Fire spinning fitness

Hi all. I'm trying to find out what "type" of spinning would allow for -
1. best weight loss
2. best overall fitness.

I know i'm probably going to start either an arguement or a pissing contest here, but I'm just looking for personal experience.
I've been spinning for a couple of years but not enough to be able to judge any differences.
Any help would be aprecieated. Thanks in advance (excuse the spelling)

I put other, because I think each one will help different parts of the body along with hooping, whips, meteors, etc

I also chose other.

The thing thats so wonderful about these arts is that they allow for an infinity of different moves and movements. The props used are also very varied.

For instance, spinning a very heavy set of doublestaff may help increase your strength, while spinning a lighter set could help increase flexibility.

If you are looking to specifically improve your fitness you will get the best results from a targeted exercise routine - you can spin as an aside to this (as a warm-up / cool-down perhaps). You will find that not only will your fitness improve much more quickly, but that your spinning skills also tend to take a jump.

I don't think it's at all prop related.

It's a classic example, but you can spin poi/staff, juggle, diabolo etc pretty much only using your forearms.
Or you can spin them whilst jumping around like a loon and you'll get a much better workout.

You can spin at different speeds, you can play with props of different weights, all of which would provide a completely different set of exercises...

Yup, what they said

I will have to say Staff.....Contact Staff specificaly. In the year and few months i have been spinning I have lost a considerable amount of weight and toned up quite a bit. You can see it in my videos..

My first video:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fFxYzzLBgLc

and my latest:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UI-I1mf6Ztc

And it's not just me thinking this, I have been asked quite a few times since starting spinning if i have lost weight.

What they all said!

I havn't noticed weight loss as such, but I have got a lot more mussle mas and general all-over strength in my entire body (but mainly my arms) now.

I would suggest hooping would blast them all out of the water. But it also depends on your style,how fast you spin how much you move around.

I could hoop for 2 min in my circus style and then hoop for 2 min in my hoopdance style. I garenntee that in the hoop dance style i would use double the energy. But in the circus style probably works my core mucles about 2 times more than the hoop dance style.

Really it is all variable

I can see fans building up some strength in your arms.

I said other for hooping. Because w poi and staff, you CAN dance and be energetic, but you're not forced to.

While with hoop, even if just doing it around your waist, there's a lot more muscle movement and toning...

IMHO. And I can build up a sweat poiing in.... 5 minutes maybe.

Where as just trying to get the frigging hoop up to my chest, after 30 seconds of trying I'm soaked. :P

I agree with Durbs.

(but don't tell him)

I'd say dancing would be better than spinning, because with spinning it's too easy to just stand in the one spot, and spin with your arms.

Popping is where it's at. All that hitting and waving has drasticallay improved my muscle tone, and flexibility. Gliding gave me back my foot strength (and some) after I had been unable to walk for a few years...

Yeah I'd say hoop as being the most effective for exercise. while I don't use one for manipulation per se I use m'lady's one for solely funfitness purposes. Well, that and a reason to shake my thang.

But as everyone's said, they're all good in their own way.

I only do poi so I can't comment on the others, but I don't think it's helped a huge amount on that front. I've poied every day for a couple of hours at a time before, and it didn't make as much difference as doing a labour intensive job for 6 months.

I'd say running, some other gentle excersise & a bit of poi/staff will help, hooping will definitely help with waist area etc but I don't know if it would be enough on its own.

I was thinking of making some very heavy practice poi for this pupose (somewhere around 250g) but I'm not sure about the stresses on my wrists.

It also depends on whether or not you practice rope dart mainly as a weapon, or a spinning prop. And with all of them, dancing would be best for physical fitness.
(plus it's way more fun that way!)

in terms of weight loss and fitness it wouldn't matter as long as your heart-rate fell into the correct zones.

The areas where the specific toy made a difference would be in terms of muscle tone.

Thanks for all of the advice guess, I really appreciate it.