Hula hooping seems like such a fun, colorful way to get your daily workout in, doesn’t it? Besides the fact that hula hooping burns mega calories, tones muscle and improves your cardiovascular health, I’ve also never seen anyone spin a hula hoop without smiling at the same time. It’s impossible, trust me!
Pictured: Briana of the #RubyFam
But, if you get into hula hooping without the proper information, you definitely put yourself at risk of injury.
If you’re like most people new to hula hooping for exercise, you probably bought one of those big, clunky hula hoops from Target or Amazon. They’re colorful, usually fairly large compared to the hoops in the toy section, and marketed by big corporations as “weighted fitness hula hoops”.
So after your first day of using it, you wake up the next morning and gasp at the pain you feel around your middle! Soreness and bruising, maybe even skin irritation. It hurts to get out of bed. What in the world did you get yourself into??
But before you give up on hula hooping forever, let me explain to you WHY your first time hula hooping hurt your waist, and what you can do differently to keep hula hooping without getting hurt again!
Before you read any further, throw that bumpy hula hoop in the trash. Seriously – now.
I’ll wait.
That hoop is way too heavy, it’s clunky as hell, and it has weird ridges. Why do weighted hula hoops have ridges, anyway?
I Googled that to find out, but all I could find was some mumbo-jumbo about how they help massage and stimulate your muscles…or something.
Of course, they forgot to mention that they also cause bruising and internal injuries.
So what kind of hula hoop should you use, then?
The best hula hoop for burning calories, toning your body, and improving your overall health is one that weighs about 1-2 pounds, does NOT have ridges on it, and is custom-sized to your specific body type.
As you can see below, this hoop, which is perfect for learning how to hoop around your waist, does not have any ridges and it is not super thick, heavy tubing.
Pictured: Me, Mama Ruby!
Excessively heavy hula hoops serve literally no purpose. You can get a much better, and SAFER workout using a hula hoop that weighs considerably less and doesn’t hurt your waist.
Like any popular trend, hula hooping, due to its rise in popularity in recent years, has fallen victim to big corporations and their endless resources for marketing. These companies have done a great disservice to the hula hoop community by confusing the public on what kind of hula hoop is best for exercising.
They feed off of our urgency to lose weight and our insecurities and anxieties about our bodies – offering the proposition that the heavier your hula hoop is, the faster you will spin your way to looking like a runway model.
But it’s just not true. To learn to hula hoop around your waist, you do need a LITTLE bit of weight–remember I said about a pound or two at the most–but never more than that, no matter what body type you have.
The most important factor about your hula hoop is how big around it is – the diameter. For our best-selling beginner hoop, we use a size chart based on your waist measurement to ensure we get you in the perfectly sized hoop for your unique body.
After all, everyone is different! I am a tall, naturally large woman, so I needed a bigger hula hoop than my friend Jean did, pictured below.
Pictured: Jean at the Ruby Retreat 2017
Once you get the correctly sized and weighted hoop, you will never have to worry about hula hooping hurting your waist ever again.
To start your journey off right, take my Six Week Beginner Hula Hoop Challenge for All Bodies, an online course you can take at your own pace, where I personally teach you all the foundational moves of modern hula hoop dance.
An Overview of Hula Hoop Grip Solutions for a Slippery Hula Hoop
When you first start hula hooping, there is a lot to learn. You start researching what kind of hula hoop to get and before you know it, you’ve gone down a rabbit hole reading about hula hoop sizes, weights, and…grip.
So what do you mean by grip and why do I need it?
If you’ve ever had trouble with a hula hoop falling down, you need it.
Since hula hoops are made of sleek plastic, they are quite slippery in their unaltered state. It’s nearly impossible to learn how to hula hoop with a hoop that has no grip whatsoever. Hoopers have come up with a variety of ways to deal with this over the years.
I am going to list all hula hoop grip options next, in the order of how commonly used they are based on my experience making and selling hula hoops for the past 6 years.
Most Common Type of Hula Hoop Grip – Gaffers Tape
Gaffers tape, which we often refer to as “grip tape”, is a durable, cotton-based cloth adhesive tape. It is manufactured for use in the theater, movie and television production industries, to tape cords down and mark spots on the stage floor.
As with most materials used to make hula hoops, gaffers tape has been brilliantly repurposed as grip tape by hula hoopers.
