Fake Stripping, Hoops Can Improve Fitness

If you want to lose a few pounds while laughing, you may need to forget about taking a jog or running on the treadmill.

Three unusual types of exercises can help you smile while on a journey to a thinner physique.

Tricia Murphy, founder of Urban Striptease, said time flies during a striptease workout, for instance.

"Sometimes when you take a cycling or step aerobics class, you find yourself looking at the clock," she said. "You will not look at the clock with strip aerobics."

The workout burns about 300 calories on average, she said.

"You will have a great physique," Murphy said. "Your abs will be strong and your bottom will be lifted."

Murphy is an American Council on Exercise and Aerobics and Fitness Association of America certified aerobic instructor who has taught fitness since 1994. She said striptease is a great workout, but that it should be part of a person's complete workout plan, which should include aerobics or weight lifting.

Workouts range from light to strenuous. A striptease aerobics workout is considered moderate.

According to Medicinenet.com,, an hour of moderate activities such as walking and cycling will burn about 460 calories for a man and 370 for a woman, while very strenuous activity such as running will burn 920 calories for a man and 740 calories for a woman.

Clothes On Or Off?

Your clothing remains on during a striptease aerobics workout.

"It is great cross training," she said. "Your body wants to be challenged in a different way each time you go to the gym."

Murphy said a striptease aerobics workout three times a week helps women shed a pound or two a month, but it also depends on how much energy is exerted.

Additionally, the exercise is great for women's mental health, because they are having fun, smiling, laughing, feeling confident and sexy and getting in shape all at the same time, Murphy said.

Skinny On Striptease Aerobics

Striptease aerobics is a fairly new workout routine. Murphy said it was introduced in 2002 by Jeff Costas in Los Angeles at a gym called Crunch.

Carmen Electra, who was enrolled in the class, soon launched a striptease aerobics DVD, which serves as great marketing for striptease aerobics classes across the country, Murphy said.

Electra has recently released "Vegas Strip" and "In The Bedroom."

Utilizing such DVDs allows for workouts at home, but there are hundreds of striptease aerobics instructors across the country and the class is offered in many communities. Check your local gym or search for classes online.

Hoop Pounds Off

Hooping is another exercise that is fun and exciting. It is also likely to remind many of their childhood. It is a tad bit different than the days of standing in your back yard playing with a Hula Hoop, however.

Diana Lopez's company, Body Hoops, provides hoops and instructional DVDs with adults in mind. The hoops are weighted so that they can stay up on the hips, because many adults face difficulties keeping a children's hoop up.

"Hooping can burn up to 100 calories per 10 minutes," she said. "But it really depends on how much energy you put into it. You have to challenge yourself."

Lopez added that hooping is great to strengthen a person's core -- the abs and back. Starting out, you may not be able to go for 50 minutes, but starting at 10 minutes and working your way up is a good strategy. It is also good as a supplemental workout.

"It's fun," she said. "It makes you smile and feel like a child again."

Lopez's "Hoop Dance Fusion" video lasts about 50 minutes and includes a total body workout using the hoop.

Jumping Your Way To Fitness

Another fun exercise that will take you back to the days when you had unlimited energy is jumping rope.

Some may choose to simply jump a regular rope, but this form of exercise has several tools to help make it even more fun while burning even more calories.

Martin Winkler founded a company that sets out to do just that. RopeSport offers jump ropes, CDs and instructional DVDs that help participants burn up to 1,000 calories an hour.

"You'll be having so much fun that you'll get in incredible shape without even knowing it," Winkler said.

Winkler said jumping rope is great because it tones muscles in the entire body while optimizing cardiovascular conditioning and endurance.

"While jumping rope does wonders for your lower body, the constant turning motion of the rope is fantastic for your upper body also," he said. "The fat burning potential is phenomenal -- up to 1,000 calories an hour."

Winkler said jumping rope looks cool and is easy to learn.

"You can jump to any style of music, and I often tell students that you're just dancing with the rope," Winkler said.

Whether an exercise regimen is already in place or not, striptease aerobics, hooping and jumping rope are exercises that can help burn calories and shed pounds while having fun.