The Spatiotemporal Pattern of Hula Hooping:

"In its unfolding - just as the unfolding of life from the fleeting wings of the present moment - it will represent a collaborative effort of research for the students of the field. The specifications of nature would thus now appear to be incomplete without this natural element of disorder or chaos, but just how this new vision is to be integrated into the future understanding of man - generic and individual - only time, research and engaged enthusiasm will discover the fuller journey of this far-flung path." Pete Brown on "New Mathematics of Chaos" by Ian Stewart

The demand for alternative forms of exercise increases as we fight higher levels of stress associated with...well, the Economy for instance!  Fitness facilities can be expensive, crowded, and contaminated. The same routines can get very monotonous which can weaken your inner drive to stay active. Get motivated!

Enlighten your fitness activity with something fun and interesting. Hula hooping is not only for the kids!  There is great "synergy" involved in the dynamics of motions that occur with the body while hula hooping.

For a person hula hooping, synergies (coordinative

structures) are the collective variables that capture the 

evolution of the spatiotemporal pattern involved in

performing the task. Time variations about the hips,

knees, and ankles in three dimensions yield 18 equations

of motion. At one level of description, one might view

the performance as solving a problem involving 18

variables (Stewart 1989). Balasubramaniam, Turvey 2004

Ramesh Balasubramaniam of the University of Ottawa, and Michael Turvey of the University of Connecticut were 2004 Ig® Nobel Prize recipients for their research in the dynamics of hula hooping.  They use a dynamical systems approach to explain the connection between cognition and the movements of hula hooping.

Hoopilates: Hula Hoop Exercise

POSTING SOON: Ancient History of the Art of Hula Hooping