Blog Archive
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2009
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September
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- Sixty gun salutes fired marking China’s 60th anniv...
- China kicks off National Day extravaganza
- The60th anniversary of the founding of the People'...
- 60th anniversary of China's National Day
- News Today
- Rome: 10 Things to Do in 24 Hours
- Do-It-Yourself Translations Through Facebook Connect
- 1-800-Flowers Gets Analytics Tool for Measuring Fa...
- Mad Men Keeps Viewers Involved Through Interactive...
- YouTube Falls Short In Facebook Popularity Contest...
- Love, pleasure, duty: Why women have sex
- Plan your ideal walking workout
- Parents clueless when it comes to kids' growth charts
- 'Sorry I Haven't Written': A Scientific Explanation
- What You Need To Know About The H1N1 Vaccine
- News Today
- T-ara Celebrates Chuseok
- Rain’s Shanghai Concert Is A Scam
- Wonder Girls’ Diary in America Part 1
- Kris Allen Working With Adele and Duffy's Collabor...
- Rob Thomas' 'Someday' Music Video Debuted
- Radiohead's Thom Yorke Forms New Band With RHCP's ...
- Mitchel Musso's 'Shout It' Music Video Comes Out
- Lady GaGa Reveals Storyline of Her Joint Tour With...
- Mayday Parade Premiere 'The Silence' Music Video
- '90210' 2.05 Preview: Naomi Goes Green
- Preview of 'Melrose Place' 1.05: Canon
- 'Grey's Anatomy' Welcomes Sarah Drew as New Doctor
- A New Trailer of Epic Miniseries 'The Pacific'
- The Sue Storm of 'Fantastic Four' is in talks to j...
- Jessica Alba to Stir Things Up in 'Little Fockers'
- 'Whip It!': On the Set With Jimmy Fallon, Ellen Pa...
- Sylvester Stallone in New 'The Expendables' Photo
- 'Avatar' Sequel Could Explore Pandora Deeper
- Mandy Moore Talks Disney's 'Rapunzel'
- Emmy Rossum Reportedly Dating Counting Crows' Adam...
- Jon Cryer and Wife Lisa Joyner Adopt a Baby Girl
- Christina Milian and The-Dream Planning Another We...
- Private Memorial Service for Patrick Swayze Set fo...
- Scarlett Johansson: 'I Have Terrible Stage Fright'
- Karina Smirnoff Has New Boyfriend
- News Today
- The Obama Assassination Poll — Another Story About...
- New England Patriots Use Facebook As Primary Onlin...
- Taylor Swift’s Facebook Page Still Growing Fast, W...
- Miami: 10 Things to Do in 24 Hours
- Want to Lose Weight? Avoid Skinny Overeaters
- Scientists Announce Trove of Fragile New Species i...
- Miss Switzerland 2009 Linda Faeh
- News Today
- Giant panda twin cub
- T-ara And Supernova To Unleash TTL Listen.2
- What’s long, black and fits nicely in SNSD’s hands?
- Opening Dance Stage at Girl Groups Chuseok Special
- Sugababes' Amelle Reportedly Receives Death Threat...
- Snippet of The Queen Project's Debut Single
- Weezer Will Duet With Lil Wayne on 'Can't Stop Par...
- Lady GaGa Named Billboard's Rising Star
- 50 Cent Rushed to Hospital After Listening to Fat ...
- 'Camp Rock 2' Invites Fans to Join the Filming
- 'One Tree Hill' 7.04 Preview: Believe Me, I'm Lying
- Preview of 'Gossip Girl' 3.04: The Stars Are Coming
- Recap: Jive, Tango and Quickstep on 'Dancing with ...
- 'Wizards of Waverly Place' Receives More Episodes
- 'Heroes' 4.04 Preview: Tracy Is Back
- Oren Peli's 'Paranormal Activity' Expands to 20 Mo...
- Salma Hayek Gets a Vision in New 'The Vampire's As...
- 'New Moon' Unleashes Three Fresh Character Posters
- No 'Valentine's Day' for Joe Jonas
- First Look at Amanda in 'Saw VI'
- Plot Details on Robert Rodriguez's 'Predators'
- 'The Princess and the Frog': Extended Clip and Fea...
- Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush 'Totally Back Toget...
- Emmy Rossum's Husband Justin Siegel Files for Divorce
- Robert Pattinson Isn't an 'Attention-Seeker'
- Hayden Panettiere Denies Dating Kevin Connolly
- Fred Durst and Wife Divorcing
- Taylor Lautner Feels Uncomfortable With His Muscul...
- News Today
- Iran Says It Test-Fires Longest-Range Missiles
- Five insider strategies for avoiding a hotel billi...
