xposted at Hoop for 100 Days Challenge @ Hoopcity.ca
A challenge can present itself with struggles which require creativity to
overcome. Whether you are using the curriculum I have posted in the beginning ----100 Day Hoop Curriculum-----or
you are just trying to hoop for 100 days, there are going to be some
tribulations! Having gone through this before, I may have some tips that
you will find useful to maintaining a daily hoop practice and
completing a 100 day challenge!
- Pick the right
music. If you are hooping in silence or to tunes that the radio chooses,
you will find you are going to be lacking inspiration. I research music
that makes me want to move and then I put it on my playlist during my
hoop time. Its very important to have the right motivation. Anything
that gets your hips moving will do.
- Anytime is the right
time. You may not have 60 minutes to devote to hooping at any point in
the day. If I hear some music while I'm out gardening that makes me want
to dance, I do it! Break the hooping time up if you have to.
-
Make sure you are still focusing on your health on your rest days. Its
important to use your rest days to do something new and exciting. It can
even be a walk in a new place or to spend the entire day at a spa!
Something that takes you out of your element will help.
- Warm up with a short exercise. Whenever I go for a 10 minute walk or do a vigorous activity that elevates my heart rate, I always hoop better! Its also better for your joints to have them properly warmed up. So don't forget to stretch or warm up!
-
Integrate dancing styles. I love to take different dance or aerobics
classes and add elements of it into my hoopdance. I love belly dancing
for its arm movements and salsa for the footwork!
- Research
other hoopdancers. I love to use Youtube to find other hooping
techniques or tutorials that I want to master. It can be very
exciting/confidence building to conquer them as well!
- Get
in your alone time. Sometimes you have to "dance like no one is
watching"... I'd like to add the caveat that you should also dance like
you aren't watching anyone. haha. I have 2 kids and I cannot watch and
hoop without it taking away my attention every second. So I make sure to
get my time alone - away from the house if need be. Which leads me to
the next tip:
- Find a new place to hoop. Location, location.
Hooping in the park near strangers who may in fact be interested in that
circular dance you got going on can be a great motivator. I find myself
going into performer mode and hooping with better fluidity and speed
with an audience. You will likely find an admirer, even if you're not
"all that" of a hooper. Prepare for compliments and questions. Bring a
stereo and an extra hoop! Jam it up!
- Hoop Jams! There are often hoop jams in major cities and if there isn't, you should definitely join FOSTERING HOOP COMMUNITIES@HOOPCITY.CA
and make one! There are a lot of great tips there. If there is already
one in your area you damn well better be there on hoopday. If you can't
make it then I suggest connecting with others that go and see
if they would make a new day with you somewhere else!
- Teach
a friend. I guarantee you have a friend that would love to hoop if they
knew how. You will definitely learn by teaching, too. When you have to
break down a move for someone step by step you will make realizations
you would not have found otherwise.
- Caffeineeeeee. I don't
like to promote drugs: but caffeine and B vitamins are definite
motivators for me sometimes. I will make an ice coffee or take a B
Complex Vitamin before I want to hoop and then I will be out there by
the mere energy that these supplements provide. Even if I didn't want to
hoop when I took them - they never fail me.
- Mind over
matter. If you don't want to be a vitamin popper or jittery java
queen/king, you can always use the tried and true mind over matter. You
know you will love it when you are out there. You are going to be happy
when you are finished. You can do it. Affirmations rock! I also like to
keep EXERCISE QUOTES printed out and posted on the fridge to keep me on track with my health.
-
Meditation and Prayer. I have cried hooping, laughed hooping, labored a
child hooping... I have hooped myself out of depression, out of a
weight gain, and into a new sense of self. I became someone who has less
fear, more strength, and patience. I like to think the hoop brought all
of that to me. Or at least gave me the direction and the time to find it.
I also use it to pray. I meditate health in the sickly
and peace for the world. I think it works. With each revolution I
imagine a loved one's tumor shrinking or my metabolism eating away at my
fat stores. The energy is there. I am producing it with each push of
the hoop. I don't see why I can't spend a small amount of my hoop time
to step away from the world for a second and feel my heart chakra
reaching out into the world and spreading the joy of that warm white
light within all of us.
Showing posts with label hoopdance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hoopdance. Show all posts
Monday, July 9, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Day 9: Rocking out
So today was another leg day, but I was a little disappointed in my inability to do the thigh trick by Babz. I don't think there is enough area between my thighs to even grab the hoop, let alone spin it on my thighs (a feat in its own.) I am going to trade that move for another.
I have got that foot pass almost NAILED! I just need to remember to fully bend my knee to grab the hoop. The back-spinning hoop to one legged hooping won't work for me. I like to keep my hoops pretty and realized I don't want to backspin them. I hoop outside on the dirt and the cement, both are not very nice to gaffers tape! So no more of that move either.
Instead I am doing knee breaks from elbow hooping and one-legged hooping. One legged hooping should evolve into hooping on my arms (one vertical, one horizontal) and my legs (ditto). I need to get started adding hoops to do some multis.
