NEWS! Hula Hooping is back. Hula Hooping is back. The photo to the right is of Sheryl Lynn, Speaker, Author and Founder of Local Applause of Jacksonville, FL. She sports a wild "hooping" 4th of July outfit. Why not try the craze of the 50's. It is back and it is fun and sexy and feels good to try and try again. And hey, it is easy to love the inches melting away. Hey - Even though I had the desire to learn to "HOOP" it took me 39 years to get up the "gumption" to try - it took 5 minutes to "get it" going around my waist and three years before I could hoop in front of people.  You can do way better than me. I can now do a few tricks - and would love to show you a few! Next LOCAL APPLAUSE HOOP FEST - August 8, 2008 - Jacksonville, Florida More Details on World Hoop Day

Article: "Hooping" your way to a Healthier Body.

Tina Hemmerle, owner of Hemmerle Hoop Company, works out with a spirit hoop during a private hoop-dancing lesson in Cresco, Pennsylvania.
Kathy Lauer-Williams | The (Allentown, Pa.) Morning Call
July 24, 2007

It's a new fitness craze that can burn 100 calories in 10 minutes.

It's so trendy, A-list celebs such as Beyonce and Charlize Theron swear by it.

And best of all, you can do it in your backyard for a minimum investment.
Hooping is hot, and hooper Tina Hemmerle of Bethlehem, Pa., is trying to spread the word.

Hooping -- don't call it Hula-Hooping -- is the updated version of the 1950s fad using large customized hoops decorated with everything from colorful taping to LEDs.

"Everybody loves it, and anyone can do it," says Hemmerle.

After Wham-O introduced the plastic hoop in 1958, Hula-Hoops slowly faded from the public consciousness until the 1990s, when the jam-band movement brought them back into style. Colorado band The String Cheese Incident gave hooping underground cachet when it featured San Francisco HoopGirl founder Christabel Zamor hoop dancing on stage.

Hemmerle was introduced to hoops last year, when she saw someone fire-hooping at a concert. A 26-year-old Kutztown University grad, she was transfixed by the sight of the woman spinning a hoop studded with flaming spokes around her waist.

The next day, she begged a friend to let her try her homemade hoop.

"It took me three hours to get it and then I couldn't stop," Hemmerle says. "I said to my friends, 'This is so cool, you have to try it.' It was satisfying in so many ways."

A month later, Hemmerle decided to start her own hooping business -- Hemmerle Hoop Co. "People said I was crazy," she admits. But she soon had to quit her day job to keep up with hoop orders.

A surprise benefit

Because she was hooping nearly every day, Hemmerle noticed an unexpected benefit -- her clothes were getting looser. After a year, she had lost 30 pounds.

"It raises your heart rate and burns calories," she says. "If you hoop daily and eat properly, you will lose weight."

The main difference between the toy hoops and the hoops Hemmerle makes are size and weight. Hemmerle's hoops range from 36 inches to 44 inches in circumference and weigh between 3/4 of a pound to 3 pounds. The toy hoops range from 20 inches to 28 inches in diameter and are very lightweight.

Hemmerle says larger hoops are easier for beginners to spin because they rotate more slowly and recommends they start with a 44-inch hoop.

"You have to work harder to spin the smaller and lighter hoops," she says.

She says the best hoops for fitness are 38 or 42 inches. Although there is a current trend to market really heavy hoops weighing from 4 to 7 pounds for muscle toning, Hemmerle believes hoops lighter than 2 pounds are the most effective. And heavy hoops can cause muscle soreness and bruising, she warns.

The best part about hooping, Hemmerle says, is anyone can do it, even those with no coordination.

"The biggest mistake most people make is moving their hips all around violently," she says. "You're basically just shifting weight from one leg to another."

Most hoops have either water or plastic beads in them, although serious hoop dancers prefer no-fill hoops because they don't make noise that interferes with the music.

Hemmerle sells her hoops at spirit- hoops.com. They cost from $15 for a simple hoop to $25 for a hoop that collapses for easy travel.

"You can do really unbelievable stuff," she says. "It's not that hard. The more you throw it around and mess up, the more you learn."

The Allentown, Pa., Morning Call is a Tribune Publishing newspaper