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Hooping: It's hot

By Kathy Lauer-Williams Of The Morning Call

It's a new fitness craze that can burn 100 calories in 10 minutes.

It's so trendy, A-list celebs like Beyonce and Charlize Theron swear by it.

And best of all, you can do it in your backyard for a minimum investment.

Hooping is hot and hooper Tina Hemmerle of Bethlehem, Pa., is trying to spread the word.

Hooping — don’t call it Hula-Hooping — is the updated version of the 1950s fad using large customized hoops decorated with everything from colorful taping to LEDs.

“Everybody loves it and anyone can do it,” said Hemmerle.

After Wham-O introduced the plastic hoop in 1958, Hula-Hoops slowly faded from the public consciousness until the 1990s, when the jam band movement brought them back into style. Colorado band The String Cheese Incident gave hooping underground cachet when it passed out handmade hoops at concerts.

Hemmerle was introduced to hoops last year, when she saw someone fire-hooping at a concert. The 26-year-old Kutztown University grad was transfixed by the sight of the woman spinning a hoop studded with flaming spokes around her waist.

The next day, she begged a friend to let her try her homemade hoop.

“It took me three hours to get it and then I couldn’t stop,” Hemmerle said.” I said to my friends, ‘This is so cool, you have to try it.’ It was satisfying in so many ways.”

A month later, Hemmerle decided to start her own hooping business — Hemmerle Hoop Co. “People said I was crazy,” she admits. But she soon had to quit her day job to keep up with hoop orders.
Since she was hooping nearly every day, Hemmerle noticed an unexpected benefit — her clothes were getting looser. After a year, she had lost 30 pounds.
“It raises your heart rate and burns calories,” she says. “If you hoop daily and eat properly, you will lose weight.”

The main difference between the toy hoops and the hoops Hemmerle makes are size and weight. Hemmerle’s hoops range from 36 inches to 44 inches in circumference and weigh between three-quarters of a pound to three pounds. The toy hoops range from 20 inches to 28 inches in diameter and are very lightweight.

Hemmerle says larger hoops are easier for beginners to spin because they rotate more slowly and recommends they start with a 42-inch hoop. “You have to work harder to spin the smaller and lighter hoops,” she says.

She says the best hoops for fitness are 39 or 42 inches. Although there is a current trend to market really heavy hoops weighing from 4 to 7 pounds for muscle toning, Hemmerle believes hoops lighter than 2 pounds are the most effective. And heavy hoops can cause muscle soreness and bruising, she warns.

The best part about hooping, Hemmerle says, is anyone can do it, even those with no coordination.
“The biggest mistake most people make is moving their hips all around violently,” she says. “You’re basically just shifting weight from one leg to another.”
Most hoops have either water or plastic beads in them although serious hoop dancers prefer no fill hoops because they don’t make noise that interferes with the music.

Hemmerle sells her hoops at www.spirithoops.com. They cost from $15 for a simple hoop to $25 for a hoop that collapses for easy travel.

“You can do really unbelievable stuff,” she says. “It’s not that hard. The more you throw it around and mess up, the more you learn.”

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