Learn To Hula Hoop With The Hoopnotica Travel Hoop!
Whether you choose to take it to the beach or pack it in your suitcase the Hoopnotica Travel Hoop is light, compact and will keep you feeling fit and healthy on the road.
The Hoopnotica Travel Hoop Combo kit makes it easy to enjoy a fun, low-impact workout in the comfort of your own home. The kit includes a matching Travel Strap plus DVD that introduces you to hooping on your waist and upper body. The Travel Hoop collapses into six segments that can be easily stored and transported. Once you've learned the basics to Hoopdancing you can take your favorite workout with you to the gym or even the park.
For an introduction and to see what this hula hooping craze is all about visit our Youtube channel that will demonstrate the basics and then head back to our website to pick your hula hoop (currently available in pink or blue.)
We know you'll enjoy this fun alternative to the gym and don't forget to register for our exclusive VIP newsletter. Registering will give you an additional 10% off of your purchase.
What are you waiting for?
Does the thought of getting in shape instantly make you think of countless hours in the gym, sweating up a storm, and icing injured muscles? With the amount of discomfort that may result from a hard workout, it’s no wonder people are reluctant to get fit. Fortunately, there are ways to have fun through exercise!
Hula Hoops
Hula hooping is a great way get in shape while still having fun. It truly is the all- in- one workout! Just half an hour of “hooping” can burn up to 230 calories, strengthen your abdominal muscles, and improve your coordination. Hooping causes nearly no impact on your joints, so if you can stand, you can hula hoop! The gentle movements of your hips serve as a relaxing stretch for your hip flexors and thigh muscles, and the muscle toning that results will leave you feeling satisfied. Learning how to use a hula hoop can take a little practice, but a bit of dedication will have you using it like a pro in no time!
Jump Ropes
The sound of jump ropes hitting the concrete is certainly familiar to anyone who has ever been to elementary school. But, what many people don’t know is that this fun playground activity also has great benefits for your cardiovascular health!
Jumping rope is a medium-impact sport that increases agility while also toning your body to create lean muscle mass. Jump ropes are incredibly inexpensive and portable, making them perfect for busy adults. You can also carry out a diverse range of exercises with them, as seen in this YouTube video. However, the repeated motion of jumping rope can be hard on your joints, so if you’ve had knee problems in the past, it may be best to stay away.
Electronic Fitness Games
In the past ten years, exercise-focused video games have become popular. Games like WiiSports and Just Dance! are great for those who haven’t done much exercise in the past or are looking for a no-stress way to get fit. They do require quite a bit of money up front in order to buy the game and the console, but the long-term benefits they will have on your health will make it worth your while!
TV Fitness Challenges
A quick search on Pinterest or Google will easily reveal hundreds of exercise games that you can play while watching your favorite TV show. Simple calisthenic exercises, such as twenty-five jumping jacks each time a character says one of their catch lines, make exercising seem easy, fun, and approachable to people at all fitness levels.
Working out doesn’t have to be hard work. In fact, it can be pretty fun! If you are mindful about moving your body in a safe and exciting way, getting in shape could be one of the best things you’ll ever do!
We all have a few bad habits! But research has shown that sitting on our bottoms all day at work is more detrimental to your health than you may think! Here are 5 incredible ways that hooping at work can make a difference in your professional life and boost your health! Now that's efficiency to the max!
1. Counteract The Health Risks of Sitting Down For Long Periods of Time by Taking Small, Frequent Hoop Breaks! According to this WebMD article, even taking short breaks from sitting down can be good for your heart and your waist!
"A new study published in the European Heart Journal, suggests that it’s not just the length of time we spend sitting down but the number of times we get up during that time that can influence our health. This study examined the total length of time people spent sitting down and breaks taken in that time, together with various indicators of risk for heart disease, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, and inflammatory processes that can play a role in the blocking of arteries. It suggests that plenty of breaks, even if they are as short as one minute, seem to be beneficial...[and]...that even in people who spent a long time sitting down, the more breaks they took during this time, the smaller their waists..."
So...take a hoop break to slim your waist!
2. Improve Your Concentration Researchers have found that brief diversions can vastly improve your focus. According to this New York Times article, "a growing body of evidence shows that taking regular breaks from mental tasks improves productivity and creativity — and that skipping breaks can lead to stress and exhaustion." While some traditional options for short breaks include taking a walk, leaving the office for lunch or reading a book..why not grab your hoop and head to an empty conference room or to an empty space in your building's parking lot? You will not only clear your head, you'll come back to your desk feeling more focused!
