Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday and Wednesday nights, South Park turns into a myriad of light, color and movement. Hips and bodies of all shapes and sizes swing and sway, holding up hoops of sparkled and curved PVC pipe. The hoops don’t stay in one place for long, winding up, down and around legs, arms and chests.
For the fourth summer, Hoop Mamas is hosting playshops in South Park on Wednesday nights from 7 to 9 p.m. Ali Fitzgerald, who founded Hoop Mamas in 2007, started the playshops as a way for hoopers to get together and share tricks. She sees all different kinds of people at the playshops, from young to old. “People think because they couldn’t do it as a kid, they can’t do it now,” Fitzgerald says. “But it’s accessible and it’s easy.” It’s easier because the hoops are heavier, and easier to keep up. And even if you lack rhythm, that doesn’t mean you will be a bad hooper. Betty Shurin got kicked out of an aerobics class because she lacked rhythm. Now known as Betty Hoops, she has been teaching and studying hooping since 1998 and has her own instructional hooping DVD. She says she can teach anyone to hoop in less than five minutes by watching the way they move.
The method Shurin teaches is different from the kind of hooping we did as kids because it focuses on posture and how the muscles in the core move. It can burn up to 600 calories per hour, and it can improve flexibility and coordination. Her method also promotes better digestion and circulation because the weight of the hoop massages the internal organs.
But even hooping for fun with friends can be good for your body. Samantha Hewitt had been trying to lose weight, but was bored with normal exercise routines. She started hooping about a year and a half ago, but switched to fire hooping in December. A fire hoop has six to eight spokes that stick out and are lit on fire. Hewitt says her fire hoop is a lot heavier than a normal one, and the hoop took extra practice to get used to. She started fire hooping five times a week and she’s lost more than 30 pounds. “Fire hooping is easier to do more often because the fire hoopers get together more often,” she says. “It’s a very social exercise.”
Hooping can be a social exercise, but it doesn’t have to be. When she was teaching herself how to hoop, Fitzgerald spent a lot of time doing online research. She recommends www.hooping.org, which is a non-profit organization that promotes hooping with daily videos and weekly tutorials. Fitzgerald says she would also try to learn a trick every day on YouTube. “I would watch the video on the computer then run outside to try it,” she says. Tricks can be basic, like keeping the hoop up on your waist or lassoing it on your wrist. But tricks can get as complicated as the hooper can make them, usually involving a lot of movement and sometimes multiple hoops.
Shurin says people hoop because of the sexy, playful and alive feeling they get. Sarah Kunen, Lawrence senior, says through hooping she has learned to dance again. “I have arthritis, so a lot of kinds of exercise I can’t do,” she says. “But this is a fun and energetic exercise that I can do.”
There isn’t a lot of equipment involved in hooping. Fitzgerald makes and sells hoops on her website, hoopmamas.net. You can also purchase hoops at Beyond the Door, 918 Massachusetts. She sells basic hoops for around $25, but fancier hoops and LED hoops will cost more. You can also find instructions for making your own hoop on www.hooping.org.
Music festival offers more than just music
Hoop dancers, a drum circle, disc golf and many more activities will ...
Lawrence native brings glory to hometown
Kevin Hooper’s baseball career is something Lawrence can be proud of.
Volunteers encourage service over corporate life
Yoga 101
Demystifiying the practice for beginners.
Stay and play
If you’re staying in Lawrence, fall in step on Mass
Working out the kinks
KU Fit works to do away with men's group-fitness phobia
Mascots on parade
Meet a few of KU’s other fictional figures
Falun Dafa: A Western Practice with Virtuous ...
A growing category of spiritual discipline. There's more than yoga out there.
In the life of a hoopdancer
In the life of a professional hoopdancer.
A place for all your ‘60s needs
Beyond the Door, 918 Massachusetts St. provides the Lawrence community with items ...
Club makes waves at Clinton Lake
Whatever your experience, the KU Wakeboard Club offers the chance for anyone ...
Access for all: Becoming an inclusive campus
Students and administrators expand on accessibility issues at the University.
12 KU students join Teach for America ...
The non-profit group aims to end educational inequality in the United States.
Cursive removed from K-12 curriculum
As a part of a standard learning initiative, schools in Kansas, as ...
Nontraditional student Jennifer Osborn teaches students to ...
She has dropped 12 sizes since taking up a lifting class.
Question & Answer with Harry Shaffer, professor ...
Exercise your way to better grades
Cardiovascular exercise - like running - can help build a better memory.
The thin Web line
Overworked students' dangerous race against time
Is too much work and too little time putting students' health at ...
Program prepares athletes for future careers
'Hoops 2 Heels' will provide advice for women's basketball players and other ...
Get Involved: KU Performance Club
When you need to get out of the house. Or the library.
Saturday in the city
Saturday has a lot more to offer than one might think.
More ZZZ's Please
Enter unconsciousness and see what goes on before the alarm clock goes ...
Morning Brew: Oudin is future of tennis
Young athlete represents a new generation of female tennis players.
The abdominal dilemma
Is your ab workout helping or hurting your body?
Beyond the Syllabus
Just like Mr. Belding, teachers can struggle with the thin line between ...
Good afternoon, class
Harry Schaffer, professor of economics, has been teaching at the University since ...
Lighter weights may help lifters bulk up
Despite evidence in a recent Canadian study, trainers at the Recreation Center ...
Exercising care while pursuing perfection
Experts dispel myths, dispense advice on achieving a healthy workout.
Nichols: Gain procrastinating skills at upcoming seminar ...
At conference, learn all the tricks of the trade as you hone ...
Nintendo Wii: Does it have health benefits?
Homeless shelter offers limited space
Lawrence Community Shelter is struggling to house homeless after another Lawrence shelter’s ...
Women's ACL injuries and the path to ...
New research and knowledge dealing with ACL tears help junior forward Carolyn ...
Bus tour promotes LGBT equality
A bus tour draws attention to LGBT issues in states that do ...
The heat is on
An alternative form of yoga in Lawrence puts pressure not only on ...
Rec center adds fingerprint technology
Ambler Student Recreation Center to begin using fingerprint access in addition to ...
Choice of a Lifetime
Transitional care
Making the switch from college student to a paid volunteer.
The Anxious Mind
How social anxiety affects us and how we can make it go ...
Studying for tests really can hurt
Nurses say students’ back pain may be caused by bad posture and ...
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID