Hoop ba-doop

While in Virginia Beach for a wedding a few weeks ago, in between eating mountains of tortilla chips and fulfilling bridesmaid duties, my friend Summer and I found ourselves wondering what to do while we waited for the excitement to start up again. All of a sudden Summer looked at me and asked, "Wanna hula hoop?"

Friends Kelly, Jamie and Summer hoop it up

I did not want to hula hoop. I had never been able to as a kid and I didn't feel like learning now. Nevertheless, Summer went to retrieve them from the garage while I waited, annoyed, in her back yard. I expected to see two small, possibly neon-colored kids' hoops in her hand. Instead, she came out with two huge, weighted black hoops. She threw one to me, then positioned hers around her waist, spun it around and off she went, twirling the hoop around her mid-section then up around her neck, onto her shoulder, like a circus performer. And like a kid at at a circus, I was amazed. More importantly, I was ready to try it. Giving the giant hoop a spin I stood with one foot in front of the other and shifted my weight back and forth, letting the hoop do the work. Or so I thought. After 15 minutes in the backyard I felt like I'd done a stint at the gym.

"It's really good exercise" Summer told me later, over more chips, saying she got so good at it because she was bored with working out and, having already taken up hula hooping at various hippie festivals (see picture), decided to incorporate it into her routine. Turns out she's not the only one--weighted hoops are actually becoming quite popular at gyms and with trainers. I haven't run out to buy my own yet, but I've certainly warmed up to the idea, even looking up routines online. The only thing stopping me is the lack of a backyard. Summer probably would but I'm definitely not ready to take my hoop skills to the Uptown Village parking lot.