- Chicago: 10 Things to Do in 24 Hours
- Cartoons of the Week, September 26, 2009 - October...
- How Can A Pregnant Woman Get Pregnant Again?
- Why Doctors Are Giving Heroin to Heroin Addicts
- News Today
- Follow Ivy Behind the Scenes
- Lee Hyori’s New Album is going to be off the hook!
- JQT Releases Teaser
- Brown Eyed Girls @ Circle Nightclub Teaser!
- Carrie Underwood's 'Cowboy Casanova' Music Video A...
- Artist of the Week: Mariah Carey
- Video: Jenny Slate Dropped the F-Word on 'Saturday...
- 'Amazing Race' Eliminates Two Pairs Early in Its S...
- Cloudy with a Chance' Sticks to Box Office's Top
- A 'Predators' Role for Danny Trejo
- Tickets for Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' On Sale
- Jaime Pressly Ties the Knot
- Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom's Wedding Is On, t...
- Justin Guarini Weds Fiancee Reina Capodici
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September
(587)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Hula Hooping: A Fad Becomes a Real Fitness Tool
To get in shape for her October wedding, Dawn-Samantha Cahill, 25, a production coordinator in New York City, tried every exercise routine she could think of. But the upended positions that yoga required made her feel self-conscious. Running on a treadmill was a bore. And lifting weights was just too difficult. Frustrated, Cahill started overeating instead of exercising, and her weight, on a petite, 5-ft. 2-in. frame, ballooned to 212 lb.Cahill was nearly ready to give up, until one day last spring, she discovered a video on YouTube about hula-hooping. "The woman in the video was so sexy, and the moves she was making with a hula hoop were so cool," Cahill says. "Normally, watching a gorgeous woman like this would make me feel bad. Instead, I wanted to imitate her."The woman with the rock-hard body and come-hither hula hoop was Christabel Zamor, author of Hooping: A Revolutionary Fitness Program and founder and CEO of San Francisco–based HoopGirl Inc., which offers instructional hooping videos and classes. Inspired by Zamor, Cahill started waking up at 3:15 each morning to clear the furniture from the middle of her living room and hoop to tunes by BeyoncĂ© and Lady Gaga for 45 min. before work. In five months, she lost 46 lb., dropping from a size 20 to a comfortable size 12. "I finally found an exercise that I could do every day because I felt like I wasn't exercising at all," says Cahill, who eventually ventured out of her living room and into scheduled hooping classes in New York City. "I was just having fun."It might have ended up as just another passing fitness fad, but hula-hooping appears to have caught on and stuck. Zamor's HoopGirl began selling weighted, adult-size hoops in 2001, and other companies, including Los Angeles–based Hoopnotica, were founded soon after. Since then, the activity has gained thousands of followers worldwide. Hoopnotica's sales have more than quintupled over the past three years, according to co-founder Keaton Koechli, while HoopGirl's teacher-training program has grown from 24 instructors to more than 350 in 13 countries. Classes in the U.S. are typically offered in private studios, though Crunch gym members in Los Angeles can now take Hula Hoop Pilates. Enthusiasts also form their own organized hooping clubs—like the Bay Area Hoopers, whose founder edits the online magazine Hooping.org — or coordinate frequent impromptu "meetups" in public parks and recreation centers. A recent group-hoop took place during the Race for the Cure in New York City, in which members hooped while walking three miles to raise money for breast-cancer research.The initial appeal of hooping is that it's fun, but its lasting value is that it works. An hour of intense hooping can burn as many calories as an hour-long run on a treadmill. Exercisers can get a full-body workout with moves like HoopGirl's "pulse," which stimulates the entire core; the "limbo," which targets the back and thighs; and the "Wild West," which helps tone biceps and triceps. "Anything that gets people off the couch and burning calories is a good thing," says Pete McCall, an exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise. "Hooping can be a good way to mix up your routine and keep it from being boring."You don't have to be rhythmically gifted to succeed either. Zamor says she was an overweight graduate student who spent most of her time tied to a computer at a desk before rediscovering the hula hoop at a music-and-arts festival in Los Angeles. "When I got my hoop, I was not a natural," says Zamor, who can now twirl a hoop on virtually every body part, "but I kept practicing and realized that it was something that can be self-taught, even for people who have never hooped in their lives." What's more, says Zamor, hooping cut her stress levels, helped her drop three pant sizes and introduced her to hundreds of people she would never have otherwise met. "I found that I touched a nerve in my community — hundreds of people reached out to me for instruction," she says.As for Cahill, she'll be packing the collapsible travel hoop she received as a wedding gift to take with her on her honeymoon. And she has lost so much weight that she had to buy an entirely new gown just three months before her wedding day. "It's the best problem a bride could run into," says Cahill, "and I owe it all to hooping."source: time.com