That fun fitness is the most effective fitness is bolstered again with a new study on hula-hooping.
Hooping expends as much energy as it does to walk 4 to 4.5 miles per hour, according to the report from American College of Sports Medicine, and is enough to control body weight and composition.
"Hooping as an exercise dates back to ancient civilizations and was wildly popular in the 1950s," said John Porcari, Ph.D., FACSM, lead author of the study. "Today, it's becoming a popular form of choreographed group exercise."
Porcari and his team examined 16 healthy females, ages 16 to 59, who were regular participants in choreographed hooping classes. After completing a video-led, 30-minute hooping class, the average heart rate was 151 beats per minute, about 84 percent of age-predicted maximum heart rate. And average caloric expenditures were 70 kcal per minute -- about 210 calories for 30 minutes of hooping.
There are several hooping classes in New York City. Have you tried one out? How challenging was it for you, and did you enjoy it?
