Edmontonians are joining a growing number of people turning to hula hooping as a way to stay in shape.

The hula hooping culture is becoming increasingly popular around the world – including here in Edmonton.

Carla Snow knows all about it.

The Edmonton woman is so passionate about hula hooping that she quit her job as an accountant to make a career about hooping.

“I was usually thinking about hooping. I would be at work and be watching the clock going, ‘when can I go home and hula hoop some more?!’” Snow said.

“I now teach hula hooping full time. I have been a hoop teacher going into my third year now. I’ve been able to make a full-time career of it which is outstanding and amazing.”

Snow began hooping as a hobby five years ago.

She says she was shocked that hooping helped her lose baby weight after her third child.

“I was definitely a work-out drop-out. I was always looking for some way to get fit. I tried the gym, I tried the personal trainer, I had a treadmill that didn’t get a lot of use. But once I tried hula hooping I wanted to do it every single day,” Snow said.

“Through the hooping, I found physical activity and then this confidence also started to emerge. The better I got at it, the more I wanted to do it and the more weight I did lose the better I felt so it all just became a really wonderful cycle.”


Hooping is a constant in life

Along with teaching workshops and holding regular hula hooping classes, Snow also makes and sells her own hoops.

She says she’s assembled more than a thousand hoops so far and anyone can do it with the right-sized hoop.

Snow’s students tell CTV News they love hula hooping, and say the activity works out the core and gets their heart pumping.

“I just got addicted,” said Sarah Dyck. “It’s really enjoyable, Carla’s a good teacher, it gets you moving and you’re into the music.”

“It’s an awesome, creative way to be active,” said Keenan Bowman.

Snow says hooping is an activity that’s exploded over the past few years.

“There’s a lot of hooping culture down in California. That’s sort of where a lot of it grew and was fostered,” she said. “It spread.”

Snow says hooping is a constant in her life, adding some days she’ll do it for as many as nine hours.

“I get a lot of hooping in,” she said.

For Snow, it's not only a great physical activity and a source of income, most importantly, hula hooping makes her happy.

“Beyond just feeling physical benefits, there’s also an emotional benefit to hula hooping. You feel really good when you do it,” Snow said.

“I still love hooping so much five years later that I still do it every day so to be able to do it for a living is just a wonderful gift.”

Click here to find out more about Snow's company.

With files from Carmen Leibel