Intermediate Hoop Classes

I can't tell me how happy this class at Warwick Avenue made me last night. It was meant to be a normal HoopFit class but then these three turned up. Heather, Nicole and Sammi have all been hoping with me for... Um I'm not sure how long but they rock and we had so much fun that the class ran over an extra 20 mins mainly because I kept saying 'one more time, lets just do it one more time.'

Intermediate Hula Hoop Class London from Bree Kirk-Burnnand on Vimeo.

We came up with new really random tricks and as Nicole said 'it was everything I love about hooping'  Playful, fun but also seriously challenging! Expect to see some of our random tricks in your next class. 

I am NOT a Fitness Junkie

I have been writing this post in my head for months because I feel like people have got me all wrong. My job means that I meet a lot of fitness fanatics… they think I am one of them but I am not. Maybe I should keep this a secret but honestly if exercise isn't fun and interesting I am NOT doing it. 

Before I discovered hooping I’d water skied, tried pole dancing, power plates and the odd dance class here and there. I generally exercised for three months of the year and did nothing for the other nine months. I do not run and I do not do sit ups. 

I remember going for induction sessions at gyms and telling them my aim was to ‘feel good’ which fell on deaf ears every time. Some how it always translated in their minds to ‘loose weight’ or ‘tone up’ but I really just wanted to feel good and have fun. And this to me is one of the major problems with the fitness industry, most people just want to feel amazing and fell alive! 

I know, so shedding a few kilos is great too but when did we decide that it had to be all work and no play. What do kids do to keep fit? They play right? We don't stick them on a tread mill or make them lift weights. Please stop making exercise so awful, lets just go outside and play… please. 

That is what I love about hula hooping. Whether you're working on keeping the hoop spinning for more than a minute at a time or splitting hoops you are always learning and playing. I’m not a fitness junkie, I am a fun junkie!

5 Things That Have Inspired Me This Week

Taking our company name Happy Healthy Hoops literally, I've decided to write about five things that have inspired me this week. 

1. Yesterday my friend won the Peoples Book Prize!!! His book You're Gone to Far This Time Sir won best non-fiction.

Years ago when waiting in the lobby to be interviewed for an accounting job at a property firm, Danny Bent, a stranger at the time, wandered past warmly welcoming me to the office and wishing me luck. It instantly made me want the job more. The staff were so friendly, I got the job and loved working there. 

Since then I've enjoyed seeing Danny's adventures on FB. He always seems to be up to something but I seemed to have missed the fact that he wrote a book!!! Watching his acceptance speck yesterday I learnt that Danny had dyslexia and his journey to becoming a writer had been just as windy as my journey from Accountant to Hula Hooper. 

I can't wait to read it! 

2. Gemma Smailes one of our Kentish Town HoopFit Students is going to jump out of a plane this weekend to raise money for Canine Partners  for Independence. Best of luck Gemma! 

3. This Photo from Morning Gloryville London just makes me happy. 

4. I spoke to my Dad yesterday, he is in hospital for a few days having some check ups. His health is complicated having suffered from Parkinson's Disease for 17 years and breaking his knee in every way possible. But the first thing he says to me is 'Bree, being in this hospital makes me realise how lucky I am'.  

5. Anna Lisa one of my students from Bannatynes has been hooping for a couple of months. It's been a slow process for Anna Lisa but this week something clicked and we managed 3 hoops yesterday! Perseverance, patience and practice.  

Hoop Yoga with Beka Hoops

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When I found out that Beka Hoops was coming to London to teach a Hoop Yoga workshop I was excited but also a little hesitant. I love hooping but yoga…I’ve always found a little dull and a lot intimidating. I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got the hooping bit so I’ll only have to look silly half of the time, plus its BEKA HOOPS. You can do this!!!’ I’ve been watching her videos for year, I simply couldn't pass up an opportunity to meet her. 

When I arrived at Indaba I immediately sought a spot at the back of the class. Then Beka arrived and asked us to arrange our matts into a circle and I had nowhere to hide.

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Over the next three hours we used the hoop as if it were an extension of our own body. There was a lot of giggling which I’d never seen in a yoga class. Beka was so passionate about both of her practices, she’d teach us something and then bounce off with excitement that she clearly couldn't contain. 

I can’t tell you how many times the word ‘Wow’ came out of my mouth. I’ve been saying for the longest time that I should do yoga as I am sure the flexibility would help my hooping but after seeing Beka do a headstand with the hoop spinning on her toes I think I am genuinely converted! There might me a yogi in me yet!

By the end of he class my legs were quivering but I was relaxed and ready to take on the world. Hoop yoga gets a massive thumbs up from me!

Beka runs Hoopurbia which is being held in Berlin this year! I am very tempted to book, who is coming with me??

Say No to Sit Ups

This week one of my hoop students tweeted me saying she had sore abs! I tweeted back saying sore abs are great, especially as you didn't have to do a sit up to get them #saynotositups And now I have a new favourite hash tag #saynotositups is my new motto/slogan/mantra?! it is everything!!! I feels like it sums up so many things about my life, not just hula hooping!

When I first moved to London I had a pretty bad case of the old ‘Heathrow Injection’. It was well before I had discovered hula hooping so in order to shift the weight I got my self a rather expensive Personal Trainer. She was sweet and friendly and made me do Sit-ups… Yeah, did you hear that she made me do Sit-ups!!! I hated her of course, well at least for those slow and painful minutes where I was on my back desperately trying to get my upper body off the floor.

Firstly it turned out I had been doing them wrong for years. When she asked me if I could feel it in my abs I said ‘no but I CAN feel it in my neck, my back and even my arms’. The thing was my abs were non existent so I had compensated using the rest of my body.

My tummy has ALWAYS been my problem area. My sister is the same, if we put on weight its tummy and face (just to make sure we can’t cover it with cloths).

Everyone told me I had to do sit ups but I just felt like my abs were so weak that even a few were just too much. I was much happier to dress the problem instead of addressing the problem.

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When I started hooping it was because it looked freaking cool and I wanted those magical powers that move the hoop from your legs all the way up to your arms! Yes I wanted to be magic! And guess what it was, with in 5 months I had dropped 5kg with out even noticing and now that am using proper technique for my waist hooping I’m actually starting to see my abs! I even had a friend comment on them in an instagram video!! Look here!!! My first EVER COMPLIMENT ON MY ABS! EVER!!

So SAY NO TO SIT UPS and say yes to a hoop!

P.S. Move the hoop from your legs all the way up to your arms is not actually magical! Its the first think I tell people in my leg and chest hooping workshop but when I started I really thought it was.