your Flow
To learn more about private hoop instruction, contact Jessica Boyangiu via Chattanooga Hoop Group on Facebook or email her at hoops@hooperbazaar.com
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