I highly recommend this Book and DVD combo as an excellent value (under $10 on www.amazon.com) and for its full color, fully illustrated depiction of over 50 exercise and a 50 minute instructional DVD.

Imagine an exercise that works every major and minor muscle group, burns 600 calories an hour, builds balance and flexibility, requires no investment beyond $25 to $35, and makes you feel exuberant, delightful, confident and playful.

And is so much more like play than work that you want to keep doing it.

That's right, what goes around comes around-the Hula-Hoop, which burst into fad-dom fifty years ago, is hot all over again, but this time for enormously beneficial reasons.

Christabel Zamor, credited with reviving the Hula-Hoop with her HoopGirl Workout, is leading what Time magazine calls "the inventive new wave of fitness...that is catching on in health clubs across America."

Hooping- the Book and DVD combo- brings the best of HoopGirl into a full-color, fully illustrated book plus a 50-minute instructional DVD.

Here's how to get started-where to find and how to use the larger, heavier "sticky" hoops; stretches and warm-ups; and what to wear.

And then more than 50 step-by-step exercises that focus on the core (abs, back, butt), upper body, lower body, and overall well-being.

The exercises are as fun as they sound-Limbo, Booty Blitz, Float Up, Wildwest-and each group comes with a recommended playlist of music, plus "challenges" for going further.

Hooping is transformational, a revolutionary program of 50 exciting moves that make you feel fit, centered, healthy and like a child again.

Hooping works every muscle group, improves flexibility and coordination, boosts energy levels, and builds strength, agility and endurance.

Explained in detail and illustrated with step-by-step full-color photographs, these moves combine the sheer joy of childhood play with results you can see and feel.

Practice them individually, then weave them into hoopdancing routines.

It's not just fitness, but metamorphosis, creating a renewed you, with a strong core, joyful attitude, and a glow of self-confidence.

Hoopnotica is a California based company (www.hoopnotica.com) that provides hula hoops and instructional DVDs.

They have created the Hoopnotic TravelHoop which is the first of its kind; a segmented hoop that can be easily made smaller to fit a petite adult, is as beautiful as many full-size hoops, and stores easily for travel (as compact as a yoga mat).

As an added bonus, the patent-pending TravelHoop has a special tape that provides the extra grip necessary for beginners.

Hoopnotica also has three instructional DVDs available.

The other Hula Hoop and DVD instructional kit that I recommend is the Marisa Tomei HoopBody Hoop and DVD Kit from Gaiam. It is available at
http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/Marisa-Hoops.html

The kit includes a 40" full-sized hoop that collapses down to ¼ of its size, an instructional segment, plus 3 energizing DVD workouts that everyone can do regardless of age, size or experience.