The Weighted Hula Hoop
By: Christine Hersom
(4 min. read)
During the Covid lockdown, as I was scrolling Facebook, I found Peggy Willms. She was doing videos on Facebook and YouTube. They were about exercise, mental health, and sometimes even silliness. Peggy and I grew up in the same small town in northern New Hampshire. I started watching the videos because I remembered her from my youth. I needed to do something other than look at stupid memes all day. I started watching her videos.
In one of her videos, she mentioned that she did a free hula hoop class. I thought, “Why not?” I used to love watching my friends hula hoop when I was a child. I don’t know if you noticed, but I said I watched my friends. I always wanted a hula hoop and to be able to keep it going forever (I am very competitive). I owned about four hula hoops throughout my childhood. I never could keep them going. I would spend hours outside and still have no success.
Because of a lazy eye that went undiagnosed for years, I was often unable to do things that required balance. I had a lazy eye that caused double vision. Because of the lazy eye, I would tilt my head to the left to straighten out my vision. This in turn caused my muscles and tendons in my neck to shorten on the left side. This left me with a tilted head.
I wasn’t going to let a little thing like that deter me. I tried my entire childhood and could only keep the hoop going for about twenty spins. To keep it going, I would twist my body into the most hilarious poses. It was cheating, but I wanted to spin.
In my teen years, I finally gave up. It wasn’t meant to be.
While watching Peggy’s video, I saw that she had something called a weighted hula hoop. I researched it and decided, “Why not try again?” I immediately ordered my hoop and joined her online class. She explained the basics to make the hoop work and then proceeded to show us her spinning skills. I was in love. She was able to spin and walk around while doing it. She was my hooping hero.
I immediately gave my hoop a little spin, and it went around once and fell to the floor. I kept this up for the entire thirty-minute class. She would make suggestions and tell me to try this or that. I loved her for it, but nothing worked. It would spin a couple of times and then fall to the floor. My heart was breaking. After the video class, I would practice until my hips were sore from the hoop banging them. I am doomed to fail again.
Although I still pull my hoop and try, I have been unable to master the spin. I recently saw an ad for a weighted hoop that tightens around your stomach. It has a weighted ball that spins around on a cord. I needed to try this. If I had something that wasn’t banging off my body and falling to the floor, I could find success in my form. Then I would try the hula hoop again.
The box came, and I couldn’t wait to get it out. It was blue and looked like a robotic snake. No problem. I will put it on and get started. I hooked that device around my waist, attached the weighted ball to the cord, and gave it a spin. Warning…do not leave your arms in the way or the weighted ball will attack you as it spins
As I spun the ball around, it hit me on the back, the butt, and once in the breasts. I couldn’t believe I was going to fail again. I mean, it’s not rocket science. I watched a video…was throwing the ball too hard. When I got into the groove, I was able to keep going for about five minutes. Then gravity took over, and the ball would fall. I may need counseling after this. How could something loved the world over be impossible for me to do? I was going to fail at the stationary hoop too.
After about two hours of learning the rocking motion without the ball attached, I gave it another go. Success! I kept the hoop going for about ten minutes. After ten minutes I stopped on my own…no falling ball. I know that ten minutes isn’t a big deal, but it is to me. For the first time in my life, I was able to hula hoop for ten minutes straight. I am still ecstatic days later.
So, in a world filled with responsibilities, seriousness, and stress. I ask you to find your version of the weighted hula hoop. It was hard work to succeed, but the reward was a mountain that I finally climbed after years of watching others. Now I will dig out the regular weighted hula hoop and make it work!
Christine Marshall Hersom
All Things Wellness, LLC
christinehersom@yahoo.com
The information provided is the author’s opinion and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. The author and the business, All Things Wellness, LLC, and its owner Peggy Willms are not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this website. We assume no responsibility for tangible and intangible damages such as physical harm caused by using a product, loss of profits or loss of data, and defamatory comments.
