Hooping guru teaches classes in Marquette
MARQUETTE -- Most of us haven't touched a hula hoop since we were young or maybe not even at all.
One Marquette native has made it her goal to teach America to pick up hooping as a fitness activity. Today she's known as the "hula hoop lady," but that wasn't always the case.
Jean Hooper, and yes, "Hooper" is really her name, picked up a $6 hula hoop about 10 years ago and didn't look back.
"I just started hooping in my living room to my favorite music, and it just, all of a sudden, put me in the best shape of my life," says Hooper.
Hooper says mixing hooping with dance moves helps relieve stress, provides a great cardio workout, and can tone the arms and legs.
Eager to share her fitness success story, she started her business, Hoop'n with Hooper, and brought her program to 200 California schools, reaching more than 300,000 kids. Now, she's launching an "Eat, Pray, Hoop" tour and coming back home to the U.P. Hooping for the kids at Graveraet is just one stop.
But what if you don't have much coordination or rhythm? These aren't the hoops you grew up with. They're weighted wave hoops by Maui Toys, so fluid dynamics and centrifugal force allow the hoop to stay up in motion longer.
Jean Hooper will be offering Hoop'n with Hooper community education classes every night, September 14-16 from 6 to 7 p.m., in the Graveraet school gym in Marquette.
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