Since I'm far more likely to be the target, than to hit a target, I'm not too crazy about dodgeball [1].

Actually, I just assumed that one of the primary reasons to complete the 8th grade is so that you never ever have to play dodgeball again.

I seem to have missed a beat here though because a trendy New York gym recently revamped dodgeball into a hot new workout. And they're just tapping into a phenomenon that appears to the midst of a genuine revival [2].

Crunch Fitness [3] (pioneers of the high heel workout [3]) recently started offering a Dodgeball 101 [4] class, where -- if I have this straight -- people actually spend time and money to scurry around and avoid getting smacked in the head by a ball.

To be fair, I haven't tried this workout. Those who have, like the folks over at FitSugar [5], say that it's a lot of fun. They give it a thumbs' up because it provides a "great cardio workout from all that running around, ducking, and throwing balls." Plus, they say it's a great way to relieve stress.

Ah yes, I guess it is much less stressful when you aren't in the line of fire. It seems that their experience of this game involves something greater than rubbing an injured body part, and saying, "Ow! That really hurt!"

Okay, I'll quit joking around. The truth is, I can't remember a single traumatic episode from a P.E. dodgeball game. [5] I've probably just I've blocked it from my memory. But I suppose, technically, there is a chance -- a very, very slim chance -- that I enjoyed the dodgeball games of my youth.

As for a workout designed around the game, I'm sure that it's popular and effective for one simple reason: It encourages people to laugh and have a blast as they work up a sweat. Or as the people at FitSugar put it: "Since you are playing a game you forget that you are working out."

Having fun, I'm starting to figure out, is the key to fitness [5]. If I look at it from that perspective, I'm wildly supportive of dodgeball, even if it's not the torture sport for me.

To prove it, I just added the 2004 comedy, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story [6] to my Netflix [7]queue. I'm fairly sure that this the only way I'll ever enjoy dodgeball without cowering in terror.

Image from FitSugar [8]