Masala Bhangra Photo: masaladance.com

Fall is officially here. And while you may be lamenting fewer jogs on the beach, fear not. Here are some highlights of what's hot in gyms across the country this autumn.

Helix. The Helix is a new type of cardio machine. Your feet travel in a sideways figure-eight motion. The Helix incorporates the usual thigh and butt muscles, but adds inner and outer thigh as well. I have tried this machine out, and it's an almost instant sweat!

The Masala Bhangra Workout. This is an energetic cardio class that combines the fun of Bollywood and bhangra with a great workout. This class is available in health clubs across the U.S., and there is also a DVD version you can try at home.

Hooping. This is not your daughter's hula-hoop! These classes offer adult-sized and properly-weighted hoops. After a quick five-minute demo from your instructor, you'll be up and running. Hooping offers the same calorie burn as a fast walk or a slow jog. As you get more adept, you learn more tricks. Hooping works all muscle groups but is particularly good for abs and arms.

That's Fit Club is our feature devoted to you, the reader. We have all learned so much on our paths to becoming more fit, and now it's time to learn from and inspire each other. That's Fit Club members are constantly working to better themselves. Some are perfect; some are not. But all have health on the mind.

Besides showing you off, we want to reward you for all of your hard work! Adidas is giving gorgeous gym bags to each featured member. To join, please send Fitz your answers to these questions, with a photo of yourself. Time for you to be the motivator!

Name: Carissa Tessaro

Age: 25

Occupation: I work full-time at Georgetown Law. I am also getting my Masters degree on a part-time basis at Georgetown in the Communication Culture and Technology Program. And to top it all off, I have a part-time job at a local event promotions company, which adds about 10 to 20 extra hours of work to my week.

How often do you exercise? Six times a week.

What type of exercise do you do? Everything! Or at least I will try everything once. I love the Precor AMT, as it has such a wide adaptable range of motion. My fall-back is the elliptical (either a Precor with adaptable cross-ramp and resistance or the AMT) and the treadmill. My gym offers a great variety of classes (spin, strength training, boot camp, 15 minute ab classes, total body conditioning) which are great. Without all the variety I would definitely get bored.

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Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Our fitness expert Fitz sits down with the stars and digs out their great and not-so-great methods for staying healthy.

Christina Applegate has grown up before our eyes and has truly evolved into a sophisticated, smart, driven woman who also happens to be one hell of a comedic actress. Her hit show "Samantha Who?" on ABC is in its second season, and Christina has had to split her focus between continuing to deliver hilarity on cue and recuperating from an aggressive battle with breast cancer. She's recovering from a double mastectomy and becoming the fit woman she's accustomed to being. Christina talked about her efforts to stay strong, the diet she can no longer afford and the torture she endures for gorgeous skin.

Fitz: Christina, you look the best I've ever seen. What have you been doing?

Christina: Thanks! I'm finally able to exercise (since my surgery). My recovery has been really long and slow but I've been gradually getting back in to it.

Fitz: What type do you do?

Christina: I've been running, spinning, dancing and taking boot camp classes. I really love to exercise.

Fitz: That doesn't sound very gentle at all! In fact, it sounds like a pretty hard-core workout schedule.

That's Fit Club is our feature devoted to you, the reader! We have all learned so much on our paths to becoming more fit, and now it's time to learn from and inspire each other! That's Fit Club members are constantly working to better themselves. Some are perfect; some are not. But all have health on the mind. Besides showing you off, we want to reward you for all of your hard work! Everlast and Everlast Woman are giving gorgeous workout T-shirts to each featured member! To join, please send Fitz your answers to these questions with a photo of yourself. Time for you to be the motivator!

Name: Monique Riveire

Age: 28

Occupation: Paralegal

How often do you exercise? Three times a week.

What type of exercise do you do? Cardio Kickboxing, Zumba, Bootcamp, and Wii Fit

What gets you to workout, even when you're feeling lazy? Group support, and the fun music in the classes.

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Most of the time, when we think of a boot camp, we imagine a really tough fitness routine run by someone with a face only a mother can love and a voice that causes nightmares. However, if you (or a friend) are getting married, there's a different kind of boot camp for you.

The Gaylord Palms Hotel in Kissimmee, Florida, offers a gentle bridal/bachelorette boot camp, where the bride and her friends can spend a weekend relieving stress by working out and getting pampered.

Sure, you could just do a crazy girls' night out, and while the tequila shots and appletinis will probably make you forget about your stress while you're there, they won't do much for you in the long run. Check out the gallery to see what kinds of cool things the Gaylord Palms Boot Camp for Brides offers.

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From pull-ups, to sit-ups, to heaving tractor tires end over end, this is a fitness routine for the really dedicated. CrossFit was originally designed as a workout military, police, champion martial artists and others who required serious strength conditioning. The program is moving into gyms and is available for the average Joe now.

