RE: Vhoop: The Smart Hula Hoop and Fitness Tracker

beacon_dave — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 22:29:46 GMT

Is the quadcopter pictured included in the price ? [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-e294340d-bda0-4d22-8980-b6866eab39d9/contentimage_5F00_1.png:16:16]

I find the claims of weight loss and calories burned by hula hooping on its own highly dubious. Especially the figures shown in their promo video. Also the need for technology to count the movements is also questionable. The rotations whilst hooping are pretty consistent so pretty proportional to duration (10mins at 100RPM = 1,000 revolutions).

I know this as I've been hula-hooping for the last 365+ consecutive days and it has had zero impact on weight loss even with a 2kg hoop at 90RPM. I've also been doing this alongside an on-going workout on an ergometer, which has much better provision for measuring actual effort and even though it is a much more intense workout than the hula hoop, it shows a significantly smaller numbers of kcals expended for the duration than what the promo video shows with the hula hoop.

Health benefits of the hula hoop which I've found are mainly that it is _very_ good for relieving back pain after injury and secondly it does appear to tone up the abdominal muscles (either that or it has just worn grooves in my waist !). It also appears to have done something strange to my balance/rhythm but only after 48weeks or so at which point overnight I could find that I could walk whilst hooping.

The inclusion of technology in hula hoops is nothing particularly new though - manufacturers have been adding LED lighting effects to hula hoops for hula dance and synchronising them to show lighting. I've yet to see a POV type display incorporated into hula hoop though.

What would be useful would be a proximity detector - hooping takes up a lot or room and it's quite easy to launch certain items into orbit if you get too close - especially if you are walking (or dancing) with the hoop.

I'm also dubious about the claims of the likes of the Fitbit though and I believe there was an investigation into their claims at one point. However, to round off, let's combine Fitbit and hula hooping with instructor Deanne Love in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqEEKHpcS1M