It’s perfect because it creates a serious amount of grip while adding a colorful pinstripe to your hula hoop. There are many ways you can choose to apply grip tape. At Ruby Hooping we generally do it two ways:
Hula Hoop Grip Tape Lined Inside:
Hula Hoop Grip Tape Spiraled Around:
Both are suitable for beginners and advanced hoopers. The style in which you choose to apply the grip tape to your hula hoop is personal preference. As long as your hoop has grip tape of some kind, you will be fine as a beginner.
In our Go Getter Starter Pack, which includes a beginner hoop, a dance practice hoop and a set of minis, here’s how we apply the grip tape: on the beginner hoop it is generously spiraled around; on the dance practice hoop is it spiraled but spaced out more, and on the minis, it is lined along the inner rim of the hoops.
Gaffers tape comes in a wide variety of widths but 1/2″ is most common. You can get a whole roll of the tape, which will last you several months or more, for cheap. It comes in tons of bright colors, many of which are neon / UV reactive.
The reason you should keep a roll of it on hand is because grip tape does need to be replaced every so often. It will get dirty over time and also peel away from the hoop after months of use.
Generally you can just peel it off of your hoop, clean your hoop with alcohol (and possibly some coconut oil if there is residue that won’t come off easily), and then replace with a brand new strip of grip tape.
Grip tape will add a little bit of weight to your hoop, which is a good thing when you’re just starting out.
Other Types of Hula Hoop Grip Tape
Gaffers tape is not the only kind of grip tape hula hoopers use. We also use an even more specialized, grippier tape called 3M Grip Tape. This tape is manufactured for industrial non-slip situations.
It’s clear, so it works great on any hula hoop, and I would say MEGA is the word that describes how grippy this stuff is. It is definitely more grippy than gaffers tape.
It adds more weight than gaffers tape also, which can be nice as a beginner. It kind of sucks once you become more advanced though and don’t really necessarily want the extra weight all the time.
Even so, this tape is a great choice for at least two scenarios:
- Learning doubles, because it really helps the hoops grip to your hands
- Learning leg or shoulder hooping, because it really grips well to your skin and keeps the hoop from slipping so easily while learning these difficult moves
Hoop Wax and Other Non-Tape Grip Solutions
My personal favorite kind of hula hoop grip is hoop wax. It’s SO grippy! And it does not add extra weight to your hula hoop which is another huge plus for me.
Our hula hoop wax is made with natural ingredients like coconut oil and beeswax. It also has essential oils added for a delicious aroma and glitter because..glitter 🙂
For the small price tag, it’s completely 100% worth trying at the very least.
If you’re a DIY kind of person, try looking up recipes for surf wax – very similar and will totally get the job done!!
Keep in mind, hoop wax will get on your hands, so if you’re the kind of person that can’t stand that, then hoop wax is not for you. Also, it can get a little bit gross in the summertime in extremely hot temperatures!
It does need to be reapplied about once a week if you are a daily hooper. It’s also easy to clean off using coconut oil and a damp rag or you can scrape it off using the scrapers we provide with our wax.
Here’s our video on how to apply hula hoop wax (or you can click thru to watch it on Facebook).
https://www.facebook.com/rubyhooping/videos/1194380950683505/
Non-Wax Grip Sticks
There are various kinds of grip stick out there manufactured specifically for hula hoopers, and it’s fun to try them all!
We’ve even seen people rub hot glue sticks onto their hula hoop and amazingly, it works pretty great!
Sanding
And finally, sanding your hoop is a great way to get long-lasting grip without adding weight. We recommend 60 grit sandpaper swiped lightly across the hoop in any direction you prefer. For less grip, use a higher grit sandpaper! You can also sand your hoop and then apply wax to the sanded portion for extreme grip action!
I really hope this cleared up the very confusing subject of hula hoop grip! Good luck on all your hooping adventures!
If you are a new hooper, don’t worry! All of our beginner products (the Go Getter set, beginner hoop and weighted exercise hoop) come ready-made with the grip you will need!
Don’t forget to join us in our Facebook group to share your favorite hoop grip ideas with us!
Still having trouble getting your hula hoop to stay up? Try our Six Week Beginner Hula Hoop Challenge to get the best hoop training for your unique body, taught by our founder Mama Ruby.
Now get out there and get your hoop on!
