HAPPY HOOPING

Jen is a work-at-home mom, parent to three, and she’s been a stepparent for over 15 years. She is well-equipped to discuss and write about the great, and the not-so-great, details of all-things-parenting. Along with spending quality time with her family, Jen enjoys music, chocolate, camping and relaxing. And laughing!

I’m a work-at-home mom who has absolutely no problem finding time in my day to work out. And furthermore, my children never watch too much T.V. or sit in front of the computer completely inactive.

Yeah. Right.

Truth is – finding time to be active, and promoting my children to be active, sometimes feels like a job itself. In constant pursuit of physical activity that we can Do, Afford and Enjoy – I stumbled into hula hooping.

There’s something very free and fun about swirling a hula hoop, yet it burns about as many calories per minute as step aerobics or very brisk walking. Hula hooping strengthens and tones several of your body’s core muscles including your thighs, hips, legs, knees and abdomen, and you can twirl a hula hoop with your arms for shoulder and arm toning.

The catch: These results are based on weighted hula hoops, not the light ones available at stores made for kids. Ranging from 3 to 5 pounds and beyond, the average price per weighted hoop is $50, and some are more!

http://www.bodyhoops.com/?gclid=CMOlvc2twLYCFQvNnAodayEAsA

http://www.sports-hoop.com/indmain_sportshoop.aspx?gclid=CIj_i_2twLYCFQgFnQodY3cAOg

I have a family of 5 – spending $250 in hula hoops seemed a bit steep. I began looking into making our own…

http://karentiede.com/hooping/making-hoops/

http://www.ehow.com/how_5646360_make-professional-weighted-hula-hoop.html

It seemed a bit involved, but I gave it a try. I chose duck tape as my wrapping agent – some say this is a bad choice, and recommend cloth or other types of tape. Disclaimer: I am not a professional hoop-maker, and this was my first attempt.

Here’s what I did.

Step 1: A trip to Menards

6 rolls of duck tape (Spiderman, Hello Kitty, Black, Turquoise, Purple, Camouflage, = $18 approx.)
Mini tube cutter ($3.99)
¾ inch PEX blue tubing, 25’ ($24.58)
Connectors, ¾ poly PEX coupling (3 @ 1.11 = $3.33)

Step 2: Cut the tubing (directions on package)

Beginner hoops: shoulder-to-sternum height
Intermediate hoops: waist height
Serious dance hoops: hip height
Very fast hoops: inseam height

I went with beginner sizes for all five family members, ages 3 to…young-at-heart.

Step 3: Weight and Connect the Hoop

Place the coupling, or connector piece, inside the cut tube.
Weight your hoop. You can fill it with sand, water, rice or even beans. (I used rice, with a “paper plate funnel”. I had 3 pounds, but only 1.5 fit in my hoop…perhaps sand takes up less space.)
Wrap the tube around, and place other cut end over the coupling.

I’ve seen people heat the tubing, expanding it to cover the connector completely – which would be essential if you choose to weight with water. I chose to tape over it, which keeps the rice in just fine.

Step 4: Taping

At first, I tried to wrap the tubes with standard duck tape. It’s hard to get it to lay flat, and it leaves little to no room for striping. I don’t recommend this – very difficult. (I almost quit and decided that making hoops wasn’t for me at this point!)
What did work was splicing the roll in half with an X-Acto knife – the smaller width was MUCH EASIER to wrap around the tube.
Taping is the part that requires a bit of finesse. Depending on what angle you place the tape offers larger/smaller spacing
TIP: It comes down to how hard you pull the tape at an angle. You’ll see where the tape needs to be to create uniform striping. You’ll get the feel of it, after a bit…:)

In the end, for about $50 – the cost of one weighted hoop — I made six hula hoops of various sizes for my family, and gave an extra one to a family friend as a gift. We are having fun with hooping, and enjoying these websites for “hoopilates” and hula hooping inspiration.