Sports Hooping
Super Slimmer, Waist Trimmer
WHAT IS IT?
Sports hooping is hula hooping with a heavy hoop, a weighted hoop. It’s one of those faddish things that a growing bunch of kooks are raving about. Several companies make sports hoops, but if you’re living in the rubber jungles of Malaysia or happen to have a way with Goodyear tires and welding machines, you could probably fashion your own.
ARRIVAL
My sports hoop arrived in a simple brown box. I lifted carefully; worried that it would be heavy. Wrong. Apparently 4.5 pounds spread out over a hundred and eighty or so cubic inches of boxing material do not make for a strained back.
When opened, the box revealed eight different sections of tubing, each about a foot of different bright shades from the VIBGYOR family. There were no instructions, so I followed instinct (developed from piecing together tons of annoying kids’ toys) and snapped the ends into each other until I had one very large, very bright hula hoop. The outer rim of the hoop was continuous and smooth, but the inner rim had grooves. It made for an interesting visual.
Put together this way, the hoop felt somewhat weighty. I lifted it up and placed it in starting position (think Saturn’s rings). I swung it into a spin.
At first, the weight against my waist was almost unbearable. The grooves felt as if they were causing serious bodily damage every time they’d make contact with my flesh. When I let the hoop drop a little lower, it hit my hip bone with the force of a raging bull.
Per the instructions I had read online, I hooped for about a minute that first day and then hopped about the house screaming about the agony in my middle regions (that was not in the instructions).
THREE DAYS LATER
Within three days of increased time with the hoop, the pain and the bruising sensation began to disappear. Instead, there was a sense of sadomasochistic pleasure as the hoop dislocated my innards with its Oz-ian cyclone-like force.
I managed to withstand the pain continuously through Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” video. Twice.
A WEEK LATER
My waist has not shrunk yet, but my legs are looking nice and lean. I don’t know if that’s from hooping for 5-20 minutes each day or from my new goal to do a backflip, for which I have been practicing handstands, cartwheels and backbends.
If I don’t see any waist shrinkage soon I will be tempted to “off” someone with this thing.
TWO WEEKS LATER
There’s something happening around the base of my ribcage. It’s as if there’s a “dip” in that area, like my stomach is slowly beginning to whittle away. I think this crazy hooping business may be having an effect – and I must admit to liking the feeling of the hula hoop as its weight “massages” my stomach while rotating.
ONE MONTH LATER
Will report back in a couple of weeks with updates!
a life less ordinary
copyright 2009-2010 selyov.com
HOOPING THROUGH THE DECADES
I’ve been hooping since I was about 7 years old. It was one of those activities that I could do while stuck inside our flat in Brazil on a rainy day. I’d hoop for hours, trying to get it to up and down. Me + Hoop = True Love.
As a young teen in Pakistan I remember falling in love with a wooden hoop. I begged and begged until my mother finally caved in and bought it for me. During my college years my interest in hooping gave way to an interest in boys. I stopped feeling the joy of my whirling companion.
I was reintroduced to hooping at a Cirque du Soleil performance in Seattle. After watching a diminutive performer get buried under several shiny hoops, I ran to the Cirque du Soleil store and purchased two gorgeous, shiny hoops of my own.
These cool hoops were filled with water, so that they felt a little more substantial. It was my first introduction to heavier hoops, and I loved the way they felt against my body, especially when I used them in tandem.
After some abuse the lovely Cirque hoops began to break. I turned to the web for replacements and came across weighted hoops. One manufacturer, self-styled Sports Hoop, made some that seemed interesting and touted weight loss benefits. I ordered a 4.5 pound one to try out, which is what I am referring to in the first few sections of this write-up.
