Ok so I am going to let you in on some of my secrets: I am an ‘incidental exercise’ fanatic, and I am a fan of incorporating small, short but effective exercises into as many parts of the day as possible. These types of simple and quick exercises can seriously add up throughout the day to form an overall workout. My friends and family have long ago gave up frowning and giving me ‘crazy person’ looks!

Let me give some examples…

1. Rather than staring at yourself mindlessly in the mirror whilst brushing your teeth, start doing 10 rear or side leg raises whilst bracing your core. You can also do 10 oblique side bends on each side whilst washing your hands each time you go to the bathroom. (Almost kicked my friend Tiff when we stayed in Macau together. Sorry girl!)

2. When you wake up in the morning, roll onto your stomach and do 2 sets of 50 back extensions, then onto your back again for some short sets of ‘bicycle’ crunches.

3. Buy yourself a couple of cheap 10lb dumbbells, and while watching your favourite TV program or movie at home start doing a few front and side lateral raises to slowly but surely tone your shoulders.

4. Take the stairs once a day, as opposed to the escalator.

5. Get off one or two stops before your usual bus or subway stop to increase walking.

The half to one minute it takes to do some leg raises or back extensions is over in an instant – after 3 months, you will have formed solid habits which will gradually build and tone muscle and reduce fat in those hard to reach areas!