I was thinking of hooping again tomorrow but not until my homework is finished! I had a blast of customers today and I gotta finish up my hoopmaking. I made 4 of 12 already. Not too difficult, I love making them really so the time flies. I will probably even have time to hoop after I mail them ^_^
I have got that foot pass almost NAILED! I just need to remember to fully bend my knee to grab the hoop. The back-spinning hoop to one legged hooping won't work for me. I like to keep my hoops pretty and realized I don't want to backspin them. I hoop outside on the dirt and the cement, both are not very nice to gaffers tape! So no more of that move either.
Instead I am doing knee breaks from elbow hooping and one-legged hooping. One legged hooping should evolve into hooping on my arms (one vertical, one horizontal) and my legs (ditto). I need to get started adding hoops to do some multis.
I was thinking of hooping again tomorrow but not until my homework is finished! I had a blast of customers today and I gotta finish up my hoopmaking. I made 4 of 12 already. Not too difficult, I love making them really so the time flies. I will probably even have time to hoop after I mail them ^_^
Monday, June 25, 2012
Breast Cancer and Chest Hula Hooping
First I would like to say that this post is not a scientific fact, however, it is based on scientific evidence and deserves to be heard!
Core hooping is inarguably beneficial to your lymphatic system because as the hoop revolves around your body it massages and pumps your lymph nodes which can only circulate out the toxins if the muscles around them are moving. There are not muscles in the breast, and the best way to get those lymphs moving is to make sure they keep moving! Having breasts constantly squeezed in decreases the outflow of toxins. I've recently discovered information about the increase of breast cancer among women who wear bras. A book titled Dressed to Kill by Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer breaks down the notion that wearing a bra increases the risk of breast cancer because it restricts the natural movement of the lymphatic system within the tissues of the breast. There is about a 125 time fold increase in breast cancer compared to women who do not wear them.
As a woman with a 36D breast size and having worn a bra since I was 12 years old, I know that when you move, your breasts move. I started off small and saw that my grandmother, a women who I apparently had the same "figure" as, was very large chested. I was told that to avoid this, I was going to need to wear a bra which would restrict their movement, keep them from sagging, and possible make them smaller. Well that sounded great to me! However that is not what happened. And I currently feel betrayed that this information was possibly even the opposite of what needed to be done. Apparently going bra free can assist in retaining the elasticity in breasts to keep them from sagging. I still grew a large bust and with breast cancer looming in on both sides of my family, I am seeking methods to avoid this dark booby-hating monster.
If there is NO WAY you're going to get rid of your bra, maybe there is still a way to help decrease the risk of getting breast cancer. I think chest hooping or rebounding (jumping on trampolines, pogo sticks, or anything that bounces you!) can help.
I remember the first time I "got" chest hooping. It hurt. From then on I avoided it because I thought it would make my breasts bruised, weak, or heaven forbid SAGGY! Well now I think that is not true. Just as I trained my breasts when I was 12 into being confined, I now want to train them to endure a beating for awhile to make them stronger. I know any pain associated with chest hooping will subside. It will increase the blood flow, strengthen the tired tendons, give my lymphatic system a jolt, and aid in overall health!
Its strange to think that the constant massaging that a hoop does when it is going around my body could be in any way helping it. But it is a fact that massaging the lymph nodes is healthy and will decrease the risk of cancer. So I can put two and two together! I've also heard that a trampoline can decrease lymphatic cysts after just 2 weeks! I think chest hooping should be added to the list of prevention cures. While we cannot find something to obliterate the disease, we can do anything in our power to prevent it. And since lymphatic cysts are decreased after they have been discovered, I guess it really does obliterate it too.
A healthy lymphatic system can help you cure everything from cellulite to cancer. I think chest hooping has the potential to decrease breast cancer because of its effects on pumping/circulating the contents of the lymphatic system in the chest region. I think it should be recognized as an effective workout for lymphatic diseases anywhere on the body as it can be used on several parts of the body.
Core hooping is inarguably beneficial to your lymphatic system because as the hoop revolves around your body it massages and pumps your lymph nodes which can only circulate out the toxins if the muscles around them are moving. There are not muscles in the breast, and the best way to get those lymphs moving is to make sure they keep moving! Having breasts constantly squeezed in decreases the outflow of toxins. I've recently discovered information about the increase of breast cancer among women who wear bras. A book titled Dressed to Kill by Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer breaks down the notion that wearing a bra increases the risk of breast cancer because it restricts the natural movement of the lymphatic system within the tissues of the breast. There is about a 125 time fold increase in breast cancer compared to women who do not wear them.
As a woman with a 36D breast size and having worn a bra since I was 12 years old, I know that when you move, your breasts move. I started off small and saw that my grandmother, a women who I apparently had the same "figure" as, was very large chested. I was told that to avoid this, I was going to need to wear a bra which would restrict their movement, keep them from sagging, and possible make them smaller. Well that sounded great to me! However that is not what happened. And I currently feel betrayed that this information was possibly even the opposite of what needed to be done. Apparently going bra free can assist in retaining the elasticity in breasts to keep them from sagging. I still grew a large bust and with breast cancer looming in on both sides of my family, I am seeking methods to avoid this dark booby-hating monster.
