It’s amazing how so many games we played as kids, seem to be making a comeback in our quest to find fun exercises, that keep us committed enough to stick with our adult fitness programs. Just last week, my fitness bootcamp, here in Houston, played a few rounds of freeze tag last week. While we were having funning, we were giving new (well, not so new) meaning to the term "interval training."

Well, I saw a post on twitter, earlier this week, informing the citizens of Twitterville that today, 08/08/08 is not only the first day of the 2008 Olympic games. Today is also "World Hula Hoop Day!" Now, some of you may be saying, "Sincere, I have not hula hooped since I was a kid." Maybe, you’ve never hula hooped at all. However, who says you can’t start today?

You may not realize how this round band of fun, can help in burning calories, by defining your mid-section and using the muscles in the abdominals, hips, and waistline. In fact, by utilizing your core, while spinning the hula hoop around, the use of your trunk area helps improve your posture. The hula hoop also helps with coordination. On the cardio side of things, spend a few 1 minute rounds of hula hooping, and your heart rate will definitely start racing.

You can grab a hula hoop at any toy store. They are very inexpensive. As a matter of fact, a hula hoop only costs a  couple of bucks. Now, that is more economical than some silly late night informercial ab product that you will probably never use. Plus, I think hula hooping is a lot more fun, than lying inside some medieval-looking contraption, on the floor, doing endless crunches.

So, do me a favor, grab some friends, your kids, the neighbor’s kids, and spend some time hula hooping today, or any day. add this fun past time to your fitness program. as I always tell you all here, fitness should be fun. It’s time for the "workout" to stop feeling like "work."

When was the last time you hula hooped? Share you hula hooping experience in the comments section.

p.s. Visit the World Hula Hoop Day website. This organization is using the hula hoop to help less fortunate children. Find out more at http://www.worldhoopday.com