It's been a big year for Google, which released its first Fitbit in years and then the latest Pixel Watch within just months of each other, leading to natural comparisons between the Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5.

Anyone who looks at these devices can see one big difference (two if you look at the price tags), but after testing them both for a few weeks, I learnt these potentially had more in common than just being on my list of the best Fitbits.

I put both the Fitbit Air and Google Pixel Watch 5 through their paces, doing my usual 8,000 steps a day, multiple running and strength workouts, nights of sleep, and daily movement.

Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5

Specifications

Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5: A quick overview

The key difference between the Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5 is purpose. One (Fitbit Air) is a genuinely reasonably priced fitness tracker, designed to sit and work discreetly on your wrist while you go about daily life. It'll record your steps, workouts, sleep, and stress all in the background. It's less advanced than the Google Pixel Watch 5, but it's also a third of the price.

The other (Google's Pixel Watch 5) is a premium smartwatch. It's designed to be your left-hand woman throughout the day, and it's designed to provide advanced insights into your wellbeing, from exercise to heart health.

That said, those insights are very, very similar, as they both use the Google Health app. They are especially similar if you sign up for the Premium version of the Google Health app at an additional cost of £7.99 per month (or £79.99 per year). Read on to find out just how similar, and how to choose between the Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5 for your next upgrade.

Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5: What are they like to wear?

The most obvious difference between these two devices is the design. The Fitbit Air is a lightweight, screenless band with a stainless steel buckle. The sensor sits over the wrist, tucked under the nylon band, which is secured with Velcro. The Pixel Watch 5 is undoubtedly more premium, with a domed full-colour screen housed in aluminium with a comfortable silicone strap.

During testing, I noticed that the Google Pixel Watch 5 was more comfortable to wear. While the Fitbit Air is more discreet and can sit next to a small, regular timepiece, looking like a sporty bracelet, it is a little bulkier than I was expecting, and the Pixel Watch doesn't have the same rough-feeling material against the skin.

The Google Pixel Watch 5 has a raised face, but it also sits flush against the wrist, more so than other smartwatches I've tested, so I found it barely noticeable during the day or while I was on my walk. The screen has a default always-on mode, but you can turn this off, so it only comes to life when you purposefully raise your wrist.

That being said, you can wear the Fitbit Air on other parts of the body - such as around the ankle or arm - and you can't do this with the Pixel Watch. It would be inconvenient at best and impossible for most.

Winner: Google Pixel Watch 5 is more comfortable, but it depends on your preference

Fitness tracking on the Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5

If your main goal in buying one of these devices is to improve your fitness, the Fitbit Air is a great choice at under £100, saving you money you can spend on signing up for the Premium version of the Google Health app.

It does all the basics you can expect from even the cheapest Fitbit (like recording workouts, step count, calorie burn, heart rate, and sleep data) so excellently that it knocks basically any other Fitbit out of the water. Instead of viewing these insights on your watch, you see them in the Google Health app, where you'll get a Gemini-created rundown of your day and activities, highlighting wins and areas to improve. You can also create workouts or take suggestions from a pre-made plan based on your fitness goals, and send those workouts to your watch to follow.

It automatically picked up my walking workouts, too, so didn't have to take my phone out to get going. It truly works alongside you. I was so impressed during testing. I could leave the Fitbit Air on my wrist to tick along throughout the day, and on some days, the only times I opened the app were in the morning and at night. But there all my data was, ready to dive into, with full insights available. It's a hands-off, refreshing way to incorporate health insights into daily life.

All this is true, unless you're a runner or want to see your step count on your wrist as you walk (it updates as you go in the app). Then the Fitbit Air lacks one basic feature: a screen. This isn't a running watch, but the Google Pixel Watch 5 could be. It has all the same fitness-tracking features as above, but you can also see the details on your wrist. This is pretty essential if you're doing a workout where you need to see your distance, pace, and how long you've been moving. Of course, if you're a casual jogger, you may be able to go without this.

Winner: Fitbit Air - unless you want a watch for running workouts

Sleep and health insights on the Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5

The Pixel Watch 5 is packed with new health features, including a Blood Pressure Trend report, insulin monitoring, and a Sleep Disturbances report. It's as much an independent health monitor as a smartwatch and fitness tracker, comparing your everyday vitals to your baseline and flagging any potential issues.

Many of these aren't available on the Fitbit Air, but some are supported, such as the Blood Pressure Trend reports. It's not a blood pressure reading, but rather insights from an algorithm that compares your data with insights from half a million users and 60 billion hours of heart rate data, so it seems very accurate, and it can flag if your blood pressure is starting to trend upwards.

Insulin Resistance Trend can also be found on both the Fitbit Air and the Google Pixel Watch 5. It's designed as an early detection tool, a non-invasive way to track whether your metabolic health is ticking along normally, using insights from your sleep, fitness, and manually-added nutrition data.