If there is NO WAY you're going to get rid of your bra, maybe there is still a way to help decrease the risk of getting breast cancer. I think chest hooping or rebounding (jumping on trampolines, pogo sticks, or anything that bounces you!) can help.
I remember the first time I "got" chest hooping. It hurt. From then on I avoided it because I thought it would make my breasts bruised, weak, or heaven forbid SAGGY! Well now I think that is not true. Just as I trained my breasts when I was 12 into being confined, I now want to train them to endure a beating for awhile to make them stronger. I know any pain associated with chest hooping will subside. It will increase the blood flow, strengthen the tired tendons, give my lymphatic system a jolt, and aid in overall health!
Its strange to think that the constant massaging that a hoop does when it is going around my body could be in any way helping it. But it is a fact that massaging the lymph nodes is healthy and will decrease the risk of cancer. So I can put two and two together! I've also heard that a trampoline can decrease lymphatic cysts after just 2 weeks! I think chest hooping should be added to the list of prevention cures. While we cannot find something to obliterate the disease, we can do anything in our power to prevent it. And since lymphatic cysts are decreased after they have been discovered, I guess it really does obliterate it too.
A healthy lymphatic system can help you cure everything from cellulite to cancer. I think chest hooping has the potential to decrease breast cancer because of its effects on pumping/circulating the contents of the lymphatic system in the chest region. I think it should be recognized as an effective workout for lymphatic diseases anywhere on the body as it can be used on several parts of the body.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
My 100 Day Curriculum: A Self-Taught Hooping Course to Enhance Your Dance
Hoop for 100 Day Group on HOOPCITY.CA:
http://www.hoopcity.ca/group/hoop-for-100-days-challenge
----------------------------------------------------------
I'm no savant and I confess to not being able to track 100 days in my head. So I am going to get out the calendar and write a number a a checkbox to get me motivated and in it for the long haul. I think this calendar will help others if they are interested in a 100 day challenge as well. As a hooper I tried to remember all the lessons I learned from instructors and how I can blend the questions they helped me ask into a format where you can ask yourself the same questions!
Resuming my 100 day challenge:
I just searched the hula hoop archives on YouTube.com and it has me pretty motivated! I also want to make a "Watch me Lose Weight" variation with my hoopdancing. There are a few out there now and they are lovely to watch and I'd love for my results to motivate people too. Pending I get results! haha... I did last time so I know I will this time too. Especially since I'm much more aware of foods now.
For instance I'm avoiding gluten since my husband discovered it was bad for bellies (which pretty much makes it disappear from the dinner table). Hopefully that'll give me the strength I need in the battle over my bulge.
I now only need to find a good time of day to hoop it up. I am in the countryside and the mosquitos are killer at dusk/night time. I think the early morning may be my only time that won't give me a heat stroke too. It was 109 yesterday and I ain't gonna let the heat keep me from sweatin'.
I also want to make videos. I did this last time but lost them all and it was very upsetting. However I am having a bit of a confidence issue. I sell hoops online and I guess I don't want people thinking "wow, she's fat and she sells hoops for weight loss, they must not work... " so on. Let me tell you now that BABIES MADE ME FAT. haha... and my lack of willpower over gluten. Both of which are not in my life (except the babies are in my life, just not in my tum). I want to inspire, be inspired, and keep up the conversation of hoops as a great weight loss tool.
If I've learned anything from the OTHER weight loss programs I've been looking at, its that every week has to be different. So I am going to mix it up. Also, there must be RESTING! So I am going to substitute some of the work to other days to allow for resting. Here is my outline for the 100 days!
-------------------------------------
Week 1: LEGS
Homework: Look up 3 video tutorials from YouTube that involve hooping tricks with your legs - Make sure to bookmark them! (Some tricks to get you started: hooping below your knees, hooping on one leg, kicking while hooping on one leg, passing the hoop from your hand to your foot while laying on back)
ALSO THIS WEEK. TAKE A BEFORE PHOTO OR VIDEO OF YOURSELF. YOU CAN BE STANDING OR HOOPDANCING. IT WILL HELP TO MOTIVATE YOU, I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH. DOCUMENT YOUR BODY MEASUREMENTS TOO IF YOU'D LIKE!
Day 1,2, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 3, REST DAY
Day 4, 5 6, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 7, REST DAY
Week 2: ARMS
Homework: If you have twins or minis - use them! Look up 3 video tutorials from YouTube that involve hooping tricks with your arms (not tosses)- Make sure to bookmark them! (Some tricks to get you started: thread the needle, isolations, making poi flowers, lasso, horizontal isolation, vortex)
Day 8, 9, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 10, REST DAY
Day 11, 12, 13 Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 14, REST DAY
Week 3: OPPOSITE DIRECTION
Now that you got your legs and arms trained its time to work on your opposite direction, or the reverse flow of your hoop. Think of the hoop tricks you like the most, now let's reverse it! My natural flow is clockwise and I am right handed. So this week I will NOT use my right hand and will only hoop counter clockwise during my first 15 minutes. Also, when doing hoop tricks, I will hoop on my left leg, not my right (I am right dominate) In the last 20 minutes of free hoopdancing I will resume using my dominate direction and arm/leg.