3. Burn Calories...for Hours After You Hoop! Hooping has been proven to burn over 400 calories per hour by the American Council on Exercise, although the calorie-burn from hooping may be as high as 600 calories per hour when other parts of your body, such as your arms and legs, are engaged. To break this down even more, consider that, according to a 2009 AARP Bulletin, hooping it up for eight minutes gives you a good cardiovascular workout and will burn a whopping 50 calories, or a satisfying 6.25 calories per minute! And the ACE reported, according to a study they conducted, that hooping burns approximately 7 calories per minute! Burn, calories, burn! But beyond preemptively burning off your lunch, hooping can increase the amount of calories you burn for hours after you hoop. According to some sources, the secret to permanent weight loss is training your body to be a more efficient calorie-burning engine by maximizing your metabolism. And, studies show that you can continue to burn extra calories after you have finished your workout. Hooping during work will enable you to experience this "afterburn" at your desk!
4. Improve Your Mood & Let Go of Stress & Frustration Besides the wonderful burst of endorphins you're likely to enjoy after just a few minutes of hooping. Moving around after being sedentary for some time can help you work through work-related stress and frustration. After hooping we often feel like younger, stronger, more clear-headed, more confident versions of ourselves...in other words, we feel like better--if not our best Selves. Warning: Confidence, positive thinking, peppiness, and go-getterness may ensue...Taking out your hoop will not only allow you to spin your stress away, but can give you the inspiration, energy and refreshed perspective to come up with creative solutions to your work-related problems.
5. Connect More with Co-workers & Take the Lead in Inspiring Others According to an interview with Niki Leondakis, COO of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, hula hoops play a big role in building important leadership skills and cultivating an excellent rapport among coworkers: "One of the important aspects of working at Kimpton is having fun. For leaders, the ability to laugh at yourself is key, so we use Hula Hoops to demonstrate that...Every year at our annual meeting, we have a general-manager meeting. About 250 people, along with our corporate team, get together for a couple days. This has been a ritual for about 15 years now. Anyone who’s a first-timer, we call them up to the front of the room, and we play the music to “Wipe Out,” and we do this hoop-off. So five people at a time hoop and then there’s a winner. There are usually four to six new teams of people. The winner of all the newbies, as we call them, then has a hoop-off with last year’s reigning champion.
Worried what your co-workers might think? Niki says that she is now known as the "Hula Hoop Coach" within her company: "I used to be someone they laughed at, but now I actually go, “O.K., here’s the technique.” (MORE: Read the Entire Interview by Adam Bryant, New York Times Business Section)
Do you bring your hoop to work? Tell us your story below!
We've always been advocates of multitasking while hooping, whether you are catching up on the latest episode of Scandal, checking your emails on your phone, or timing your workout to that load of laundry you just threw in the machine. Well, some genius has designed a way to make your hoop the ultimate multitasking tool!
We recently heard of the Hula Washer, a unique fitness tool that may soon allow you to wash your clothes while you exercise and save energy!
This 2012 Electrolux Design Lab Entry promises the following:
"The Hula Washer promises to keep you fit and svelte as you wash your clothes. Not only do you save time and money, but the concept also keeps your waistline under control. The energy you use to spin the Hula Washer, like a Hula Hoop is used to clean the clothes loaded into the washer segment. Add clothes and washing liquid to the hollow center of the ring and then start to spin." (Read more on Yanko Design's site)
While the Hula Washer isn't currently in production (and may never be!) it tickled us pink to think that there may be future "gadget-hoops" fitted with features that turn your motion into energy to power a household appliance. \
Which appliance-hoop combo would you like to see them try to make? (Feel free to include your sketches in your answers!)
Sitara Bird (hooper, Hoopnotica Certified Instructor, and avid enthusiast for healing arts & holistic health) shares her favorite smoothie recipe to keep you fueled for fall!
I discovered hoop dance almost six and a half years ago and instantly fell in love. My 'hoop mama' is Katie; one of the OG hoopers on the scene in Detroit. I met her at this small festival in Detroit called Fourth Street Fair in 2008. I remember the moment exactly; her dance wholly captivated me, as I stared in awe while this circle traveled effortlessly around her body, she radiated grace and fluidity. It was as if she was tapping into other portals with her hoop. I bought a handmade hoop from her that day and thus my hoop journey began.
