PELVIC FLOOR TRAINER

I feel a little silly standing in the bathroom trying to control a gemstone on my phone screen by squeezing my vaginal muscles. I’m testing the Elvie Trainer, which claims to help strengthen the pelvic floor by ‘gamifying’ pelvic floor exercises. Medical advice suggests that pelvic floor exercises, also known as Kegels, can be helpful in preventing incontinence due to ageing or childbirth.

The Elvie is discreet, pebble-shaped, and completely unintimidating. You simply pop it in, then sync it with the accompanying app via Bluetooth. The app uses real-time feedback to visualise your muscles as a gemstone icon on your phone screen. You then get led through exercises, across different levels, to give you a five-minute workout. For example, in one exercise you pulse your muscles to ‘jump’ the icon into targets, while in another you squeeze to hold the gemstone in a circle. £169, elvie.com