Homework: Find 3 hoop videos that are different from how you hoopdance, See what they do that you don't. Do you like it? Do you want to incorporate it? Try to during your 20 minutes!
Day 15, 16, Stretch for 5 minutes, If you can, try your 3 leg hoop tricks in the opposite direction, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes. Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 17. REST DAY
Day 18 Stretch for 5 minutes, Opposite Direction (Clockwise/counter-clockwise) hoopdancing for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 19, 20, Stretch for 5 minutes, Opposite Arm/Leg Dominate hoopdancing for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 21, REST DAY
Week 4: TRANSFORM
There's been a lot of input lately, now its time for the output. Its time to evolve, transform, create! Play with your hoop this week and work on something you've found yourself creating. Stop yourself halfway through a move and find out where the hoop is, now stop the direction it is going and move it somewhere else. Make it flow? Did you just create something new?? Share it on YouTube if you want. I'm sure by now you're getting pretty darn good at hooping.
Avoid watching YouTube videos this week. Let your body guide you to create something original. Make a video on YouTube and share it. It may even have been made up by someone already, but that's okay! Make a video anyways! Everybody is different and the same move will inevitably look different for each person.
Day 22, 23, Stretch for 5 minutes, Manipulate the hoop and do moves you don't usually do while hooping, even if you're not good at them. If you like a certain move see if you can make a variation of it. Do this for 15 minutes. Even if you're standing there listening to music and imagining moves that is fine. Give yourself the time to create. Free Hoopdancing for 20 minutes, stretch for 5 minutes
Day 24, REST DAY
Day 25, 26, 27 Its time to close your eyes. As advised from Baxter of HoopPath, using a blindfold or closing your eyes and FEELING the hoop can help you develop certain senses that will change the way you hoop. Stretch for 5 then try this for your first 15 minutes on these days. Free Hoopdancing for 20 then stretch another 5.
Day 28, REST
Week 5: ISOLATIONS
Isolations are very popular tricks that can be translated to any of the 3 dimensions. Look up videos on YouTube for video tutorials, pick 3 you really like then work on mastering them this week.
Day 29, 30, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 31, REST DAY
Day 32, 33, 34 Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 35, REST DAY
Week 6: VERTICAL
It can get pretty boring standing there with the hoop and feeling like you are completely rooted. This week lets get some height. Throw the hoop, jump, roll, lay down, Its time to move up and down the vertical dimension.
Homework: Find 3 more videos where a hoopdancer is using their vertical plane. Let's not forget POI videos have vertical plane videos that you can translate to hooping!
Day 36, Day 37, Stretch for 5 minutes, Toss the hoop in a pizza toss, straight up from elbow hooping, Anyway you can toss the hoop or keep from having it in your hands (but not on the ground), do it! Do this for 15 minutes. Free Hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 38, REST DAY
Day 39,Stretch for 5 minutes, Jumpin Jelly beans! Jump into your hoop, roll it horizontally and try to jump over,
Day 40, 41, Stretch for 5, Get grounded. Lay on your back and leg hoop, do whatever you can to get low. Pretend you are in martial arts, or you are sitting on a horse. Bend you knees to a right angle, step down on your knees when you go low and then up to your tippy toes when you go high. Really excentuate the vertical plane! Beautiful! Do this for 15 minutes then resume free hoopdancing for 20 and stretch for 5.
Day 42, REST DAY
Week 7: HORIZONTAL
Open your arms wide with a hoop in one of your arms, feel the stretch across the front of you chest. During this week try to have your muscles make this feeling as often as you can. Its time to open your heart and move along the horizontal plane.
Homework: Find 3 more videos where a hoopdancer is using their horizontal plane. Don't forget POI videos!
Day 43, 44 , Stretch for 5 minutes, Try sustained spinning and move the hoop in the same direction you are spinning, most moves are forced into the horizontal plane and this will help you identify what moves those are, when not spinning, practice those horizontal moves! Don't forget your opposite directions, ... 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, then stretch for 5 minutes.
Day 45, REST DAY
Day 46, 47, 48, 5 minute stretch,Excentuate the horizontal plane by jetting your arm out to its side during your moves. See if you can get 5 hoops on your body at once (definitely an advanced move, practice more horizontal plane moves for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, 5 minute stretch
Day 49, REST DAY
....
Week 8: LEGS
Homework: Look up 3 video tutorials from YouTube that involve hooping tricks with your legs - Make sure to bookmark them! (Some tricks to get you started: hooping below your knees, hooping on one leg, kicking while hooping on one leg, passing the hoop from your hand to your foot while laying on back)
Day 50, 51, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 52, REST DAY
Day 53, 54 55, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 56, REST DAY
Week 9: ARMS
Homework: If you have twins or minis - use them! Look up 3 video tutorials from YouTube that involve hooping tricks with your arms (not tosses)- Make sure to bookmark them! (Some tricks to get you started: thread the needle, isolations, making poi flowers, lasso, horizontal isolation, vortex)
Day 57, 58, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 59, REST DAY
Day 60, 61, 62 Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 63, REST DAY
Week 10: OPPOSITE DIRECTION
We did this before but now we are going to go beyond the level we were before! Try your new 6 tricks from the past 2 weeks for your opposite direction and dominate leg/arms.
