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Hula-Hooping Comes Around as Workout Craze

Hooping burns as many calories as running

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 25, 2009 2:55 PM CDT

(Newser) – The hula-hoop is seeing a revival as a fitness tool, with out-of-shape Americans finding twirling a plastic tube a more enjoyable way to burn calories than running or weight-lifting. Companies like HoopGirl and Hoopnotica have seen sales of weighted hula-hoops and enrollment in hoop fitness classes surge. "I finally found an exercise that I could do every day because I felt like I wasn't exercising at all," one enthusiast tells Time. "I was just having fun."

It’s more than fun: An hour of sustained hooping burns as many calories as the same amount of time on a treadmill, and different exercises can target every part of the body. "Anything that gets people off the couch and burning calories is a good thing," said a exercise expert. "Hooping can be a good way to mix up your routine and keep it from being boring."

Cody Olesen hula hoops during the 2009 Northwest Folklife Festival on Friday, May 22, 2009 in Seattle. The festival began on Friday and runs through the Memorial Day weekend ending on Monday.
Cody Olesen hula hoops during the 2009 Northwest Folklife Festival on Friday, May 22, 2009 in Seattle. The festival began on Friday and runs through the Memorial Day weekend ending on Monday.   (AP Photo/Seattlepi.com, Joshua Trujillo)
Autumn Champion uses a hula hoop at the sixth annual Langerado Music Festival Friday, March 7, 2008, at Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation near Clewiston, Fla.
Autumn Champion uses a hula hoop at the sixth annual Langerado Music Festival Friday, March 7, 2008, at Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation near Clewiston, Fla.   (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
Wham-O intern Li-Hsuan Lu hula hoops in Emeryville, Calif., on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. The hula hoop marks its 50th anniversary this week.
Wham-O intern Li-Hsuan Lu hula hoops in Emeryville, Calif., on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. The hula hoop marks its 50th anniversary this week.   (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
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A demo video for HoopGirl fitness classes, led by Christabel Zamor.   (hoopgirlvideos)

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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
cornelison
Sep 26, 2009 2:43 AM CDT
It's 1957 all over again.

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