Hula Hoop fun

Remember the days of hula hooping, when every child at recess had one around their waist? Well, apparently they are making a comeback, but this time they are being marketed as an exercise tool. I saw article about this new trend, and then at Walmart the other day, I walked by some for $4, so I decided to get some for the "kids". Aaron says they have them at school, but he isn't very good at doing it.

So we get home, and Aaron has mastered the art of hula hooping within about 20 minutes. When you are not very good at it, you generally move your hips a lot more than is actually required. Once you've mastered it, you are actually not moving your hips a whole lot. I wasn't very good at hula hooping when I was a kid, although I don't remember trying very much. However, I have now gotten the hang of it, and wanted to see how many calories you can burn doing it. I strapped on my heart rate monitor and grabbed the hoop. I did it for 30 minutes and burned 120 calories. I was expecting a bigger number, but considering my heart rate was staying right around 100 bpm, it was as if I was taking a walk. You do have to keep your abs pretty tight the whole time, so that can be an added benefit. Apparently you can now buy weighted hoops to make it more difficult. I have to admit that it was rather fun, and the time went quickly, and for $4 and not very much space, it could be a good workout to do while watching TV.

Anyway, I would really really like to post a video of Steve doing it, but it looks REALLY obscene, but totally hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard for a while....you know, where the tears start streaming down your face. Oh my, it was funny. He won't let me post it...I've asked :(
So here is Aaron doing it...in his spiderman suit for added pizazz