Homework: Find 3 hoop videos that are different from how you hoopdance, See what they do that you don't. Do you like it? Do you want to incorporate it? Try to during your 20 minutes!
Day 64, 65, Stretch for 5 minutes, If you can, try your 3 leg hoop tricks in the opposite direction, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes. Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 66, REST DAY
Day 67 Stretch for 5 minutes, Opposite Direction (Clockwise/counter-clockwise) hoopdancing for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 68, 69, Stretch for 5 minutes, Opposite Arm/Leg Dominate hoopdancing for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 70, REST DAY
Week 11: TRANSFORM
Its my favorite week again. Hoopdancing to music and freeing and will unravel your creative side. Trust me on this! You can take it easy this week and if you feel the creative juices flowing, feel free to use them on your rest days to pick up a craft or something new. Let your outside creativity influence your hooping.
Day 71, 72, Stretch for 5 minutes, Manipulate the hoop and do moves you don't usually do while hooping, even if you're not good at them. If you like a certain move see if you can make a variation of it. Do this for 15 minutes. Even if you're standing there listening to music and imagining moves that is fine. Give yourself the time to create. Free Hoopdancing for 20 minutes, stretch for 5 minutes
Day 73, REST DAY
Day 74, 75, 76 Its time to close your eyes again. Stretch for 5 then try this for your first 15 minutes on these days. Free Hoopdancing for 20 then stretch another 5.
Day 77, REST
Week 12: ISOLATIONS
Try to incorporate the isolations you learned on Week 5 into your dancing with a better flow. Stand in front of a mirror and make sure the hoop doesn't move while you are doing your isolations, this will help you to get a better handle of its movement.
Day 78, 79, Stretch for 5 minutes, Perfect your isolations for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 80, REST DAY
Day 81, 82, 83, Stretch for 5 minutes, Perfect your isolations for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 84, REST DAY
Week 13: Move your legs
Pretend you are walking on fire this week. Be light on your feet and fly. Try skipping and hooping if you can't think of anything else.
Day 85,86 stretch for 5 minutes, light on your feet hooping for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, stretch for 5 minutes
Day 87, REST DAY
Day 88, 89, 90, stretch for 5 minutes, light on your feet hooping for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, stretch for 5 minutes
Day 91, REST DAY
Week 14: The Final Countdown
Remember those 12 arm tricks and 12 leg tricks you worked on? Hopefully you have been writing them down or still have them bookmarked. Now... DON'T DO ANY OF THEM! Haha, got you. Now its time to create again. You will find that when hoopdancing you get into a rut of doing the same moves over and over. If you don't feel this way you are one of the few. If you're like me, about now you are wanting to do something different, something that looks unbalanced. I would recommend looking into local dance classes to add dance styles to your dancing and some yoga to improve your flexibility. You can add bellydancing, acroyoga, yoga, and even ballet into hoopdancing. Take a Zumba class, even. You will have a lot to show off after 100 days of hooping. Feel free to go crazy during your last 20 minutes like always, but as for the 24 arm and hoop tricks from before, don't let yourself do em! You may be saying, well... I will just be standing there, Don't let this happen either. I promise you there are moves you haven't learned yet. If you don't know them then you can use YouTube again! Its time to unravel the hoopdancing you've learned thus far.
Day 92, 93, stretch 5 minutes unravelled hoopdancing without 24 tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing 20 minutes, stretch 5 minutes
Day 94, REST DAY
Day 95, 96, 5 minutes stretch , 15 minutes unravelled hoopdancing without 24 tricks, free hoopdancing 20 minutes, stretch 5 minutes
Day 97, REST DAY
Day 98, 5 minutes to stretch, 15 minutes of unravelled hoopdancing without 24 tricks, free hoopdancing 20 minutes, stretch 5 minutes
Week 15:
Day 99, REST DAY
Day 100, VICTORY DANCE. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A VIDEO OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL NEW DANCE!
http://www.hoopcity.ca/group/hoop-for-100-days-challenge
----------------------------------------------------------
I'm no savant and I confess to not being able to track 100 days in my head. So I am going to get out the calendar and write a number a a checkbox to get me motivated and in it for the long haul. I think this calendar will help others if they are interested in a 100 day challenge as well. As a hooper I tried to remember all the lessons I learned from instructors and how I can blend the questions they helped me ask into a format where you can ask yourself the same questions!
Resuming my 100 day challenge:
I just searched the hula hoop archives on YouTube.com and it has me pretty motivated! I also want to make a "Watch me Lose Weight" variation with my hoopdancing. There are a few out there now and they are lovely to watch and I'd love for my results to motivate people too. Pending I get results! haha... I did last time so I know I will this time too. Especially since I'm much more aware of foods now.
For instance I'm avoiding gluten since my husband discovered it was bad for bellies (which pretty much makes it disappear from the dinner table). Hopefully that'll give me the strength I need in the battle over my bulge.
