WORKOUT WISDOM


Hula Hoops Grow Up

Recall the summers of your youth with a hula-hoop exercise class for adults.

By Samantha L. Daniels

Oh My You’re Gorgeous
owner Stephanie Babine

When I walk in to the Mars studio of Oh My You’re Gorgeous for my “Hoopnotica” class, every woman in the place is spinning a hula hoop on her hips, keeping in beat with the rock music fromthe speakers, appearing to have a great time. They make it look natural, like they are all just standing around with their friends, rather than balancing giant, two-pound hoops on their midsections.

Owner and class instructor Stephanie Babines, 31, directs me to an open spot near the mirrors at the front of the room, presumably so I can die of embarrassment. But as I start fumbling with my hoop, throwing it around my waist and shifting my hips left to right before the hoop clatters to the floor, none of the other women in the class laugh. Instead, they encourage me.

“Don’t worry, we all start in the same place,” Stephanie says as she hoops over to me, demonstrating the basic in and out movement of her stomach and hips that keep the hoop from sliding down your hips to bang against your ankles. How did I ever spend hours doing this as a kid, I wonder?

Stephanie shows me how to keep my back straight and my chest up, focusing on moving only my lower body. The rest of the class moves on to tricks, such as rolling the hoops up and down their bodies, moving their arms in and out of the hoops, and twirling their bodies in circles while keeping the hoop twirling around their bodies.

“Hooping affects your problem areas,”
instructor Stephanie Babines says.
It works on a woman’s figure, making
your sexy and curvy.”

Eventually I get the basic move down and start to have fun. I can feel my abdominals working and I’m starting to sweat. I can even keep the hoop spinning while I move my right foot forward and then my left. But these are small victories compared to what Stephanie is doing on the studio floor. The only certified Hoopnotica instructor in Pennsylvania is shimmying in and out of the hoop, doing kicks and twirls, and never missing a beat.

As the 50-minute session winds down, I’m winded but inspired; hoop class was really fun and a good workout. “It affects your problem areas,” Stephanie says. “It works on a woman’s figure, making you sexy and curvy.” A fun yet functional workout? That appeals to the kid and the adult in me.

Oh My You’re Gorgeous, 222 Mars Valencia Road, Mars. 20411 Perry Hwy., Route 19, Cranberry. 724.612.7724.


Zumba founder Beto Perez feels the music.

Break a Sweat with Zumba at PNC Park
Fans of Zumba, the aerobic dance class that draws crowds at gyms across the world, have a chance to step out of the fitness rooms and onto the field of PNC Park for Zumba Fitness Day July 31.

Zumba creator Beto Perez makes his second trip to Pittsburgh to lead a master class at 5 p.m. before the Pittsburgh Pirates face the Washington Nationals at home at 7:05 p.m.

The $50 package includes admission to the Zumba class, a box seat in left field for the game, and a Buccos baseball cap. Proceeds from the night will benefit the Pittsburgh chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “Most of my students in my classes are women and I would really like to give back to a cause that relates
to them,” Perez says.

Perez will also throw out the first pitch for the
game. “That is a first for me,” he says.

For more information, contact Maria McCalister at 724.882.9512 or visit events.zumba.com.


Zumba classes are available at these local gyms:
Amerifit, South Hills, 412.341.3033.

Club 1 Fitness, Shadyside, Fox Chapel, South Hills, 412.362.4806.

Glow Tanning Retreat & Fitness Studio, Mt. Lebanon, 412.344.0365.

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill, Monroeville, South Hills. 412.521.8010.

Oxford Athletic Club, Wexford. 724.933.1911.



Hooping in Allison Park with the
Hoopnotica gang.

 

 



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