And naturally, as you're not looking at the screen of your Google Pixel Watch 5 while you're asleep, the fact that all the data is in the app makes no difference, whatever device you're using. It's also almost the same data, including sleep stages, duration, and AI insights into the quality of this sleep, but it doesn't have the Sleep Disturbances report, which is exclusive to the Google Pixel Watch 5, for now.

So the Google Pixel Watch 5 has the edge here, but for how much longer, as Google has provided Fitbit Air users with the same sleep data and similar health metrics?

Winner: Google Pixel Watch 5

Smartwatch features on the Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5

The Google Pixel Watch 5 is a smartwatch, so it's the better option for Android users looking for a digital assistant to help as much at home and in the office as in the gym. The Fitbit Air doesn't have a screen, so it lacks basically all smartwatch functionality.

The Google Pixel Watch 5 is maxed out with Google connectivity. You can pay for a coffee with Google Pay, check out your calendar for the week, set a timer, use your camera remotely, make phone calls, return texts, and so much. Thanks to the improved integration with Gemini, you can also do most of these without touching a single button.

Proactive Suggestions takes into account key information like location, calendar, and messages to display what you actually need. For example, when I was testing the watch, I went to get on a train. My ticket popped up from the app so I could tap through the gate without getting my phone out.

Gesture-led actions came about on the Pixel Watch 3 but they are new and improved for the 5. You can pinch your fingers together to start and stop workouts, answer phone calls and text, and more.

Winner: Google Pixel Watch 5

Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5: Battery life

The Fitbit Air can last for seven full days and nights on a single charge. The Pixel Watch 5 lasts just 30 hours (on the 41mm option), which is a huge difference. Undoubtedly, the screen and smartwatch features are to blame for the difference, but it seems to be a persistent problem with smartwatches of this calibre. The Apple Watch Series 11 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 have it too.

It makes a difference in daily life. With the Pixel Watch, I found I had to keep taking it off to charge, which meant I didn't have it when I wanted to go for a workout, log steps, or go to sleep. 15 minutes on the charger can get you a full night of battery and more, but it's still a delay.

The Fitbit Air works quietly in the background, maintaining battery and ticking along.

Winner: Fitbit Air

Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5: Battery life

The Fitbit Air is £84.99, and the Google Pixel Watch 5 is £369, available from the Google Store or third-party retailers like Amazon.

Both are new devices, so I don't expect them to go on sale for a long while, but I'll keep an eye out for deals in the winter seasonal sales all the same.

This is obviously a huge difference - and that difference is reflected in the features. I remain impressed by the Fitbit Air. Its wearability, connectivity to the Google Health app and price are all excellent and offer real value in the world of £300+ fitness trackers. Gym lovers, step-count obsessives, and sleep trackers will be over the moon with it. However, it doesn't offer the vast array of features that the Google Pixel Watch 5 does, and if you're looking for any smartwatch capabilities (right down to setting a timer), then it will be the better option by miles.

Winner: Fitbit Air

Fitbit Air vs Google Pixel Watch 5: Which is better?

The Google Pixel Watch 5 is the better all-round fitness tracker and smartwatch, with so many impressive features that I'd be here for hours going through them all. At £369 (with the optional £7.99 Google Health Premium subscription), it is a serious investment.

You can still buy the Google Pixel Watch 4, and it'll be cheaper than the newer model. It has many of the same smartwatch and health tracking features, given it also supports the new Google Health app. As a good middle ground, it's also worth having a look at the Fitbit Charge 6.

The Fitbit Air will be the better option for some people, however. If you're on a budget, you can't do much better for the insights this device offers - even with the free version of the Google Health app.

Overall winner: Google Pixel Watch 5

When you’re trail running or hiking for hours, the last thing you want is tired feet slowing you down, but a thick midsole isn’t always ideal for rough ground. In recent years, many trail shoes have adopted the higher midsole stack found in road running shoes, but without careful design, they can feel like you’re running on stilts.

I recently packed the plush Nike ACG Zegama Trail shoes for a trip to Chamonix, where I hiked and ran on steep and rocky trails for three days. I loved the combination of comfort and capability. With ultra-soft midsoles, a breathable upper, and great grip, I hiked and ran in comfort, whether I was facing hot sun or torrential rain.

As an outdoors journalist, hiker and trail runner, I’ve tested dozens of the best trail running shoes over the years – including a few from Nike – and ACG Zegamas really stand out. I can run or walk for miles in them without aching feet or rubbing. They’ve managed to cram in a lot of foam underfoot without making me feel totally disconnected from the trail. I might think twice about wearing them for running on very rocky trails, but for gravel roads and long days I can hardly think of a comfier shoe.

Nike ACG Zegama Trail review

Specifications

• Size range: 3 - 9.5
• Weight: 247g per shoe
• Stack height: 38 mm - 34 mm
• Heel-to-toe drop: 4 mm
• Lug depth: 4 mm
• Waterproof version available: Yes

What are the Nike ACG Zegama Trail shoes like for running?

