Retro fitness: Get out your hula-hoop

Who knew a childhood toy could whittle your waist? Calorie-burning hula-hoops are all the buzz.

Just the other week I asked Vancouver-based celebrity personal trainer Anna Wong to recommend me a cheap but effective piece of fitness equipment and she enthusiastically responded with the hula-hoop. She uses it for aerobic activity and for strengthening the core’the abdominal and lower back muscles.

And of course, our September cover features the hula-hoop. In our feature article ‘Lose A Pound A Week,’ it says you can burn about 265 calories by hooping for 45 minutes. I could do that in my living room while watching an episode of True Blood.

You can find lots of hoop workout programs online, some even use weighted hulas.

Hoopnotica, a dance/fitness program based in Los Angeles, has celebrities like Marisa Tomei, Liv Tyler and Beyonce spinning hoops for fitness. The Hoopnotica crew recently came to Toronto (to see pics, go to their Facebook page) to show that hula-hoops can be fun and sexy ‘ the instructors incorporate sultry dance moves into hooping. They also sell DVDs; here’s one on sale at Chapters.

This has made me reminisce a bit about how active I was  without thinking as a child. Do you think the PogoBall and SkipIt will make a comeback?

Related:
‘ 9 moves for strong, sexy legs
‘ Dodgeball: The hottest new workout?
‘ 7 hot fitness trends

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