I now only need to find a good time of day to hoop it up. I am in the countryside and the mosquitos are killer at dusk/night time. I think the early morning may be my only time that won't give me a heat stroke too. It was 109 yesterday and I ain't gonna let the heat keep me from sweatin'.
I also want to make videos. I did this last time but lost them all and it was very upsetting. However I am having a bit of a confidence issue. I sell hoops online and I guess I don't want people thinking "wow, she's fat and she sells hoops for weight loss, they must not work... " so on. Let me tell you now that BABIES MADE ME FAT. haha... and my lack of willpower over gluten. Both of which are not in my life (except the babies are in my life, just not in my tum). I want to inspire, be inspired, and keep up the conversation of hoops as a great weight loss tool.
If I've learned anything from the OTHER weight loss programs I've been looking at, its that every week has to be different. So I am going to mix it up. Also, there must be RESTING! So I am going to substitute some of the work to other days to allow for resting. Here is my outline for the 100 days!
-------------------------------------
Week 1: LEGS
Homework: Look up 3 video tutorials from YouTube that involve hooping tricks with your legs - Make sure to bookmark them! (Some tricks to get you started: hooping below your knees, hooping on one leg, kicking while hooping on one leg, passing the hoop from your hand to your foot while laying on back)
ALSO THIS WEEK. TAKE A BEFORE PHOTO OR VIDEO OF YOURSELF. YOU CAN BE STANDING OR HOOPDANCING. IT WILL HELP TO MOTIVATE YOU, I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH. DOCUMENT YOUR BODY MEASUREMENTS TOO IF YOU'D LIKE!
Day 1,2, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 3, REST DAY
Day 4, 5 6, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 7, REST DAY
Week 2: ARMS
Homework: If you have twins or minis - use them! Look up 3 video tutorials from YouTube that involve hooping tricks with your arms (not tosses)- Make sure to bookmark them! (Some tricks to get you started: thread the needle, isolations, making poi flowers, lasso, horizontal isolation, vortex)
Day 8, 9, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 10, REST DAY
Day 11, 12, 13 Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 14, REST DAY
Week 3: OPPOSITE DIRECTION
Now that you got your legs and arms trained its time to work on your opposite direction, or the reverse flow of your hoop. Think of the hoop tricks you like the most, now let's reverse it! My natural flow is clockwise and I am right handed. So this week I will NOT use my right hand and will only hoop counter clockwise during my first 15 minutes. Also, when doing hoop tricks, I will hoop on my left leg, not my right (I am right dominate) In the last 20 minutes of free hoopdancing I will resume using my dominate direction and arm/leg.
Homework: Find 3 hoop videos that are different from how you hoopdance, See what they do that you don't. Do you like it? Do you want to incorporate it? Try to during your 20 minutes!
Day 15, 16, Stretch for 5 minutes, If you can, try your 3 leg hoop tricks in the opposite direction, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes. Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 17. REST DAY
Day 18 Stretch for 5 minutes, Opposite Direction (Clockwise/counter-clockwise) hoopdancing for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 19, 20, Stretch for 5 minutes, Opposite Arm/Leg Dominate hoopdancing for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 21, REST DAY
Week 4: TRANSFORM
There's been a lot of input lately, now its time for the output. Its time to evolve, transform, create! Play with your hoop this week and work on something you've found yourself creating. Stop yourself halfway through a move and find out where the hoop is, now stop the direction it is going and move it somewhere else. Make it flow? Did you just create something new?? Share it on YouTube if you want. I'm sure by now you're getting pretty darn good at hooping.
Avoid watching YouTube videos this week. Let your body guide you to create something original. Make a video on YouTube and share it. It may even have been made up by someone already, but that's okay! Make a video anyways! Everybody is different and the same move will inevitably look different for each person.
Day 22, 23, Stretch for 5 minutes, Manipulate the hoop and do moves you don't usually do while hooping, even if you're not good at them. If you like a certain move see if you can make a variation of it. Do this for 15 minutes. Even if you're standing there listening to music and imagining moves that is fine. Give yourself the time to create. Free Hoopdancing for 20 minutes, stretch for 5 minutes
Day 24, REST DAY
Day 25, 26, 27 Its time to close your eyes. As advised from Baxter of HoopPath, using a blindfold or closing your eyes and FEELING the hoop can help you develop certain senses that will change the way you hoop. Stretch for 5 then try this for your first 15 minutes on these days. Free Hoopdancing for 20 then stretch another 5.
Day 28, REST
Week 5: ISOLATIONS
Isolations are very popular tricks that can be translated to any of the 3 dimensions. Look up videos on YouTube for video tutorials, pick 3 you really like then work on mastering them this week.
Day 29, 30, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 31, REST DAY
Day 32, 33, 34 Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 35, REST DAY
Week 6: VERTICAL
It can get pretty boring standing there with the hoop and feeling like you are completely rooted. This week lets get some height. Throw the hoop, jump, roll, lay down, Its time to move up and down the vertical dimension.
Homework: Find 3 more videos where a hoopdancer is using their vertical plane. Let's not forget POI videos have vertical plane videos that you can translate to hooping!