I previously tested the Nike Zegama 2 trail shoes, and I found them to be a bit sweaty and lacking room for my high arches. The ACG (All Conditions Gear) model is a noticeable upgrade in both departments. As soon as I pulled them on, I was struck by how spacious and soft they felt underfoot.

I tested them in the white/orange colourway, which, like most Nike shoes, looks really nice, but I always have to question the wisdom of making trail shoes in white. As it turned out, my first jaunt in them ended with an alpine thunderstorm, and despite a good scrubbing, I now own these in brown/grey.

Nike has the super maximalist approach here, using 38mm of super soft ZoomX foam under the heel. It was enough cushion for me to comfortably run on the roads through Chamonix town centre to reach the trail. That said, it doesn’t behave exactly like a high-stacked road shoe, and that's not a bad thing.

Without a carbon plate, the foam feels quite soft rather than super springy, and even though it’s thick, the lack of a rock plate meant that I was still aware of the roots and rocks on the trail. The longest I’ve run in these in one go is 12k, so this hasn’t posed a problem and means I feel I can respond quite well to what I’m running on, but for longer distances I wonder if I’d start to regret the lack of underfoot protection?

It’s no secret that a very high stack shoe can feel a little wobbly, but the low heel-to-toe drop of just 4mm helps counteract the height and creates a much more stable feel that I really enjoy running in. The result is a smooth ride, and even though I’d still choose a more moderate shoe for very uneven trails, I’m not worried about turning an ankle on the level.

The fit is also much improved on previous editions, with tons of room around my toes for comfort. The pair I’m testing is a half size up from my normal size, but if I lace them up well, I can achieve a good fit around my midfoot for stability, and my heel stays locked in place, which definitely increases my confidence.

Another feature I like more than usual is the stretchy ankle cuff to keep grit and debris out. In other shoes, like the Keen Seek trail running shoes, I have to wrestle my foot in, but Nike has a big pull tab. This makes it really easy to put them on. They didn't rub even when my sock slipped down.

The cuff perhaps works better because it’s woven into a more traditional tongue and lacing system, which all works together to provide support without causing pain on the top of my foot.

They could use a lace garage - a spot to tuck away laces - as I find my laces come untied on overgrown trails, and they do lack a little protection around the toe box. I discovered this when I tripped on a tree root. That said, because I’m more likely to save them for straightforward trails and gravel paths, these technicalities shouldn’t pose a problem.

What are the Nike ACG Zegama Trail shoes like for hiking?

Chamonix’s trails are so steep that any run there involves quite a bit of hiking, which gave me a good opportunity to test out the versatility of these shoes, and though I wouldn’t necessarily have guessed it by looking at them, I think they are also among the best walking shoes.

The Vibram rubber outsole has deep lugs arranged in a multi-directional pattern, which meant I stuck to the trails even when they turned to slop in the rain as I was coming down a particularly steep, rooted section.

The uppers are mesh fabric on the outside, and a sock liner on the inside. I found that makes for a really breathable shoe on a hot day, but one that doesn’t feel as though my feet will freeze when the weather turns colder. They did get soaked through when I got caught in the rain, but that didn’t cause me any rubbing. I didn’t have any newspaper on hand to stuff them with, but they were only a little damp the next morning, and not unpleasant to wear again.

The roomy fit around the toe box is ideal for hiking. I find that the longer I’m on my feet, the more my feet swell, and I’m never worried about rubbing or pinching in these shoes.

Also, the very slight rocker sole means that when I did find reasonably flat sections, I was rolling through each step for a very nice, smooth experience. Honestly, the only thing that would give me pause about packing them for a hiking holiday is that they’re quite big. They take up more room in my suitcase compared to the Merrell Morphlite, for example. Saying that, they’re shoes I’d probably be happy to wear to the airport.

Who should buy the Nike ACG Zegama Trail shoes?

These shoes are on the heavier side. Though I didn't notice on the trail, I might not recommend them for racing or speed days. I think they’re a great pick for anyone enjoying longer runs on more straightforward trails, on a mix of trail and road, or who wants technical capability but won't sacrifice comfort.

If you’ve gone all in on the plush feeling of a maximalist shoe and want room for your toes to splay, you’ll really love the all-day comfort of these shoes. But as always, I’d warn you to watch your step on tricky terrain as so much stack could be an invitation to turn an ankle.

Are the Nike ACG Zegama Trail shoes worth buying?

Priced at £154.99, these shoes are a little cheaper than the Zegama 2s, objectively better, and quite competitive for such a technical pair of shoes.

You get a lot for your money, and as long as you’re clear that these are a plush ride for a long, slow day and not a snappy, responsive shoe, you’ll be very happy with them. Also, they look great.

It's been a big few weeks for the world of fitness trackers, and the Google Pixel Watch 5 is the latest to come across my desk. As woman&home's digital health editor, I've been testing these watches for the past six years.

While I've often included Google Pixel Watches in my round-up of the best Fitbits since they used the original Fitbit app to store and display health data, there's a new one now. The introduction of the Google Health app has brought them into a world of their own, and it's better than ever before.

