Slave to the rhythm with abdominals to prove it

Senior features writer

Thursday 7 June 2012

When the fabulous Grace Jones growled out "you'd better keep it up, keep it up," at the Diamond Jubilee Concert on Monday night, we wondered if she would.

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health & wellbeing how i … love hooping rebecca mcquillan

For her entire performance, the flamboyant 64-year-old kept a black and red hula hoop revolving around her waist. Would she keep it up? It was a deadpan joke from a highly original performer, but it also showed that Jones was a "hooper" and part of one of the biggest trends in fitness.

Once associated with school playgrounds, hooping is enjoying a resurgence of popularity, both as a social activity and way to work out. "Hoop jams" where hula-hooping enthusiasts come together in the open air, are regular summer events, especially in Edinburgh, while classes in the separate discipline of Powerhooping, using a large weighted and padded hoop which is wavy on the inside, are a fixture countrywide.Basic hula-hooping, using an adult-sized version of a plastic hoop, involves rocking – pushing and pulling backwards and forwards, with the knees slightly bent, moving from one foot to the other to keep the hoop spinning. The aim is to maintain good balance and posture, which helps engage the core muscles."It's very sociable and suitable for people of any age," says instructor Fiona Blair. "What benefits you get from it really depends on the individual, but the most important question is, are you having fun, because if you are you'll keep going with it." It's possible to run with a hoop (the running rhythm keeps the hoop going) and dance with it (spinning it, not just round the waist but the arms and neck, and doing tricks with it).Powerhooping, however, which began in Scandinavia, is the biggest current trend in hooping. Unlike hula-hooping or hoopdance, it is a targeted fitness activity using a specific type of weighted hoop. It is aimed at toning the stomach, firming up the abdominals and strengthening the back. Powerhoop classes use a variety of techniques, such as weight-training, aerobics, stretching, dance and pilates-based exercise, to target all muscle groups.Powerhooping, says Edinburgh-based personal trainer Tracy Griffen, gets the heart rate up: "It's a really good abdominal workout as you need to use deep abdominals to keep the hoop up." Dawn Smith, 27, from Johnstone, attends several different fitness classes, but Powerhooping is her favourite. "The first class, I just stood and picked my hoop off the floor, but once I learned how to keep it up, the bug had been caught."You're exercising but at the same time, you're having a great time." Her instructor Hazel Bryan keeps it varied, incorporating hooping into the macarena and even into football. Dawn believes Powerhooping has helped her develop a more defined waist and research by a Canadian university appears to back that up, indicating that Powerhooping with weighted hoops for 15 minutes a day, five days a week for six weeks, reduces waist circumference.A really good hooper, says Griffen, looks like she's hardly moving, so judging by Grace Jones's slight movements she's an expert. www.powerhoopworkout.com/sc.htmlwww.edinburghhooping.info

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Slave to the rhythm with abdominals to prove it

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