PATRICIA MAY NOT realize it-she’s a bit busy-but keeping all those hula hoops spinning is giving her a terrific core workout. Even when the hula hoop craze was in full swivel in 1958, the children’s toy was also touted as a “beauty aid” for adults. With time, the hoop evolved from fad to classic, and today it’s enjoying a new popularity. It’s used as a dance and acrobatic prop, as a meditation tool and, in health clubs everywhere, as a beauty aid.
– Number of hula hoops sold by Wham-O in the first four months: 25 MILLION.
– Country that banned hula hoops in public places in 1959: IRAN.
– Weight of today’s fitness-oriented hoops: 3 TO 6 POUNDS.
– Wham-O product that proved not quite as successful as its hula hoop: INSTANT FISH.
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“The best strategy is to keep your hips and ankles doing the same thing, but to keep your knees doing something that’s slightly phase-advanced….”
-HOOPING ADVICE FROM RAMESH BALASUBRAMANIAM, OTTAWA NEUROPHYSIOLOGIST AND AUTHOR OF THE STUDY, “COORDINATION MODES IN THE MULTISEGMENTAL DYNAMICS OF HULA-HOOPING”
