It might be an activity that's done more for fun than fitness, but make no mistake -- hula hooping can be quite a workout. In fact, as CafeMom recently posted, it can even be used to help you slim down.

You can tone your tummy with a Hoopilates class or pick up a hooping DVD that will show you the ins and outs of getting fit with the hula hoop. Make sure you're using a weighted one for an extra challenge, and check out these easy moves that can get you started. Keep in mind that you don't always have to use your hula hoop in the traditional manner -- it can be used to tone all your muscles, not just the abs.

So it's no wonder Hula Hooping is catching on all over the place -- even Michelle Obama is doing it!

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.

If you find yourself shopping in New York City on a Saturday between tomorrow and June 13, you may want to take a break from the stacks of summer goodies on the shelves and head over to Kate Spade's 5th Avenue store. The designer, inspired by a retro hula theme, is offering free hula hoop lessons from 3 p.m to 5 p.m., weather permitting. There will be hooping professional to teach you some moves, and plenty of hula hoops on hand -- of course you can bring your own, too.

Is this a ploy to just get people into the store? Yes, for sure. Will you walk away a hula hoop master? Probably not. But you might just be inspired enough to pick up your own hoop at home and use it to have some fun and tone your waistline all summer long. Spinning a hula hoop around your middle can burn more than 150 calories per hour.

And, if a few minutes of hooping outside a store sounds like child's play, try a hooping class at a gym near you for a more serious workout.

My daughter is hula hooping all over the house. Even with her personal instruction, I'm having no luck swiveling the hoop. She makes it look easy, and I'm getting a tad annoyed because she's only four. It's momma hula Google research time.

Turns out my hula deficit may have nothing to do with pathetic dance club moves, it's probably the size of the hoop. Unless you're sassy special, you'll fall flat on your face if you try hooping with a child-sized hoop. Hooping.org shares two big secrets for hooper-wannabes:

• Find a big enough hoop -- when standing with the hoop in front of you, the right hoop will fall between tummy and nipples.
  
• Put one foot in front of the other and shift your weight -- do not try to swivel your hips in a circle like the hoop.

I've got a new fitness goal for 2009. Find a big enough hoop, (here's how to make one) then practice, practice, practice in hopes of hooping away to the above hula video featuring the exotic Boys Noize remix of Feist's My Man My Moon. Ooh, lovin' it -- a sexy, calorie-burnin' core work out. Jacki has shared hooping burns 400 calories an hour, not bad.

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Break out your hula-hoop. You'll need it for exercise class. Well, a modified hula-hoop is what you'll need really, one that's larger and heavier and requires a lot more dexterity than your typical childhood hoop.

In "hooping" classes set to music, exercisers learn lots of moves, work lots of muscles, and get a whole-body fitness experience – all while burning about 400 calories per hour. Check your area for hooping studios and classes. And visit Hoopnotica for instructional DVDs, hoops, and more.

If hula-hoops aren't your thing but you need a little fitness variety, give "suspension" a try. Designed by former Navy SEALs, it's a total body resistance program that uses heavy-duty nylon webbing attached to wall brackets. Users do traditional exercises but get increased resistance. Ask your personal trainer about TRX (Total-body Resistance Exercise) or look for these three letters at health-club chains.

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Although hula hoops are most commonly thought of as a little girls game they're becoming more and more popular as a means of fun fitness for adults. I think adults hula hooping is fine and dandy, but this Hula Chair just makes me laugh. I guess it goes along with our increasingly sedentary lifestyles that we'd want to hula while sitting down! I honestly have no idea if this gadget has any health benefits or not because I couldn't stop laughing long enough to find out. But I do know laughing is good for you, so if nothing else check out this video of the Hula Chair and get your dose of laughs in for the day.

Seriously!?


Via Shiny Shiny

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I'm all about trying new things when it comes to getting in shape -- I think it's a combination of fighting boredom, and secretly hoping that whatever outrageous "too good to be true" claims they're making will actually happen for me. Today many gyms are offering all kinds of fun sounding "novelty" fitness classes where you can do things like hula hoop or striptease your way to a better body, and most of them sound like a lot of fun.

But how can you tell if that flashy class can really help you, or if it's just a gimmick the gym came up with to make money? iVillage.com came up with these 4 tips on how to tell if you're getting any real benefit, which include things like taking an honest look at how hard you're working physically and for how long. If you're really serious about working out then a fun class is a great way to do it -- but you have to be honest with yourself and choose one that's worth something.

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"Candace from the whirlyGirlz will be doing a hooping circle," said the executive director of the children's non-profit whose board I sit on. It barely registered, was it sewing hoops or hula? I didn't even know.

Cut to six weeks later, and I'm in the middle of a park, surrounded by hundreds-year-old trees, a variety of adventurous types ages one to sixty, and piles of wildly-colored hoops. And we're suddenly hooping.

Gone are the Hawaiian roots of the hula hoop, and replacing them is a mystical part-Nia, part-power of positive thinking, part-50s zaniness amalgam that emphasizes staying in tune with your body and bringing it. According to Candace's web site, hooping benefits your body through "core isolation, meditative flow, and intrinsic massage in the organs and tissue of the muscles." Basic hooping classes teach how to move the hoop around various parts of your body (the waist, it is just the beginning), how to move with your hoop, and how to interact as part of a hooping circle. For the more advanced, the logical next step is hooping performance and hoop jams.

Hooping is surprisingly easy; by the end of a 45-minute session, even the clunkiest among us had gotten the hoop to spin around us and managed to find at least one hooping specialty to call our own. To find a class in your own neighborhood (San Francisco, LA, Portland, Vancouver and New York are all hooping hotspots), check out Hooping.org magazine.