Hoop for Your Heart

Learn Why Hula Hooping Isn’t Just for Kids

Loren Bidner is a professional hula hoop instructor. He’ll lead the Feb. 17, 2012, Club Red Hoop for Your Heart event. This free class is open to women of all fitness levels and is sure to be a fun workout for you and your friends.

Loren answers a few questions about how he discovered hooping and what you can expect to learn at this free Club Red event.

When did you discover hooping?

About 12 years ago, my friends and I would hold weekly “Sundays in the park” hoop sessions. These were pretty informal but we would hoop it up for hours and people would crowd around to watch. As we got better at hooping, the crowds got larger and the hooping got more exciting. These “Sundays in the park” got me hooked on hooping.

How did you turn it into a profession?

What was great about those Sundays was that we let people jump in and hoop. That’s how I got my very first taste of teaching. At the same time, I was hired to hoop in The New York Theatre Ballet’s Nutcracker. The company offered me their rehearsal space to teach a class to the ballet students, and from there I grew it to include the public. After some positive articles/media coverage in the Times & Today show, Fox, CBS, ABC news etc. ... I rented out my own studio and began teaching classes.

Do you need a particular body shape to hoop well?

Absolutely not! Hooping is for everyone of any age, shape and size!

What are the health benefits?

Hooping is an aerobic exercise that tones your abdominals, increases cardiovascular stamina and strengthens core muscles. It's been proven that hooping can burn up to 110 calories in 8 minutes, as many calories as running an 8-minute mile.

What is the most advanced hoop technique or routine you have mastered?

I like to work out with multiple hoops. If you have four or five hoops going at once, it is a COMPLETE and TOTAL body workout! One hoop works the legs, one works the waist, one works the upper body/chest and one works the arms—all at the same time! When I want to burn calories and sweat, this is my go-to routine.

What are some things that people are going to learn at the Club Red Hoop Class?

It so important to learn how to hoop properly: the correct stance and posture, what to move, and what NOT to move when hooping. The correct technique enables us to stabilize the core, and work the abs/stomach.  

We will learn how to DANCE with the hoop, free the body and let the hoop take over. That is the key to movement, cardio and burning up the calories!

Sound fun? Register today for the Feb. 17 Club Red Hoop event at the UVA Aquatic and Fitness Center.