The Google Pixel Watch 5 also comes with new and improved fitness insights, sleep monitoring, AI integration, and smartwatch features. It's truly an all-singing, all-dancing digital companion for every part of life. Now, if only they could make the battery last longer.

Google Pixel Watch 5 review

What is the Google Pixel Watch 5 like to wear?

The Google Pixel Watch 5 sits flush on the wrist. I tested the smaller 41mm option and found it to be very comfortable and unobtrusive during my daily life. For those who want a larger screen or have larger wrists, the device is also available in a 45mm option.

Each comes with a choice of two silicone bands. These interlock like the old-school Fitbit Infinity bands, so they feel secure and stay out of the way.

I've also tested the Google Pixel Watch 3 and Watch 4, so I immediately noticed that the design hasn't changed all that much. There are new watch faces to try - should you choose the Modular face, you'll find the display of steps, active minutes, heart rate, etc is clearer to read.

Fitness and workout tracking on the Google Pixel Watch 5

Since releasing the Google Pixel Watch 4, the brand has introduced Google Health. I first tested it on the Fitbit Air and was very impressed by the new health and fitness features. For example, with the Premium subscription, you can use Gemini to create a workout plan based on your goal, and the weekly overview will prescribe workouts to follow. It's a genuine improvement. Rather than simply logging workouts, it tells you how to improve your routine and actually improve your fitness.

I took the watch out running a few times as well, and I found it clearer to read than many other devices. I also liked how you can customise the data screens to display the information you want first.

When the Google Pixel Watch 5 launched, I heard about a strength training feature that would let you take a workout suggestion (or create your own) and send it to your watch. You'd be able to log reps and sets and follow along with the workout, as you can already with the cardio workouts. Google says this is launching in September, so I'm keeping an eye out, as this will be the first smartwatch of the calibre to do so.

My only comment would be that watches like the Coros Pace 4 have been doing this for ages, and even better, you can start a workout on your watch and record the reps, sets, and rest time. With strength training more popular than ever before, it seems like a miss from such a tech giant.

The GPS tracking has also improved for city dwellers like myself, with double the accuracy in urban environments. While you may be better off with a Garmin watch in the deep countryside, for trails and city running or walking, this is a big win. I like to run through areas with high-rise buildings, and where many of my running watches have lagged or completely disconnected from GPS, this one held firm.

Sleep tracking on the Google Pixel Watch 5

Sleep tracking features on the Google Pixel Watch 5 mostly sit in line with previous models, but they are more accurate - by as much as 15% for sleep stage accuracy, according to the brand. There's also a Smart Wake Alarm. With this, the watch buzzes to wake you up at the ideal time in the morning based on your sleep stages.

There's also a new feature that provides insights into your breathing patterns during the night. The Sleep Breathing Quality metric in the Google Health app is useful if you're concerned about conditions like sleep apnea. While it can't diagnose, it will flag breathing disturbances and create a monthly overview of patterns, which you could then take to your doctor.

You'll see standard insights, including duration and quality of sleep, too. The design of the Google Health app makes viewing all of these easy to understand, even if you're totally new to tracking your sleep.

Smartwatch features on the Google Pixel Watch 5

What makes the Google Pixel Watch a great choice for Android users and the natural pick for anyone with a Google phone is its smartwatch features. Almost anything I can do with my Google Pixel 11 phone (which came out at the same time as the watch), I can do on my watch. This includes making a phone call, texting, using third-party apps like Spotify through my workout headphones, setting an alarm, or creating a route on Google Maps. It even has a torch.

Naturally, Gemini and the Google Pixel Watch 5 go hand in hand. While the AI companion was introduced on the previous version, it's improved here massively and has become scarily helpful. Proactive Suggestions is the biggest upgrade in my view. This takes into account key information like location, calendar, and messages to display what you actually need. For example, when I pulled up to the train station recently, my ticket popped up from the app on my watch so I could just tap through the gate without having to get my phone out.

It's also more hands-free than previous models. Gesture-led actions are something that many smartwatches have done before, but I've only ever really used them when testing previous models of this watch. I started using them more on this device, and then I used them for everything I could. Most often, I raised my wrist to speak to Gemini, gave it instructions (like 'Open a running workout') and then pinched to start it, pause it, and end it. I found my pacing and distance were more accurate than if I'd stopped and done it manually.

It might not sound like much, but when I started doing it in everyday life, it was game-changing. For example, one time I replied to an urgent text, hands covered in banana bread batter, without having to wash my hands, find my phone, and reply.

Of course, all of this requires setting up. I did have to play with the functions for a while, and some can be frustrating to set up if you're not so tech-savvy.

What's the downside of the Google Pixel Watch 5?

The Google Pixel Watch 5 in the 41mm case has up to 30 hours of battery life with typical use and always-on display, and up to 48 hours in Battery Saver Mode. The larger design offers up to 40 hours with normal use and 72 hours in the lower power mode.

