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Fitness Roadtest: Hoopbeat

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A few months ago my gym ran a hula hooping workshop. It was a skill I’d never mastered, so I decided to give the workshop a try.

To my pleasant surprise I was swinging that hoop around my waist within the first ten minutes of the class. It was all thanks to Susan Corbett, owner and instructor of Hoopbeat.

Susan discovered hooping when her mum bought her daughter a hoop at the National Folk Festival. She had a go and couldn’t understand why, if she could hoop as a kid, she couldn’t hoop as an adult? So she googled it, and became “instantly hooked”.

“I stumbled across a whole community of people using hoops for exercise, self-expression, meditation, entertainment,” says Susan.

The thing was, there was no hooping community in Canberra.

“When I started hooping five years ago, there weren’t any classes being run in Canberra so I had to figure out most of the moves through trial and error – a very organic way of learning! Once I had the basic moves down I still had no one to hoop with, to create with, or to share with,” Susan explains.

Susan 'hooping'

Susan ‘hooping’

This led Susan to connect with hoopers from around the world. She discovered Deanne Love, who was sharing her tutorials online. Deanne inspired Susan to run her own classes in Canberra.

“When the opportunity to train with Deanne came up it seemed like a natural progression and a way to create, share, and build the hooping community” says Susan.

Susan offers regular classes around Canberra (for adults and kids) as well as workshops for corporate or private events and kids parties.

The first workshop I did was similar to her hoopla classes, which focus on fitness. After a warm up using the hoop, Susan explained the basic technique for waist hooping (spinning the hoop around your waist). Once we all had the hang of that, she challenged us to spin the hoop in the opposite direction. That took me a little longer to get the hang of but I got a real sense of accomplishment once I could keep the hoop going for a decent amount of time.

Then we tried some hand hooping, visually effective tricks holding the hoop in your hands or swinging it around your hands. Those moves were a bit of a brainteaser! We also did some fun group exercises, sharing a hoop with two or three other people to do movements such as sit ups while holding the hoop.

We all had a good giggle and encouraged each other to rise to the challenge; it’s easy to see how Susan’s classes lend themselves to corporate workshops. She offers three options suitable for events, training days and team building: Hoop jam which gives participants a chance to play around and includes hoops for everyone which Susan says is “great for events with more than 20 people”, Corporate challenge which can be tailored to include individual and group challenges, on and off body hoop games and tricks and Hoop mash which combines fitness or dance moves and games.

Susan ‘hand hooping’

 

My most recent hooping attempt was Susan’s hoop dance class on Thursday nights. Hoop dance, as the name implies, combines hooping with dance. Students learn a choreographed routine and have the opportunity to be more expressive and creative, and add their individual style to the tricks with arm movements. I found this class was a bit more advanced, but Susan gave personal attention to everyone in the class to help us with moves we were struggling with (in my case, most of them).

Susan assures me that with the right hoop, anyone can hula!

“Often times adults say they can’t hoop after trying with a kids hoop. Lightweight kids hoops are too small for adults, the bigger and the heavier the hoop, the easier it is. I use 80-110cm diameter hoops in my classes and also do off body moves, which give a break from waist hooping which can sometimes be a challenge.”

Susan admits it took her a while to get the hang of it too.

“After I had been hooping for about two months I took on a 30/30 challenge: 30 minutes of hooping everyday for 30 days. This really helped cement my practice and foundational moves. After the 30 days I felt better both mentally and physically and knew I wanted to keep that feeling,” Susan says.

Another bonus about hooping is that it’s low impact, which makes it ideal for people with limiting injuries and joint issues Susan says. You’ll still get a decent work out though, burning 300-600 calories in an hour.

“This might seem like a broad range – it’s due to different size and weight of the hoop and the amount and type of movement that is being done with it,” Susan clarifies.

This is backed up by the American Council on Exercise. Their research into the science behind hooping for exercise is available online: http://www.acefitness.org/blog/1208/ace-reveals-findings-on-hula-hooping-workouts.

 

Susan's collection of hoops

Susan’s collection of hoops

Why not give it a try? Susan is running taster workshops: 45 minute Hoopla at 7pm on June 30 in Civic, Hoop dance at 7pm on July 2 and a 30 minute Kids hoopini at 11am on July 16 in Belconnen (bookings essential). You can also try one of the regular classes anytime during the term. If you work in the city, head along to a free Hoop jam every Monday at 12:30pm. What a great way to break up the workday! Susan’s also running a special school holidays Hoop jam suitable for the whole family on July 17, 11am – 2pm. All hoops and music provided! Check out the Hoopbeat Facebook page for information about upcoming jams: www.facebook.com/cbrhoopbeat.

I found Susan’s classes to be a really fun and relaxing way to work out, I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time. I enjoyed doing something challenging – you can really get caught in concentration trying new moves – yet inconsequential, no pressure! It was an awesome way to take my mind off things, learn new skills and burn some calories!

 

 the essentials

What: Hula hooping with Hoopbeat

When: Workshop and regular class timetable available online: http://www.hoopbeat.com/classes/

Where: various locations around Canberra

How much: 45 minute Hoopla or Hoopdance taster $10, 30 minute Kids hoopini taster $5, one hour Hoopla $18

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