Hooping It Up

Today I skillfully managed to lock my keys in my car when I had taken Claire to puppy class at a big local park. I waited a bit for a friend to pick up and bring me a spare key from home. At first, Claire and I needed a rest and cooling off from our class, so we sat and watched a kids' karate/self defense course that was happening under a stand of trees. This was another form of dog training for Claire as I put her on a down stay, and practiced that. But the novelty of watching 6-9 year olds wore off eventually, and we again stretched our legs.

That's when I wandered across a group of five or six women with brightly colored and decorated hoops hula-ing to music in an aerobic exercise class. They were kind enough to let me join in!

My mother bought a weighted hula hoop a couple years ago as an exercise tool a couple years ago, but I don't think she's ever used it. I haven't hula hooped since I was about nine years old, but I had a great time today. I played with the group in the park for about a half hour or forty five minutes. When my friend finally arrived with the keys, she had to come to me in the park and take my picture before I would quit. I've seen this group in the park on other Saturdays, but had never asked to join in. I think I'll be doing this again!

I did some research tonight and learned from a site called LoveToKnow that not only does exercising with hoops

give you a good cardiovascular workout but using these hoops also:

• Massages your intestines and organs as it circles your waist
• Allows for meditative time
• Gets your heart rate up
• Increases the fitness level of the entire body
• Increase the flow of blood to the brain
• Increases energy level
• Improves coordination
• Strengthens torso muscles
• Enhances spinal flexibility

Another site to check out for more info is hooping.org.

Do you know anyone that uses hoops to exercise? Ever tried it yourself? If not, how do you exercise? Leave me a comment with your experiences.

P.S. Notice I'm wearing my "Vegetarians Have More Fun" t-shirt with bunnies on it!