It's more than the Apple Watch Series 11, but still, it's not good enough. Regardless of size, you still get less than two full days of regular use. I felt like my watch spent more time on the charger than on my wrist. I had to take it off to charge it regularly, leaving steps, workouts, and nights of sleep untracked.

The day someone creates a device with at least a week of battery life and the full suite of smartwatch and fitness tracking features, I'll give it five stars.

That said, I wouldn't let the battery put you off buying the device. It is the only downside I found during my week of testing, and it has more battery life between full charges than similar smartwatches. You can also get about 15 additional hours with just 15 minutes on the charger, which is impressive.

The w&h verdict: Is it worth upgrading to the Google Pixel Watch 5?

If you're looking to upgrade from a Fitbit, a Google Pixel Watch 3, or you want a smartwatch to pair with your Google phone, then it's certainly worth the jump. At £369, this device sits on par with other premium smartwatches.

If you're using the Google Pixel Watch 4, I'd do a serious deep dive into what updates you can install to use some of the newer features on your older device. You will be able to get some, but not others. For example, the new strength training feature will only likely be available on the Watch 5.

Many features are available on the Google Fitbit Air - the only fitness tracker I've given a 5-star review to. It's a fitness tracker rather than a smartwatch, and it's a band, so it doesn't have a face. You'll lose out on a lot of functionality, right down to the basics like telling the time. However, it is worth comparing for price and the features you want.

New insulin resistance features for early detection (rather than monitoring diabetes) and blood pressure monitoring are also new to this watch in the Health Guardian features, a plus for those monitoring health conditions.

I've loved using this smartwatch over the past week. The AI functions don't feel forced, and they are not complicated to use once you get going - same with the rest of the watch. It fits seamlessly into everyday life, and all are optional.

The solution to living healthier and for longer? Strength training. Lifting weights has been proven time and again to be the route to improved strength, mobility, and flexibility, all important to stay independent with age.

Few people know this more than Jo Whiley. She spoke to expert PT and strength coach Kate Oakley, who works exclusively with women in midlife and menopause, on a recent episode of Dig It, alongside fellow host Zoe Ball.

"I use strength training as an umbrella term. If your goal is to get stronger, strength training is it. All you're trying to do is give your bones work to do. Bone density is declining from our 30s. You don't need barbells, pull-up bars, and the stuff you see all over social media. You can honestly start with a couple of pairs of dumbbells at home and some resistance bands," says Kate.

It's "never too late" to start strength training, she says, and notes that she works with women in their 80s who are picking up weights for the first time. "It's never too late to start, but I would say to start safely and carefully. Don't go from zero to 45 minutes, three or four times a week. Start with 10 minutes, and feel that strength build."

Body weight exercises will be the right starting point, or, "if you feel ready", using a set of dumbbells.

Exercises to start strength training over 60

1. Squats

Kate says that squats are "absolutely top of the list" when starting strength training over 60. "It mimics the movement we need every day. When I start up and sit down from a chair, that's a squat. When we're thinking about older age, we want to be able to get out of bed, out of a car," she says.

There will be a squat variation that works for all women, she notes, even if you think you can't do the exercise.

How to do a squat:

• Stand shoulder-width apart, hands by your sides. If you feel confident, hold your weights.
• Bend your knees and come down as if you were sitting on a chair behind you, making sure to track your knees over your toes.
• Push through your feet to return to standing.

Expert tip: Raise your heels on a set of dumbbells or a few coffee table books, says Kate. "You'll actually be able to get into that squat position because sometimes it's about your ankle mobility or the length of your femur. It's not that you're doing anything wrong or that your body's weird. You just need to find the right squat for you.”

2. Chest press or press-up

You don't need to do a full upper-body dumbbell workout to build strength in your arms, back, chest, or shoulders. Kate recommends doing simple exercise snacks like a tricep or chest press against the kitchen counter while waiting for the kettle to boil. You could also do them against the wall.

"Just keep the elbows in close and push up from the counter. Say you can do 10 one week, maybe the next week you can do 12," says Kate.

How to do it:

• Place your hands against a wall or kitchen counter - any stable surface - and take a step backwards. Stand shoulder-width apart.
• Slowly and controlled, bend your elbows to bring your chest to the surface.
• Push through your hands to come back to standing.
• Repeat the movement.

Expert tip: The higher you take your hands, the easier a tricep press will become, says Kate. If you find you can press away from a kitchen counter, try the press movement against a wall.

Keeping your arms closer together will target more of the triceps (back of the arms). Widening the arms will target more of the muscles in the chest and shoulders.

3. Wall sits

You can even do strength training while brushing your teeth. A wall sit is one of the better quadriceps exercises and glute exercises. If you can do it even for half the time you spend brushing, you'll see serious progress in a few months.

Here's how to do it:

• Rest your back against a wall, drop into a seated position with your hands together in front of your body (or by your sides).
• Make your hips stay facing forward, and your knees stay in line with your toes.
• Try to keep the position for at least 30 seconds.

