Hula-hooping

[kenyonchris]

My SO and I are trying to get away for a night before he starts his new job as chief of police and I never see him again....
So I found this nice hotel in Dallas, the idea being we will take the mountain bikes, ride in the morning, then spend the afternoon in the pool and go to dinner, spend the night, then go for a ride in the morning after checkout if we are feeling up to it.
The room rate at this 4 star hotel is $199, which is ok, I guess, for the night...but the rate is cut in half if, for one minute continuously, you can hula-hoop.
Now, I am never one to shrink away from a challenge, but I haven't hula hooped since I was, ok, well never. And it seems that the hula hoop itself has gone out of vogue, so can't find one to practice.
Any hula hoop champions out there? Words of advice?

[Biciclista]

good luck!
do you get to practice?

[Chile Pepper]

too funny! I could hula hoop for hours when I was a girl, so I was shocked when I recently picked up a hula hoop that some kids were playing with and could not go a single round. So I would definitely recommend practicing. It's easy enough once you get the swing of it, but otherwise it's not happening.

[kenyonchris]

good luck!
do you get to practice?

No, but one of my mounted officer buddies reminded me that there are some hula hoops at the barn....we use them to do sensory training with the patrol horses. They are pretty dusty and old, but I can at least get the swing of it.

[channlluv]

Target's got'em!

Good luck! What a great promotion! (Your SO's and the hotel's.)

Roxy

[GulfCoastAmy]

That's so cool! Practice, practice, practice! I have no tips, but I'm rooting for ya!

[sfa]

Good luck! Like Chile Pepper, I could hula hoop like a champ when I was little. Now I pick them up and can't make them go around even once. I get regular practice (having a 10 year old daughter and a scout troop helps!) but I just can't get the hang of them anymore. Personally, I blame the presence of hips, and the different width-of-body to diameter-of-hula-hoop ratio between little kids and adults. Kids in my scout troop who had never seen them before could pick them up and just go. And the ones who HAD played with them before were amazing--I had two girls who had multiple hoops going around and they kept this up for a good 10 minutes.

You can still buy them at large toys stores--check around where they have the bins of playground balls and such.

Sarah

[Pedal Wench]

It's easy enough once you get the swing of it, ...

..., but I can at least get the swing of it.

Puns intended?

[redrhodie]

No, but one of my mounted officer buddies reminded me that there are some hula hoops at the barn....we use them to do sensory training with the patrol horses. They are pretty dusty and old, but I can at least get the swing of it.

Oh, this is good! The ones in stores today are lighter than the one I had when I was little, and that makes it harder, especially for an adult. If these are old and heavy, you may be in luck.

They also sell adult size hoops, be they're not cheap. If you decide you love the sport, it may be worth the investment!

[maryellen]

remember to keep one foot in front of the other when you start. i was stunned when I tried to hula hoop up for the first time in 40 years to realize how hard it was--it seemed so easy when I was a kid. w a bit of practice, you'll be able to do a minute.

[OakLeaf]

KC, you should've picked one up when you were working Bonnaroo!

They're so popular at the outdoor concerts - but the only place I've ever seen them for sale is from the itinerant vendors at said concerts. Keep thinking I'll buy one and learn to use it...

I'd get one of the take-down ones, that come in four pieces.

I never did hula hoop as a kid, but I'm hearing echoes of my jump rope ability. I'm lucky to jump for a minute, now. When we were kids we jumped all through recess! But then, we took half-jumps, where adult jumping is "hot pepper."

Anyway, with practice I'm sure you can do it.

[Brandi]

I love to hula hoop. I made some a few years ago and brought them on a camping trip, they were a huge hit! try you might like it. And it is good for your core!

[Tuckervill]

I love hula-hooping. The heavier the hoop, the easier it is. I think we thought it was easier when we were kids because the the hoop to body weight ratio was higher. Now the regular hoop is very light as compared to our body weight. But weighted hoops are easier than the kid hoops for me now.

We often hula-hoop in fitness classes. The women can always do it, it seems, but the men with round bellies...it just slides off! Very comical. lol.

I wonder how you did at the hotel?

Karen

[tyrocks00]

Damn Ive never thought of hula hooping as a competitive sport but thats pretty cool Im not so great at it, but my mom had one of those giant ones that you're supposed to use to keep in shape (not the lame plastic ones that kids use) and IT WAS SO TOUGH. I guess Im just not strong enough for that kinda thing.

[badger]

all of a sudden I'm hearing hula hoop this, hula hoop that... I'm wondering: will hula hooping get rid of the little jelly belly I'm developing? I've always had it but it's getting a bit more noticeable now. Even when I was younger I never could get rid of it, but I'm determined that something out there has got to help!