What size hula hoop should I buy?

Let's not talk about derby last night. Let's talk about my experience buying hula hoops. I have three now. And each one isn't quite what I wanted. Good thing I have money leftover in my "allowance." Hooping is not a cheap hobby, but it's cheaper than a lot of my other hobbies.
*cough* ice skating *cough*

The bigger the diameter of the hoop, the slower it rotates, and therefore, the easier it is to learn. 

For a beginner, even someone like me as a beginner/intermediate, you want to measure from the floor to your belly button. I'll use my measurements as examples. My belly button is 40" from the floor. As a beginner, I knew I wanted at least a 40" diameter hula hoop. Stores just don't sell these generally, so I had to order online. I hate ordering online because returns are practically impossible, plus you have to pay for shipping.

Then you want to measure around your waist. As a beginner, you definitely don't want a hoop with a smaller diameter than your waist measurement. You probably want to add 4"-6" to that number.  My waist measures 36" so a 40" or 42" is perfect. But if you're as tall as I am with a bigger waist, you might want a bigger hoop. And vice versa. 

I found a weighted fitness hoop that was 42" from Canyon Hoops. I primarily focused on waist hooping when I started, for cardio and core. To make things more difficult, I would turn 360, march forward and backward, learn hooping in the opposite direction to which I was most comfortable (I prefer to hoop counter-clockwise, so I worked on mastering clockwise hooping). With my Fitbit Charge HR, I was able to track how my hoop workouts affected my heart rate.

When I wanted to begin learning off-body tricks, my weighted hoop was no longer any good. It's just too heavy. So I ordered a beginner dance hoop made from HDPE (This site is helpful in describing the types of material used.) It's over an inch thick and is 38" in diameter and weighs 17 ounces. When ordering a hoop, what I didn't know at the time was sometimes you'll see O.D. and other times, you'll see I.D. Duh for me, this means thickness measured either from "outer diameter" or "inner diameter." My dance hoop was 3/4" INNER diameter. So the thickness of the tubing increased the overall thickness of my hoop.

And it worked well for off-body. Generally, the smaller the hoop, the easier the off-body tricks are to learn. Until I wanted to start learning hip hooping and chest/shoulder hooping. The 38" is just not big enough. (Here are five reasons you can't shoulder hoop.) I went back to my 42" weighted for hip hooping, but it was too painful to attempt chest hooping with. As it is, I still have a bruise on my hip bone.

I've just ordered a third dance hoop. It's 40" in diameter and 3/4" OUTER diameter. So it's thinner but bigger, still lightweight. However, I did not fully confirm the color. These come in a variety of colors. I wanted an antique gold. What I got was a "soft buttery yellow" as described by the maker. After my order. So even she describes it as yellow, even though it's called "inca gold." If only I had emailed her before I ordered. Live and learn. Die and forget it all.

I won't be ordering another hoop for a while. When I do, my guess is it'll be smaller in diameter, probably the same 3/4" ID thickness, but I'll make sure to speak with a person first about the actual shade. *grumble*

In summary, before ordering your hoop:

• measure from the floor to your belly button
• measure your waist
• verify diameter, thickness, AND color

Hope this helps!