Day 36, Day 37, Stretch for 5 minutes, Toss the hoop in a pizza toss, straight up from elbow hooping, Anyway you can toss the hoop or keep from having it in your hands (but not on the ground), do it! Do this for 15 minutes. Free Hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 38, REST DAY
Day 39,Stretch for 5 minutes, Jumpin Jelly beans! Jump into your hoop, roll it horizontally and try to jump over,
Day 40, 41, Stretch for 5, Get grounded. Lay on your back and leg hoop, do whatever you can to get low. Pretend you are in martial arts, or you are sitting on a horse. Bend you knees to a right angle, step down on your knees when you go low and then up to your tippy toes when you go high. Really excentuate the vertical plane! Beautiful! Do this for 15 minutes then resume free hoopdancing for 20 and stretch for 5.
Day 42, REST DAY
Week 7: HORIZONTAL
Open your arms wide with a hoop in one of your arms, feel the stretch across the front of you chest. During this week try to have your muscles make this feeling as often as you can. Its time to open your heart and move along the horizontal plane.
Homework: Find 3 more videos where a hoopdancer is using their horizontal plane. Don't forget POI videos!
Day 43, 44 , Stretch for 5 minutes, Try sustained spinning and move the hoop in the same direction you are spinning, most moves are forced into the horizontal plane and this will help you identify what moves those are, when not spinning, practice those horizontal moves! Don't forget your opposite directions, ... 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, then stretch for 5 minutes.
Day 45, REST DAY
Day 46, 47, 48, 5 minute stretch,Excentuate the horizontal plane by jetting your arm out to its side during your moves. See if you can get 5 hoops on your body at once (definitely an advanced move, practice more horizontal plane moves for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, 5 minute stretch
Day 49, REST DAY
....
Week 8: LEGS
Homework: Look up 3 video tutorials from YouTube that involve hooping tricks with your legs - Make sure to bookmark them! (Some tricks to get you started: hooping below your knees, hooping on one leg, kicking while hooping on one leg, passing the hoop from your hand to your foot while laying on back)
Day 50, 51, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 52, REST DAY
Day 53, 54 55, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 56, REST DAY
Week 9: ARMS
Homework: If you have twins or minis - use them! Look up 3 video tutorials from YouTube that involve hooping tricks with your arms (not tosses)- Make sure to bookmark them! (Some tricks to get you started: thread the needle, isolations, making poi flowers, lasso, horizontal isolation, vortex)
Day 57, 58, Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 59, REST DAY
Day 60, 61, 62 Stretch for 5 minutes, Try to master hoop tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 63, REST DAY
Week 10: OPPOSITE DIRECTION
We did this before but now we are going to go beyond the level we were before! Try your new 6 tricks from the past 2 weeks for your opposite direction and dominate leg/arms.
Homework: Find 3 hoop videos that are different from how you hoopdance, See what they do that you don't. Do you like it? Do you want to incorporate it? Try to during your 20 minutes!
Day 64, 65, Stretch for 5 minutes, If you can, try your 3 leg hoop tricks in the opposite direction, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes. Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 66, REST DAY
Day 67 Stretch for 5 minutes, Opposite Direction (Clockwise/counter-clockwise) hoopdancing for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 68, 69, Stretch for 5 minutes, Opposite Arm/Leg Dominate hoopdancing for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 70, REST DAY
Week 11: TRANSFORM
Its my favorite week again. Hoopdancing to music and freeing and will unravel your creative side. Trust me on this! You can take it easy this week and if you feel the creative juices flowing, feel free to use them on your rest days to pick up a craft or something new. Let your outside creativity influence your hooping.
Day 71, 72, Stretch for 5 minutes, Manipulate the hoop and do moves you don't usually do while hooping, even if you're not good at them. If you like a certain move see if you can make a variation of it. Do this for 15 minutes. Even if you're standing there listening to music and imagining moves that is fine. Give yourself the time to create. Free Hoopdancing for 20 minutes, stretch for 5 minutes
Day 73, REST DAY
Day 74, 75, 76 Its time to close your eyes again. Stretch for 5 then try this for your first 15 minutes on these days. Free Hoopdancing for 20 then stretch another 5.
Day 77, REST
Week 12: ISOLATIONS
Try to incorporate the isolations you learned on Week 5 into your dancing with a better flow. Stand in front of a mirror and make sure the hoop doesn't move while you are doing your isolations, this will help you to get a better handle of its movement.
Day 78, 79, Stretch for 5 minutes, Perfect your isolations for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 80, REST DAY
Day 81, 82, 83, Stretch for 5 minutes, Perfect your isolations for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, Stretch for 5 minutes
Day 84, REST DAY
Week 13: Move your legs
Pretend you are walking on fire this week. Be light on your feet and fly. Try skipping and hooping if you can't think of anything else.
