Rewind: Fit's Best of 2009

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IT'S BEEN A big year for health care — for Fit readers, anyway. Each week, we've been aiming to give you the best advice on how to slim down, power up and avoid the doctor's office. From Jackie Warner's secret for an amazing tush to the piece of exercise equipment hiding in your house, here are 10 of our favorite tips.

1) Get Physical
Just like you schedule an annual appointment with your doc, Jennifer Gamboa, owner of Arlington's Body Dynamics, wants you to save the date for a yearly "fitness physical," a battery of tests checking posture, strength, flexibility, cardio capacity, agility, balance and more. At the end, your prescription is an exercise program that addresses your weaknesses, so you can hit the gym with a purpose.

2) Jump Start
Flying is so hot in fitness right now. But if lessons at the new trapeze school don't jibe with your fear of heights, you can still catch some air while staying closer to the ground with Kangoo Jumps, bouncy shoes with curved bottoms that constantly activate your core. The footwear's the centerpiece of a class offered at some area Gold's Gym locations. And although it looks a bit silly — OK, a lot silly — all that hopping makes for a serious workout.

3) Jackie Squat
Wearing those teeny silver shorts, you'd think celeb trainer Jackie Warner is confident in every part of her body. Butt there's a problem. "So, I hire a trainer for an hour two times a week to work my butt," she told us. If you hired her, she'd set you up for failure — muscle failure, that is — by doubling up on exercises that work the same body parts (think chest presses plus push-ups and leg presses plus jumping squats).

4) Prez Play
Obama likes basketball. Yawn. President Hoover invented his own sport! Play the fast-paced game of catch over a volleyball net with a medicine ball in Baltimore's Patterson Park (e-mail Baltimorehooverball-subscribe@yahoogroups.com).

5) Bow Wow
Everyone knows the best motivation for exercise is a buddy who's counting on you. And when that buddy can put on a puppydog face because he is, in fact, a furry puppy, there's no way you can say no. That's the genius of the Washington Humane Society's PACK program, which organizes outings for volunteers to walk or jog with its shelter dogs. The exercise keeps their tails wagging, so they're more likely to get adopted — and when they bark out orders, humans can't help but obey.

6) Split Ends
Marathoning has boomed in popularity over the past few years, but the latest trend in the road race world is not going the distance — at least, not by yourself. Several area races are starting to offer a relay option, which is awesome news for 5Kers who want to take part in the events without bumping up their training and for people who'd rather run as a team sport than solo. Next up: Three-person teams are eligible for the National Half Marathon.

7) Hall of Fame
She didn't snag the title on "Top Chef," but local caterer/contestant Carla Hall won over Washington's heart. And cardiologists should be happy about that, because her specialty is developing ways of making comfort food lighter, including swapping turkey for pork in greens and using silken tofu in her tiramisu.

8) Case for Stairs
Want to take your workout to the next level? Try stepping it up. Steve Kostorowski at Water Street Gym uses those "Exorcist" stairs in Georgetown for a quick heart rate-raiser by having clients climb through a series of drills: skip every other step, go sideways, perform lunges, hop up. Elevation's helpful for strength training, too. Try push-ups with hands on a step if you're a beginner, or with feet on a step for more of a challenge. Or sit on the bottom step to do tricep dips.

9) Home Plate
The lineup at Nationals Park looked pretty good to Lisa Lillien, better known as Hungry Girl. That's because she was ignoring the players and focusing on the food instead. What got the HG thumbs up? Ben's Chili Bowl's signature veggie (just 260 calories!) and Krazee Ice's menu of 10 sugar-free flavors.

10) Heels Healer
Most podiatrists shun heels, but Emily Spichal (aka "Dr. Legs") isn't most podiatrists. Her four-inch-high habit wouldn't be possible, however, without the techniques she taught at her Catwalk Confidence workshops at Washington Sports Clubs this summer. Remember the critical posture: balanced on one slightly bent leg with shoulders back, opening the chest. She also recommends a daily dose of walking on golf balls to treat feet.

Photos by Lawrence Luk for Express; James Thresher/The Washington Post