ANN FOTHERINGHAM

AN early contender for Woman of the Year has to be Serena Williams, surely? The tennis champion won her gazillionth singles title while she was eight weeks pregnant, a time when most women are fighting the urge to vomit/sleep/cry/panic/eat weird stuff – or all of the above. (Or was that just me?) PREGNANCY IS NOT AN ILLNESS. I’ll just get that out there, before outraged readers write in to tell me exercise is a good thing and is not dangerous for the baby and it is good to keep active for as long as it’s comfortable to do so, blah blah.

But we’re not talking gentle strolls round the park here.

Serena won the Australian Open, for pity’s sake (and she didn’t drop a single set on her way to the trophy, by the way).

I doubt Serena will be ever first in line, therefore, for a new ‘fitness’ class launched by David Lloyd Clubs this week.

On the back of ‘revelations’ that 86 per cent of parents admit to suffering from fatigue (no, really?), and one in four of us admit to getting less than five hours sleep a night, the company has launched Napercise, which encourages exhausted participants to sleep for 45 minutes.

Yes – instead of spin bikes in the gym, there are single beds; instead of pumping workout tunes, drift off to ‘atmospheric sounds’; and the temperature is dropped to a level that promotes calorie burning during sleep. It’s a win-win.

The promotional video is hilarious – synchronised pulling-back-of-duvets AND step into bed AND eye-mask on AND…sleep.

Don’t get me wrong, there was a time when my children were very young and operating an evil shift system designed to ensure at least one of them was awake at all times, that I would have actually considered this.

The thought of being able to lie down, shut my eyes and sleep for 45 glorious uninterrupted minutes would have made me weep. But on closer inspection, can this really work? Is it really possible to snuggle down in a room full of a strangers, snoring (or worse) beside you? I’d be really nervous I’d talk in my sleep (or worse) or fall out of the bed. Imagine how embarrassing that would be.

It seems we must do something, however, to combat the tiredness epidemic that is sweeping the nation.

The survey reveals some fascinating additional statistics - for example, that 11 per cent of people have found themselves drifting off behind the wheel while driving (oh well, we’ve all done that) and 19 per cent admit to having a kip at work. (I have NEVER done that.)

There is some science behind it – the ‘classes’ are effectively power-naps, which have been shown in the past to have health benefits, including boosting alertness, alleviating feelings of anxiety or stress, and improving your mood.

As Kathryn Pinkham, Dreams Sleep Expert and founder of the Insomnia Clinic, points out for this study, we tend to focus on the short-term effects of a lack of sleep, without realising it can have an impact on our long term physical and mental wellbeing, too.

Preaching to the converted, Kathryn. I’m all in favour of more naps. I’m just not sure I want to go to the gym to do it.