Benefits of strength training over 60

• Improves bone density and muscle mass: Bone density begins to decline in our 30s, and we start losing muscle mass during perimenopause. It's important to build these up to stay "living the life we want", says the PT.
• Avoids muscle wastage: Jo shares that she's noticed her body change a lot over the last six months, as she hasn't had much time to go to the gym. Kate says that strength training can help avoid this.
• Improves posture: Growing strength in your chest and shoulders will naturally improve your posture and prevent (or minimise) any "humps" or slouching. The best exercise to do is a chest press, shoulder press, or a push-up against the kitchen counter, says Kate.
• May help alleviate aches, pains, and joint issues: "It can feel counterintuitive to start strength training, but actually it can really help," she says. Jo also shared how she has continued exercising with arthritis. "If you've got issues with your knees, if you build strength in your quad muscles (thighs) and glutes (buttocks), then that can really support your knees."

If you are concerned about your ability to strength train safely, speak to a certified physiotherapist and/or qualified personal trainer, who will be able to create a routine that works for you.

Strength training is the gold standard lower-body workout. Whether with your body weight or a set of weights, resistance exercise is key to boosting strength, stability, and bone density as we age.

It's not about all or nothing, though. Different workouts complement your strength training, cardio, or flexibility-focused exercise to create a rounded approach to fitness. A good Pilates workout at home can be one of them.

"While it’s well known for developing core strength, one of the things I love about Pilates is that it works the body as a whole. The core provides a stable foundation, which allows us to work the lower body with greater control and precision," says Pilates instructor and founder of LIM Studio, Isobel Palmer.

A lower-body Pilates workout also works the legs in a really "well-rounded way", she says. "Rather than focusing only on the larger, more obvious muscles, exercises can recruit the smaller stabilising muscles around the hips, knees, ankles, and feet, too."

Lower-body Pilates workout

1. Side-lying leg raises

A side-leg exercise targets muscles around the side of the hip, including the smaller muscles in the glutes (buttocks). "These play an important role in stabilising the pelvis and supporting good lower-body alignment," says Isobel.

Here's how to do it:

• Come down onto your yoga mat and lie with your legs straight, stacked on on top of the other.
• Put your top hand on the floor for balance and rest your head on your lower arm.
• Lift your top leg towards the ceiling. When it reaches hip height, lower it back down.
• Keep all movement slow and controlled.
• Repeat the exercise 8 times on each side.

2. Lunges

Lunges help build strength in the quads and glutes while also challenging balance and stability. "Because you're working in a split stance, they ask the body to control movement through the hips, knees, and ankles while maintaining stability through the pelvis and core," says the instructor.

Here's how to do a lunge:

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding your weights or with your hands on your hips.
• Take a step forward. If you struggle with balance, take the foot out wider.
• Lower your hips until your front and back knee are bent at 90 degrees. Make sure your hips are straight on and your knee sits over your ankle.
• Come down until your back knee hovers slightly above the floor.
• Push through your front foot to return to standing.
• Repeat the movement 8 times on both sides, then switch.

3. Glute bridges

The glute bridge is a classic glute exercise, but it also builds pelvic stability. "Once a regular bridge feels strong and controlled, progressing to a single-leg variation increases the challenge considerably and asks each side of the body to work independently," says Isobel.

Here's how to do a glute bridge:

• Lie flat on your back, placing your feet flat on the floor in front of your buttocks.
• Engage your core and press your lower back into the floor.
• Push through your heels, lift your hips off the floor.
• Make sure your head, back, and glutes form a straight line.
• Clench at the top and hold for a couple of seconds.
• Slowly lower your hips back to the ground.
• Repeat the movement 8 times.

4. Calf raises with a Pilates ball

The calves might be among the smaller muscles in the legs, but they are two of the most powerful as the muscle helps pump blood back up towards the heart. Weak calves are also responsible for many runners and cyclists' injuries.

For the calf raise exercise, Isobel says she likes "placing a small Pilates ball between the ankles as it can help prevent you from simply rolling out through the ankles and allows you to target the calf muscles more effectively".

Here's how to do it:

• Stand tall on your yoga mat with your feet hip-width apart. Place a Pilates ball between your ankles to help with this.
• Slowly rise onto the balls of your feet.
• Pause at the top to squeeze your calf muscle.
• Slowly, lower your heels back down.
• Repeat 8 times.

What are the benefits of a lower-body Pilates workout?

• Builds strength and stability together: "What’s particularly valuable is the variety of muscle recruitment," says Isobel. "Squats and lunges, for example, can develop strength in the quads and gluteus maximus, while the Pilates side-leg series can target the gluteus medius and other muscles that stabilise the pelvis and hip."
• Focuses on alignment and control: "By creating stability through the core and paying attention to how the feet, ankles, knees and hips are working together, we can perform lower-body exercises more effectively," she says.
• Great for beginners: "I think of it as building strength from the ground up: the feet create the foundation, the core provides stability, and from there we can really challenge the legs," she says.