Today, I am a Hoopnotica Certified Instructor and a performer who has coupled this movement medicine with the healing benefits of yoga. I also am a nutrition enthusiast. I learned early on that my body requires a rather diligent lifestyle to perform at it's best. I've healed many old internal wounds through these healing arts and my aim is to share my story with others so that they can pave their own path towards health.
RECIPE: Autumn may be one of my favorite seasons. I love the cooler air in the mornings. Coffee shop walks where you can hear the rustle of reddish, orange leaves beneath your feet. And I definitely love pumpkin – pumpkin anything and everything. That’s why I created this Chai-Inspired Pumpkin Pie Smoothie.
What you’ll need:
• 2 frozen bananas
• 1 cup of pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)
• 1 cup of unsweetened almond mylk
• 1 TBS of organic, local honey
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp of nutmeg & ginger
• 1/8 tsp of garam masala
• sprinkle of black pepper & cloves
Add all ingredients to your Vita-Mix or any other high speed blender and enjoy!
You could also add in cinnamon sticks for an aesthetic twist if you’re serving company!
For more from Sitara, visit her site: www.sitarabird.com
"We were always looking for new jobs, hoping to find that perfect job that paid the bills AND that we looked forward to daily." Sound familiar?
In 2007, Jen and Keith Moore were both morbidly obese, unemployed or between unsatisfying jobs, and feeling very frustrated and unsuccessful. Six years on, 270 lbs lost, and several Hoopnotica Certifications later, Jen and Keith are finally living the hoop dream!
Jen talks about what it means to support their family as Hoopnotica Master Trainers and independent fitness professionals!
Even after almost four years of being professional Hula Hoopers, we still cannot at times believe this is our reality: we are truly living the hoop dream!
It was a process that began gradually, until one day we stopped, looked our lives, and realized this was it-this was the direction we were headed, to support ourselves and our family 100% by hooping and still working way fewer hours than most people!
Many of you are already familiar with how hooping changed our lives forever-with Keith and I losing a total of almost 300 lbs and finally winning the battle over obesity that we had struggled with our entire lives. However many of you aren’t as familiar with the impact hooping has had on us professionally.
Before Hooping...Hoping for the Perfect Job:
Before Hooping, Keith was always in upper level retail management. The money was good, but the hours were long and the jobs were stressful, especially when we started a family. Keith never enjoyed his job, and constantly was job hopping, because he would grow bored with the monotony of the work. (Just to give you an idea, at age 35, Keith has worked at over 80 different jobs!) He was always looking for new jobs, hoping he’d find that perfect job that paid the bills AND he looked forward to daily.
I worked as a nanny, which I enjoyed, but the pay was very low, and once I started having children, I wanted to stay home with them and focus on them, not raise someone else’s children and mine at the same time.Keith decided to go back to school in 2008, because many job opportunities were closed to him without a degree. In 2009 when the economy crashed, he lost his job. We had a 4 year old, a 6 month old, and we were living on $222 a week in unemployment.
When I started hooping and people started asking me if I was a hoop instructor, I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Me, obese, a fitness or dance instructor? HA!! I would laugh about it to Keith every time.
But, then a really funny thing happened: after a few months of hooping, and countless people stopping me to ask me when/where I taught class, I started to consider the idea of becoming a hoop instructor. There were no Hoopnotica Certified Instructors in upstate New York, and maybe I could make a little extra money while Keith kept searching for a "real" job.
Your Dream Job Can Be Your "Real" Job
I got certified through the distance program in January 2010, thinking I would teach in a few months, towards the fall, when I was really “good” and had lost more weight. (I was still well over 200lbs at this time.) I started putting out feelers, and within a few days, THREE gyms emailed me asking me to start the following week.I was terrified, but stepped forward with the idea of “fake it til you make it” and by the summer I was teaching over 20 classes a week and turning down requests for workshops, performances and classes! I told Keith that I thought he should get certified too, until he found that “real” job he was still looking for.
Keith started teaching and by the end of the year, we stepped back and said, Wow, this is a business...there are our real jobs! We are professional hula hooper fitness instructors! We had lost almost 300 lbs by this time and were continuing to change our lifestyles while spreading the hoop love! We had named our business Roc City Hoopdance in February, and it became an offical LLC by the end of the year.