Pictured: the beautiful Rinney from #TeamRuby
One of my favorite beginner hula hoop tutorials!
The inside out whip is a totally flowy super cool illusion you can create with your hoop where it looks like you are rolling a hoop across a table in front of you and weaving it in and out around your body. I sort of think of this trick as a cross between a weave and a linear isolation. Check it out!
What size hoop is needed to learn the inside out whip?
For this trick a medium sized, lightweight hdpe hoop would be a great choice. Use the same size hoop you used to learn basic isolations. If you have our Go Getter Starter Pack, use the dance practice hoop included in your set!
How to Do the Inside Out Whip Hula Hoop Trick
For more free tutorials, subscribe to our Youtube.
Become a hula hoop superstar with my Six Week Beginner Hula Hoop Challenge for All Bodies online course!
The Horizontal Duck-In Hula Hoop Trick
This is a fun and different way of getting the hoop back on your body after you have done some off-body tricks. You simply pass the hoop around your body from hand to hand and then duck right into it and keep hooping! This one will feel awkward at first but keep trying and I guarantee you’ll get the hang of it!
What size hula hoop do I need to do the duck-in?
A big hoop is best to learn how to do a hula hoop duck in. If you have our Go Getter Starter Pack, definitely use the beginner hoop from your set!
How to Do a Hula Hoop Duck In
For more free tutorials, subscribe to our Youtube.
Become a hula hoop superstar with my Six Week Beginner Hula Hoop Challenge for All Bodies online course!
An extremely fun trick that makes me feel like I’m blasting off into outer space!
I do consider this a beginner hula hoop trick, although every hooper is different and some may not learn this until they are further into their hoop journey.
It seems as though knee hooping is very easy for some hoopers and a difficult challenge for others. We all learn each trick at our own pace! This is one I struggled with for a few months.
Don’t give up just because it seems hard at first! When you finally nail it, the satisfaction will feel so good!
One Way To Get Hoop Up From Knees
There are actually at least two ways to transition out of knee hooping. The one I am teaching you today involves using your hand to lift the hoop. The other method would be to wiggle the hoop back up to your waist, chest, or wherever you’d like to move it.
Best Hoop for Learning How to Get Hoop Up From Knees
For this trick, as with most beginner hula hoop tricks, I definitely recommend using a beginner hoop or any hoop that has a large diameter. Since large hoops move slower, it will give your body more time to react and learn the necessary movement. Once you have it down, you can translate it to a smaller hoop if you want.
For more free tutorials, subscribe to our Youtube.
Become a hula hoop superstar with my Six Week Beginner Hula Hoop Challenge for All Bodies online course!
Lifting The Hoop Up From Waist to Lasso
This is one of the first tricks you should learn once you have learned how to waist hoop. It looks smooth and impressive once you master it, and it will be useful for transitions and hoop dance as you progress through your practice and learn more tricks.
The waist to lasso hula hoop trick is the first pre-requisite to learning the vortex, which is a cool hula hoop trick where you continually move the hoop from your waist to up over your head and back down.
We will get to that trick later, though. First, give lifting the hula hoop up into lasso a try.
What Size Hoop Do I Need for the Waist to Lasso Hula Hoop Trick?
You should use your biggest hoop for this one. As with most tricks, using a big hoop slows it way down so you can teach your body what to do. Once you get the hang of it you can translate the movement to a smaller hoop, if you prefer.
If you need a big hoop, grab one of our beginner hoops.
How To Lift The Hula Hoop From Waist Into Lasso Position
For more free tutorials, subscribe to our Youtube.
Become a hula hoop superstar with my Six Week Beginner Hula Hoop Challenge for All Bodies online course!
The escalator hula hoop trick is possible for anyone to learn no matter how long you’ve been hula hooping. It looks so cool, there are tons of variations, and it’s always a crowd pleaser!
Best Hoop to Use for Escalator Hula Hoop Trick
The best hoop to use to learn the escalator hula hoop trick is a medium-sized hoop. If you have our Go Getter pack, you would want to use the lighter weight dance hoop it comes with for this trick.
Most of the time, you’re going to want a bigger hoop to learn most hula hoop tricks. The escalator is an exception to that.
Even though it’s possible to do this trick with a wide variety of hoop diameters, this particular trick can initially be a little more difficult to learn with a really large hoop. That’s because of the way the hoop gets flipped above your head when you catch it. A bigger hoop may go so high you can’t even reach it.