Anne Hathaway has had a busy few years, making her a huge comeback in roles like The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Odyssey, and Verity, Coleen Hoover's book adaptation due to be released in October. The 43-year-old is looking fit and healthy, with her third child on the way.

Monique Eastwood is the personal trainer behind Anne Hathaway's workouts over the years. Her unique blend of Pilates, strength training, and barre exercises comes from her background as a former professional dancer.

While she has many go-to exercises, she told Women's Fitness there's one move she never leaves out. "I love bodyweight moves like the plank, and you'll always see one in my sessions. It's a fantastic way to build core strength," she says.

Monique, 59, knows how important it is for women to maintain flexibility and muscle mass with age to live healthily and independently for longer. “We all need to be able to hold our own body weight and get off the floor,” she says. “I focus on functional strength.” That's where the plank comes in.

What is the plank?

The plank is an incredibly popular bodyweight exercise which can strengthen your core and improve your balance and stability. Some love it, others loathe it, but incorporating it into your exercise routine will bring many strength and mobility benefits, as well as helping prevent injury.

Here's how to do a classic plank:

• Start on all fours on a thick mat, with your hands positioned directly under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
• Stretch your legs straight behind you. Keep your knees off the ground and your toes flat to the mat.
• Inhale and exhale slowly, while drawing your belly button in and squeezing your glutes.
• Keep your hips up to avoid any sagging in your lower back, and maintain a straight line from your head to your toes.

If you’ve never done a plank before or have any injuries, you can do a half plank on your knees, which won’t put strain on your lower back. You can also do an elevated plank, with your hands resting on a bench if that’s easier.

Variations on the plank include side planks, plank rows with weights, plank with shoulder taps and plank with hip dips.

Benefits of a plank

Even if you can only manage 20 seconds each time, there are lots of benefits to doing the plank exercise regularly. In fact, a study in the European Journal of Sports Science found that doing plank training three days per week for 12 weeks had major benefits.

These include:

• Changes your body composition by increasing muscle mass.
• Improves your cardiovascular fitness by lowering your heart rate, decreasing activity in the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and increasing parasympathetic nervous activity (rest and digest).
• Improves your posture by strengthening your back, chest and shoulder muscles.
• Improves core strength, both in the abdominals, obliques and back muscles.
• Improves your flexibility by lengthening your hamstrings and foot muscles. Side planks with an overhead arm stretch give a great stretch along the sides of your body.
• It's easy to modify because there are lots of variations to make planks both easier and harder.
• Helps with functional fitness, such as bending, reaching, and carrying, which we all do in our daily lives.
• You can do it at home, on holiday or in a gym. No special equipment or space needed.

Monique, who also trains British star Emily Blunt, doesn’t want fitness to be complicated and off-putting. She recommends making movement part of your everyday life rather than something formal you feel guilty about if you don’t fit it in.

“Start small, build gradually, do activities you enjoy and eat to nourish your body,” she says.

At points this summer, even the thought of wrestling on a sports bra has been enough to keep me away from the gym. I'm finally looking forward to exercise making a workout feel hard, not the heat.

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Joe Wicks has been a constant on television screens and online over the last decade, holding our attention with dumbbell strength training workouts and easy-to-follow recipes. In recent years, he's turned his attention to helping women going through menopause who are looking to adjust their workout routine.

The Strength in Menopause series is four short workouts, available to view on YouTube and his Body Coach app. They've racked up half a million views over the past few months. Joe himself says the workouts are mood-boosting sessions designed to address some of the more common symptoms of menopause, like low energy, a slowing metabolic rate, and muscle and bone density loss.

Being low-impact and requiring minimal equipment, it looks promising to me. But are they worth trying? Or is it just another way to make money from menopause? I tried the first two workouts for a week to find out.

I tried Joe Wicks' menopause workouts

I’ve been doing strength training for a few years now. I started with a brilliant female PT, who helped me build confidence to go to the gym alone, so now I plan my own sessions. On first glance, with just five moves in each, I thought Joe Wicks' menopause workout would be a bit simple for me. How wrong I was!

These routines set my muscles on fire, and the dreaded DOMS set in for days afterwards - partly my fault for jumping in without a proper warm-up or cool down after being away from the gym for a while.

Speaking of jumping, there isn't any. These workouts are built around compound movements like squats and lunges that keep at least one foot on the ground at all times, which is great for beginners and those dealing with achy joints in menopause.

That being said, these workouts are still very much a challenge. Joe’s signature on-screen clock caught me out more than once. The (somewhat relentless) movement of 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off, continuous for 20 minutes, revealed how easy I'd been going on myself during my self-managed gym sessions. Clearly, my rest periods were getting a little too long. The workout was enough to raise my heart rate into zone 3, which is rare for my usual zone 1 or 2-only strength workouts.

