EQUIPMENT

ACTIVLIFE TENSION BAND

You can use the band to stretch out your shoulders and chest – ideal if you are hunched over a desk all day. You can also use it a bit like weights to tone up, and in Pilates exercises to add difficulty. The band’s resistance was not as good as more expensive bands I’ve used, but having used this one, I now think: why pay more?

ACTIVLIFE 0.5KG HAND WEIGHTS

These rubber weights come in black and pink, and are good for beginners to work on their upper body. They felt comfortable and secure in my hands.

ACTIVLIFE SKIPPING ROPE

I didn’t get off to a great start as one of the foam grips fell off as soon as I opened the packet, but I managed to fix it back on. The rope also has a jump counter in the handle – a motorised device a bit like a car’s mileage counter, that shows how many skips you’ve done – but unfortunately mine didn’t work.

Skipping is a good high-impact exercise (you can burn up to 200 calories during a 15-minute session) so it’s a brilliant way to warm up before a run.

PEDOMETER

I put the pedometer on at lunchtime and by 4.15pm it showed I’d walked more than 2,500 steps. This is a good gadget that can be used by people of all ages to get them to think about how much they are walking. I’m going to use this an incentive for my eightyear-old son Devon to walk to school.