Ysaac Kaplan, aka ''Professor Fit,'' issued an enticing challenge when he read a previous Sweat Equity column on an abdominals class: ''We have an abs class that attracts teenagers from all of the surrounding schools,'' said Kaplan, a fitness instructor at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center in North Miami Beach. ``This is only a 15-minute class and you should see how these teenagers flock in. I've never seen so many kids gather together to do exercise without their parents making them go.''

OK, I admit, I'm a few years north of my teenage prime. But with a spirit locked on the edge of 17, I took Kaplan up on his offer.

You gather in a gym with 50 or so non-stop-moving teens and a couple of adults for Kaplan's Power Abs class. The abs class is just 15 minutes, but Kaplan adds back-to-back weight-lifting and Pilates classes of 15-minutes apiece so you get a 45-minute workout with no boring downtime.

''These kids know what it is to be healthy and fit,'' Kaplan said. ``Socially, they forget they are working out.''

And it's not just kids.

Dr. Bernard Weinbach, 54, an Aventura internist, says he comes here ``just to be physically fit and reduce stress.''

Given our rough economic times, that's a good prescription. And he's probably the one who likes the Beatles oldies Kaplan plays during Pilates.

POWER ABS ***½

To borrow a line from a Cat Stevens' ditty, remember the days of the old schoolyard? That's a bit what Ysaac Kaplan's Power Abs/weights/Pilates classes are like.

Clad in PE garb, the teens crack jokes while executing moves called out by the instructor.

''I'm trying to get a six-pack,'' says Aaron Sommer, 15, a ninth-grader at Michael M. Krop Senior High School in North Miami-Dade.

Kaplan's Power Abs class could get you there. Of the three classes, this one's the most intense. It focuses narrowly on the stomach muscles and those little crunches -- with legs up, down, sideways, you name it -- burn.

The weights portion wasn't quite as taxing given that we used three-pound dumbbells just for the upper body. The class, though, concluded with a smart closing round of modified Pilates for the lower body, the hips and legs. ''You need these in sports,'' Kaplan counseled.

FUN FACTOR

''I'm doing it because I want to -- I love it!'' said Danielle Sutton, 17, a senior at Krop and athletic enthusiast who likes dance, soccer and flag football.

The mood is upbeat. Kaplan's like one of the kids and they aren't afraid to voice their opinions when the music isn't to their liking.

''You should put some booty music on!'' yelled one when Kaplan cued up The Beatles.

''I don't look like I'm 80,'' another chortled.

I'm a Loser rang out from the stereo but it wasn't an apt description of the class -- except for the tantalizing prospect of a little lost weight around the midsection.

TO DO IT

Where: Michael-Ann Russell JCC, 18900 NE 25th Ave., North Miami Beach; 305-932-4200.

When: 6:15 p.m. Monday and Wednesday.

Cost: $5 or free for members.

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