If you have a beginner hoop but are ready to try a smaller, lighter weight hula hoop for tricks like this one, check out our Lightweight HDPE Hula Hoops. I would recommend choosing a diameter about 4″ smaller than your beginner hoop.
Learn The Escalator Hula Hoop Trick
Here is my Youtube tutorial on the escalator hula hoop trick. Subscribe to my channel for more free tutorials.
Become a hula hoop superstar with my Six Week Beginner Hula Hoop Challenge for All Bodies online course!
If you’re new to the concept of hula hooping for exercise, you may be surprised to find out that hula hooping burns as many as 600 calories per hour! That’s the equivalent to an hour of Zumba or even jogging!
It can sometimes feel like the hula hoop community forgets about us bigger folks. It’s like going to the mall and all the stores only have clothing up to size large. Yo, can I get some XXL up in here?
You’ve tried every creative way to quit smoking you can think of: quitting cold turkey, bargaining with yourself, even asking your husband or wife to basically babysit you so you don’t try to smoke. You’ve read every book on how to help someone quit smoking.
And there was even that one time you secretly visited a hypnotist.
We are so excited to share these awesome hula hoop dreamcatchers with you. This is a fantastic way for us to use up all of our hula hoop tubing (not to mention the hundred pounds of yarn I have from back in the day when I was obsessed with crochet–that was before I found hula hooping).
We believe strongly in repurposing and reusing materials as much as possible, especially to create art and add beauty to our world!
When you think of hula hooping, what comes to mind? I think for most people, it’s the image of swaying hips! So it makes perfect sense to feel some concern about taking on hula hooping after having a hip replacement.
Last year we wrote an article about hula hooping during pregnancy, and we wanted to follow up with some more information on hula hooping after giving birth.
We collected stories and photos from several hooping mamas about their experiences getting into hula hooping after bringing life into this world.
Today we answer the number one hula hoop question of all time:
Why does my hula hoop keep falling down?
It usually goes something like this: You see a video of a grown person hula hooping on Instagram and you go grab your kid’s 3 dollar hoop from Walmart and give it a try. The hoop falls immediately and you chuckle to yourself, thinking you probably won’t be a hula hoop star anytime soon.
Then, next time you’re at Target, you spring for one of those ultra-clunky hoops in the exercise section of the store.
You rush home, eager to become the hoop goddess you know you were born to be.
I really enjoy making hula hoops because:
- It’s not messy
- It doesn’t require many tools
- It doesn’t take very long
- Anyone can do it!
Okay, I realize the line between need and want is a fine line. So the word “need” is being used loosely here. There are just certain things we need as hoopers!
If you’re new to hooping but already know it will be a life long obsession, this list is for you.
Or, if you’re looking for some great gift ideas for the hula hooper in your life, this article should help you out as well.
If you’ve ever seen a hula hooping video go viral on Facebook, it might remind you of back when you were 10 years old and could hula hoop forever, and then you wonder, “Well why can’t I hula hoop anymore?”
And then you feel really old.
Because you mistakenly assume that you either have to be a 10 year old kid or in extremely good physical shape to learn how to hula hoop.
Honestly, I’ve heard it all. All the reasons why people think they can’t hula hoop.
- You could never do it as a kid.
- Or if you could, you haven’t done it since you were a kid.
- You’re too old,
- Or too fat,
- Or you have a bad back.
- You have no rhythm.
- You could just never get the hang of it.
- You don’t have the hips for it.
The truth is, none of these are valid reasons for not hula hooping.
I’m 35. I never could hoop in my life until I was almost 30 years old.
If you are an expecting mom wondering if it’s okay for you to hula hoop while you are pregnant, you are not alone. In the nearly six years I have been doing this, I have met many mothers who hula hooped throughout their pregnancy. I decided to interview them. Read on to hear their stories and see their amazing photos.
Short answer: YES. Yes gurl, you can hula hoop if you are fat, skinny, tall, short, young, or old!
When I started Ruby Hooping five years ago, I was a, shall we say, curvy woman who had been writing about plus-size fitness for a few years. I had made it my mission in life to show the world that we curvy ladies can do anything we set our minds to, and that we should not allow our physical size to be an excuse not to live life to its fullest.
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