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Community Corner

Hooping in Palo Alto: The Happiest Workout

The childhood pastime comes back full force as local studios pick up hula hooping classes, spinning their members into the happiest workout of their lives.

A funky new fitness trend has come to town, and all the cool kids are doing it. It's "hooping" -- hula hooping, that is.

This is no 1950s Wham-O plastic toy circle. The exploding fitness trend uses bigger, heavier hoops that can be spun in more places than just the hips—and it burns as many calories as running. Hooping instructor Julie Greicius of in downtown Palo Alto brought me back to my childhood and into the happiest workout I've ever done.

Pump, swish, float up and float down. These are terms you'll become familiar with when you enter the world of hooping. The new fitness trend is filled with multiple techniques and Cirque du Soleil-esque tricks that you may or – more likely – may not get on the first try.

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For those of us who were hula hooping-impaired even in childhood, all hope is not lost.

“It's just one foot in front of the other, and pushing flat around your waist and moving your hips forward and back—not this big 'around the world,'” Greicius explained during Wednesday's 6:30 p.m. class.

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Within five minutes, I had that hoop up and spinning around my belly button like I was born to do it. The next part of turning in a circle while hooping? Okay, so that took me the rest of class to perfect. And forget the “float down” (spin hula hoop from overhead down to the hips, still spinning) – it was more like “splat” for me. But it was fun trying.

Of course for Greicius (pronounced “Gracious,” which was my feeling toward her merciful instruction), hooping is a thing of grace and ease. She's been doing it since November of 2008, when she took one class and decided, “I have to do that.”

By March, Greicius was in intensive teacher training and since has participated in hooping camps, conventions and even seminars to improve her tricks of the trade.

“It's truly a workout,” said Greicius, who has been a dedicated runner since 1991. Today, the well-toned mother of two brings piles of hoops to Johnson Park with her kids and always ends up with new recruits.

“I brought the seed to Palo Alto,” said Greicius. A national trend first documented by The New York Times last year, the world of hooping has really taken off in recent years (apparently San Francisco and North Carolina are hubs). Go to www.hoopgirl.com, and you'll find everything from training videos to “Sassy Pants,” which will both flatter and “bring out your inner sass!”

Greicius, who makes her own hoops and sells them at Uforia, fuses irrigation tubing (160 psi) and decorates the hoops with gaffer tape (solid and sparkly). If you're going to buy, expect to shell out about $40 for the large hoops (starters) and $35 for the smaller, faster ones.

By the time my first official hooping session was over, once thing stuck in my mind: that entire hour, when I wasn't deeply concentrating, I was grinning from ear to ear. This may not be the most common sort of workout, but for me, it certainly was the most fun.

Uforia Studios, which earlier this year, offers a wide variety of unique fitness classes to change up your mundane routine. Check out their website at www.uforiastudios.com

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