There are no shiny, fancy machines required for this workout. All that's needed is a mat for floor exercise, a climbing rope, jump ropes, various weights, and a few other key ingredients. The workouts are short -- only 10 to 20 minutes -- but they're intense. There's no rest between exercises, it's move-move-move from station to station. You'll work your abs, arms, shoulders, legs, glutes... basically you'll work everything! Even though it's an "elite" fitness program, anyone can join. The instructor will assess your fitness level and determine the exercises that are best for you. Prepare to be challenged -- and be all that you can be!

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A boot camp for troubled teens is being investigated by the FBI after the death of a student happened this past week.

The boot camp for teens in Missouri comes under scrutiny as thousands of allegations of abuse and neglect continue to crop up around the country in relation to designations for troubled teenagers.

In this case, a fifteen year-old diet in 2004 after two weeks at the Missouri camp, but investigators determined that he had been ill for some time -- in addition to being punished for being too weak to exercise -- although a spider bit was give as the official cause of death.

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Eva Longoria looks great to begin with, but I guess every bride wants to look her absolute best on her wedding day, so she turned to Hollywood trainer Patrick Murphy to sculpt her body to perfection before becoming Mrs. Tony Parker recently.

If you're planning a wedding (or just want to get ultra-fit) and want to know what workouts Eva did to look her best, you're in luck -- 'Access Hollywood' has the scoop on Eva's bridal boot camp workout. The secret? Super sets -- meaning she upped the reps to 20 per set. To see the workout, click here.

What did you do to get ready for your big day?

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Are you looking for a boot camp-style workout but prefer to exercise on your own? (Or maybe you don't want to pay high class fees!) FitList has a do-it-yourself boot camp that's strenuous enough to whip you into shape in a hurry. All you need are some hills, a bike, some weights, and a body of water to swim in.

Don't cross this workout off your list just because your city lacks hills. Instead, bike to a tall building and run the staircases or hop on your treadmill and increase the incline. And if your community doesn't have a public pool, consider riding your bike to the beach instead. With a little creativity, you can create your own boot camp workout to add to your weekly fitness routine.

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If you are in the Portland, Oregon area, are you ready to have someone hold you accountable for getting your healthy lifestyle and swimsuit appearance in gear for this summer? If so, you may want to check out "Recess Boot Camp 2007" starting on April 14.

This innovative program offers a two-month, intensive swimsuit-weather preparation course that focuses on making you healthy from the inside out. Excellent! The details include all this:

3 meetings a week to include:

• a killer workout with a certified personal trainer
• nutrition classes with a registered dietitian
• "healthy mystery meat" - a weekly fitness grab bag to keep you guessing and excited about staying fit.

And more -- check it out!

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Sometimes when I'm driving to work really early (or even coming home from a really late night out), I see this group of crazy people down by the river. Doing push ups. At 5:30am! Insanity is the only reasonable explanation. Or maybe: Weightloss?

You've probably heard of this Boot Camp phenomenon. It's been around a few years and is based on the premise that if strict, intense military-style training can work for soldiers, it can work for you too. It started as a fitness thing, but this boot camp mentality has crossed over into many mediums. There's dog boot camp, baby boot camp, you name it. But back to the fitness thing. Doing regimented drills under the watchful eye of a 'Sargent' seems like a cruel and unusual punishment for eating too many Twinkies. It's like a cliched fat camp in a comedy movie. People probably pay a lot of money to be yelled at -- do they like it? Do they hate it? I've never taken a class so I don't know. Have you tried it?

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Fitness boot camps are popping up everywhere, one even started recently over the lunch hour where I work. But before you let visions of impossible obstacle courses, camouflage uniforms, and a screaming sergeant turn you off to the idea, you might want to find out what they're really about.

A boot camp is really just a fitness class that takes place outside and is programmed to last a period of weeks. A sort of jumpstart to healthy living and a good workout plan. There are all kinds of variations, but most boot camps are geared towards women, last for 1 hour/5 days a week for around 8 weeks, and take place outdoors during warmer weather. And although you should consult with your doctor before enrolling, you don't have to worry about being in awesome shape when you first get started (hopefully that's the end result!). Plus, since the boot camp will have a qualified instructor you're actually getting the benefits of a personal trainer for a much cheaper price, usually only $15 to $18 per class.

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Huh ... ? According to this article, gyms are broadening their horizons and offering downright wacky ways to get fit. Pogo Cardio? Karaoke Spin? I thought my gym was innovative for having kickboxing and bootcamp classes. Stiletto strength sounds interesting, though seeing as avoid wearing heals outside of the gym, I'm not all that interested in donning them inside it. I wouldn't mind breaking out the old pogo stick though -- I remember having fun on it back in the day.

I'm curious to know -- have you tried any crazy workouts?

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