Toned: Michelle Obama is a fan of hula hoopingHula hooping is making a comeback as the latest keep fit craze.
The plastic hoop that conquered the globe as a children's toy 50 years ago is back in fashion as a women's exercise prop.
Fitness instructors have reported hula hoop exercise classes being fully booked and the fun hip-swivelling workout is even spreading to secondary school PE lessons.
The hula hoop boom was given fresh impetus by the Sport Relief 'hoopathon' on Sunday, which saw the world record broken for the most people hooping simultaneously.
More than 3,000 people took part at 13 regional events across the UK and 1,388 people were officially hooping for two minutes at the same time to beat the 1,000 figure needed for a new world's best.
But interest in hula hoops as a form of fitness workout has risen dramatically over the past two years. The ever-expanding fitness industry has found its latest favourite prop, it seems.
Fitness instructor Vicky Lakin has started up classes in three West Yorkshire towns.
She said:'It's going mad. I'm fully booked already. I've got about 12 courses running a week at the moment.
'It's going to be a massive craze around here because it's just by word of mouth that I've got so busy. People have been ringing up from all over.'
Described as a 'low impact' form of exercise giving a 'full body workout,' the current generation of hoops are bigger than the toy version and weighted. They are said to 'fall down less' and get 'extra momentum.'
As well as 'massaging the tummy' by swivelling hoops around the waist, hoop classes incorporate a variety of dance and aerobic moves, including stepping in and out of the hoop, 'helicoptering' it around your head, limbo dancing and passing it from one person to another.
America's First Lady Michelle Obama can claim some credit for the boom.
Pictures of her hula hooping impressively on the White House lawn as part of a health promotion event were beamed across the world last October. Mrs Obama hula hooped 142 times without stopping and inspired thousands of women of all ages to have a go themselves.
Nintendo's Wii Fit Hula Hoop game is also popular with both children and adults.
Hoop dance instructor John Parnell, 57, who runs teaching training courses, said there has been a huge rise in popularity. He estimates the number of classes and teachers may 'triple if not quadruple' this year.
'It's been scientifically shown that hooping can burn as much as 100 calories in a ten-minute period so it's possible to burn between 400 and 600 calories per hour.
'But I tell people don't come to lose weight or to get fitter - that will happen - just come to have fun.'
Eugene Wypior, who runs the Middlesex-based Hoop Dance Company with his fitness instructor wife Pavitri, said:'There's definitely a craze in this at the moment. I think it's partly to do with the fitness industry always looking for some new form of exercise. But it's being used a lot for dance classes as well as in keep fit sessions.'
His company's hoops begin with a 40 inch diameter hoop weighing 650g for beginners to a 36 inch and 600g hoop for advanced adults.
HULA HOOP FACTFILE
The ancient Greeks used hooping as a form of exercise and the fitness fad has continued ever since.
In centuries past hoops were made of vines, plants, wood or metal. In the 14th Century they were denounced as a source of sprains, pains and even heart attacks.
The name hula hooping is said to have come from British sailors in the early 1800s who witnesses hula dancing in Hawaii and thought it looked like hooping.
The modern toy phenomenon took off in 1958 thanks to Richard Knerr and Arthur 'Spud' Melin founders of the Wham-O Company.
An Australian visiting California told the entrepreneurs how children back home twirled bamboo hoops around their waists in gym class.
They marketed the plastic hula hoop and 25 million were sold in two months, with almost 100 million international orders.
However, it was not well received everywhere. Japan once banned the hula hoop because the rotating hip action seemed indecent.
The world record for most hula hoops spun consecutively for three revolutions has been broken regularly in recent years. American Paul 'Dizzy Hips' Blair twirled 132 last November.
American Ashrita Furman holds the record for spinning the world's largest hoop - a monster sized toy with a circumference of 51.5ft.
source: dailymail
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