Doing What We Love & Spending Time with the People Who We Love
Now, even as Hoopnotica Master Trainers, running our own HoopDance studio and certifying new Hoopnotica Instructors around the world, we get to spend all day with our children, educating them (our kids are home-schooled) and creating amazing bonds that Keith especially wouldn’t have had if he was still working 60-80 hour work weeks away from home and from our family. And the crazy thing is, we make more money NOW than when he worked all of those long, labor-intensive hours!Going on four years of teaching HoopDance, this is the longest Keith has ever been at a job and every day still brings new and exciting challenges. Even though the basics of hooping never change, the amazing people we get to interact with and the new places we get to go change every day, week and month.
And all of this happened because, for many months, the obese girl (I used to be) in the corner of the gym with her TravelHoop and Hoopnotica DVD playing on a laptop, who never truly thought she could hoop, kept trying and kept trying. Less than four years later, I am healthy, happy, and living the ultimate Hoop fairy tale. If I can do it, so can you!
“It takes a tremendous amount of courage to love and accept yourself exactly where you are!”
Well said, LuLu! It's this amazing, courageous, beautiful spirit that makes LuLu an inspiration to everyone she meets and our newest Featured Hooper! Watch her video here!
Name: LuLu Lam
Hooping Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
How long have you been hooping? A year and a half
Favorite Hoop: The Skyfall Skinny Mini
Who Introduced you to hooping?
This Hoop Goddess that I met in Orange County: Ashley Pintek.
What was the biggest challenge for you?
Being able to incorporate all of the moves that I learned into a dance meant learning that I needed to let go of control in order to find my flow.
What are the qualities that you think make a good hooper?
Passion, spontaneity and drive!
Where is your favorite place to hoop?
Oh man, anywhere in nature!
What has been, in your opinion, your biggest achievement as a hooper?
There's two. The first one would definitely have to be hooping on the Mindy Project with the Hooptown Hotties and sharing what we love and our culture with everyone who isn't aware that HoopDance exists! It was a full circle moment for me, because I performed in Matt and Ben, and played the character Mindy played. Fast-forward six years, I got to meet her and share my love of HoopDance with her.
The second one would have to be when I worked with the Hooptown Hotties on our Purity Ring "Obedear" video. We just came together with a dream and put action into it to make it come true. I heard "Obedear" for the first time when I had just started hooping and hoped that one day I would be good enough to flow to it and then to actually be in a music video that we co-created a year later was another full circle moment!
What do you consider to be your signature move?
My signature move is the "LuLu-stance" where I stand with my hoop over my head. I stand like that to honor the hoop.
What is your hooping dream?
To be able to travel and perform on stage, one film, and one TV to be able to share this dance and inspire other women to pick up the hoop and MOVE!
What is your hooping confession?
I love hooping naked!
Quotable LuLu!
"Hooping is the divine manifestation of my creativity."
"Because of Hooping, I can be most authentic self."
Hoopnotica Master Trainer Jacqui Becker shows the lovely ladies of New Beauty Magazine some seriously entertaining and effective hoop fitness moves.
Warning: Unlike these ladies, you may not want to do these hoop moves on camera, they WILL make you sweat!
When Hoopnotica Master Trainer Jen Moore was planning a blog about hooping as a mom, she talked about it at home to husband (and Hoopnotica Master Trainer) Keith Moore. Their conversation inspired their oldest daughter Mairi to come up with a blog of her own...."Things I've Learned Because My Mom is a Hooper."
Here is what Mairi had to say...
Things I've Learned Because My Mom is a Hooper
by Mairi Moore
age 8 3/4
My mom discovered that she didn't have to be unhealthy and overweight anymore when I was four. She tried her whole life to become healthy, and never knew how. My mom bought Hoopnotica dvds and hoops. Then she started going to the Y and hooping. She started getting healthy and helped my dad get healthy too. She lost a lot of weight...about three of me!
My mom has been hooping for a long time now, 4 years. Here are some things I've learned:
1) I've learned that hooping is a fun activity that everyone can do. I have seen old people, and young people, boys and girls, and every kind of people, they all can hoop.
2) People might think they can't do something (like hoop), but they just have to believe in themselves. And practice a lot, just like my mommy did.
3) I've learned that being healthy can be fun, and not boring.
4) I've learned that you can always make a change in your life.
We feel so grateful that Mairi felt inspired to share her story with us and we hope this won't be the only blog post she writes for Hoopnotica! What has hooping taught you and the ones around you?
MORE: Watch Jen and Keith Moore share their life-changing fitness journey