Day 85,86 stretch for 5 minutes, light on your feet hooping for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, stretch for 5 minutes
Day 87, REST DAY
Day 88, 89, 90, stretch for 5 minutes, light on your feet hooping for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing for 20 minutes, stretch for 5 minutes
Day 91, REST DAY
Week 14: The Final Countdown
Remember those 12 arm tricks and 12 leg tricks you worked on? Hopefully you have been writing them down or still have them bookmarked. Now... DON'T DO ANY OF THEM! Haha, got you. Now its time to create again. You will find that when hoopdancing you get into a rut of doing the same moves over and over. If you don't feel this way you are one of the few. If you're like me, about now you are wanting to do something different, something that looks unbalanced. I would recommend looking into local dance classes to add dance styles to your dancing and some yoga to improve your flexibility. You can add bellydancing, acroyoga, yoga, and even ballet into hoopdancing. Take a Zumba class, even. You will have a lot to show off after 100 days of hooping. Feel free to go crazy during your last 20 minutes like always, but as for the 24 arm and hoop tricks from before, don't let yourself do em! You may be saying, well... I will just be standing there, Don't let this happen either. I promise you there are moves you haven't learned yet. If you don't know them then you can use YouTube again! Its time to unravel the hoopdancing you've learned thus far.
Day 92, 93, stretch 5 minutes unravelled hoopdancing without 24 tricks for 15 minutes, free hoopdancing 20 minutes, stretch 5 minutes
Day 94, REST DAY
Day 95, 96, 5 minutes stretch , 15 minutes unravelled hoopdancing without 24 tricks, free hoopdancing 20 minutes, stretch 5 minutes
Day 97, REST DAY
Day 98, 5 minutes to stretch, 15 minutes of unravelled hoopdancing without 24 tricks, free hoopdancing 20 minutes, stretch 5 minutes
Week 15:
Day 99, REST DAY
Day 100, VICTORY DANCE. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A VIDEO OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL NEW DANCE!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Day 1: Hooping Challenge while PREGNANT
I found out a few weeks ago that I will not be bringing another precious being in the world in February. I am ecstatic! However I am only 7 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight from before.. so that is a bit of a surprise. However I have a good feeling about this time. First off, I have one Hoop Challenge under my belt and I have a lot of energy to start this pregnancy off with another Challenge!
I am also very excited about putting together a video production for my Prenatal Hooping video this fall. I am starting my search for mommy-to-be's like me who know how to hoop or who want to learn. My video will be very easy for beginners and I want it to incorporate both hooping and yoga. AND NO FAKE BELLIES! I want women who are REALLY pregnant. And this is a paid position... This is my first time mentioning it on the web and as soon as I get my prenatalhooping.com website up I will put up official applications.
Onward: I am going to do a 3.5 hours/week hoop challenge this time. I know this is a better choice for me since I already have a 19 month old and a 28 year old to take care (husband.) And I am starting a lot of new projects, not to mention I need to convince my landlord to sell me this house (its so inexpensive and I want to write off my house for taxes since I use it!)... so there's a lot on my table, but hooping is already happening for me almost everyday.
I just got through with a 4 day no-workout stretch (although I was doing chores and standing 10 hours each day at work). However not going to the gym has a way of giving a person more energy. I still want to lose that last 7 pounds AND be pregnant. My BMI is "Above Average" and I know my nutrition is plentiful enough to accommodate a nursing toddler and a growing fetus for the next few months. I'd like to weigh the same as I do now while 9 months pregnant and then lose the baby weight and be 135-140. That sounds GREAT to me!
I will attempt to hoop at least 15 minutes everday, but I know there will be somedays where it gets put off and I end up hooping for an hour one day without counting! That's just how it works for me. And I will also mind what TIME I hoop. During the last challenge I put off hooping til too late and then it didn't happen.
Video of the day?:
I am also very excited about putting together a video production for my Prenatal Hooping video this fall. I am starting my search for mommy-to-be's like me who know how to hoop or who want to learn. My video will be very easy for beginners and I want it to incorporate both hooping and yoga. AND NO FAKE BELLIES! I want women who are REALLY pregnant. And this is a paid position... This is my first time mentioning it on the web and as soon as I get my prenatalhooping.com website up I will put up official applications.
Onward: I am going to do a 3.5 hours/week hoop challenge this time. I know this is a better choice for me since I already have a 19 month old and a 28 year old to take care (husband.) And I am starting a lot of new projects, not to mention I need to convince my landlord to sell me this house (its so inexpensive and I want to write off my house for taxes since I use it!)... so there's a lot on my table, but hooping is already happening for me almost everyday.
I just got through with a 4 day no-workout stretch (although I was doing chores and standing 10 hours each day at work). However not going to the gym has a way of giving a person more energy. I still want to lose that last 7 pounds AND be pregnant. My BMI is "Above Average" and I know my nutrition is plentiful enough to accommodate a nursing toddler and a growing fetus for the next few months. I'd like to weigh the same as I do now while 9 months pregnant and then lose the baby weight and be 135-140. That sounds GREAT to me!
I will attempt to hoop at least 15 minutes everday, but I know there will be somedays where it gets put off and I end up hooping for an hour one day without counting! That's just how it works for me. And I will also mind what TIME I hoop. During the last challenge I put off hooping til too late and then it didn't happen.
Video of the day?:
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