The four workouts consist of two upper-body workouts and two lower-body workouts. On first go, however, because I had an hour planned for the gym, I attempted both workouts back-to-back. I only made it halfway through the second one before admitting defeat. The intensity was a little too much to do them back-to-back.

However, at just 20 minutes each, combining both gives you a full-body workout in 40 minutes. One workout alone is enough for beginners or for anyone returning to strength training after some time away.

The exercises in the menopause workout will be familiar to anyone who's done strength training before, but it was useful to have Joe shouting out form and technique tips through the workout. He reminded me to go slow and controlled, rather than just trying to get in as many repetitions as possible. It's better for building strength.

Most of all, you get Joe’s undeniably upbeat attitude and cheery encouragement throughout, as well as moments of realism. Even super-fit Joe has to drop a kilo or two when he finds himself struggling at times, assuring us that we too can swap the weights or even revert to bodyweight if that feels right.

What do the workouts involve?

Workout 1: Upper body

Have a pair of heavy weights and a pair of lighter weights to hand. Do each exercise for 40 seconds, with 20 seconds rest in between each.

• Bicep curls (with heavy weights): Lift each arm in turn, rotating each dumbbell as you pull up. Go slow and controlled rather than swinging them up and down.
• Shoulder press (heavy weights): Rest weights on your shoulder with elbows bent. Push up into full extension above your head, then take them back to your shoulders.
• Bent over rows (heavy weights): Hinge at the hips with a slight bend in the knee. Maintain a straight back (if this is tricky, don’t bend as low), and pull the weights up as you squeeze your shoulder blades together. Pause before dropping the weights down again, with control.
• Overhead tricep extension (lighter weights): Holding each weight behind your head, keep elbows tucked in. Then straighten arms to push the weights up overhead, and back down again.
• Lateral dumbbell raises (lighter weights): Take your arms out wide with a slight bend in the elbow, lift to shoulder height, then pause before slowly dropping back down.
• Repeat those five moves three more times (i.e. four times in total over 20mins).

Workout 2: Lower-body workout

Use one set of heavy weights for all moves. Do each exercise for 40 seconds, with 20 seconds rest in between each.

Here's how to do it:

• Sumo goblet squat (one weight): Take the legs wide, toes turned out, and with one heavy dumbbell in hand, squat down (remembering to keep your back straight) and push back up.
• Reverse lunges (right side): With a dumbbell in each hand and keeping an upright position, step the right leg back with knee dropping (but not touching) the ground. Return to centre before repeating.
• Reverse lunges (left side): Repeat as above with the left leg.
• Romanian deadlifts (RDLs): With a dumbbell in each hand and feet hip width apart, make a slight bend in the knees before hinging at the hips and sliding the dumbbells down your legs, before returning to standing. Push your glutes out as you bend, ensuring you maintain a straight back throughout.
• Dumbbell front squat (one or two weights): With a dumbbell in each hand and feet hip-width apart, squat down while keeping your back straight, before returning to standing. Switch to one dumbbell if two is a struggle.
• Repeat those five moves three more times (i.e. four times in total over 20mins).

Benefits of the Joe Wicks' menopause workout

1. Builds muscle and strength

Between the ages of 30 and 50, women lose three to eight per cent of their overall muscle mass each decade. This decline speeds up as oestrogen declines during menopause, with women over 50 experiencing a five to 10 per cent loss of muscle mass every decade. Lower levels of oestrogen also impact muscle repair and recovery. Luckily, you can slow this decline with strength training.

“Joe’s exercises work well here,” says Edwina Jenner, a personal trainer and strength coach specialising in fitness for over 40. “Squats, lunges and RDLs are compound moves that recruit a large amount of muscle in the legs and glutes. Strengthening our glutes, the biggest muscles in our body, matters, as modern life keeps us sitting so much.”

2. Improves bone health

Oestrogen is essential for maintaining bone strength, so when it declines in perimenopause and menopause, our bones weaken. It leaves us at higher risk of fractures. In fact, the Royal Osteoporosis Society estimates that one in two women over 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.

There are measures you can take to reduce the risk, such as HRT, a balanced calcium and vitamin D-rich diet, and exercise. “Strength training helps because bones respond to mechanical loading,” explains Edwina. “When muscles pull against bone while lifting weights, this provides a stimulus that helps maintain bone strength. Squats, RDLs and lunges are particularly useful, as they load the hips and lower body, and strengthen the muscles around them.”

Joe’s menopause workouts won’t provide everything you need to build stronger bones. Edwina recommends jump squats or walkout jump-ups as a good addition to your routine.

But she also says: "Not every woman needs to start jumping. Pelvic floor symptoms and joint issues can be common in midlife, so impact exercise needs to suit the individual."

3. Boosts energy levels

With hormonal changes leaving you feeling like a drained battery, it’s hard to muster enthusiasm for a workout. But exercise will give you that much-needed boost, pumping oxygen-rich blood around the body and brain, and in turn, activating the cell-based mitochondria that produce energy.

For a quick energy-boosting opportunity, Joe’s workouts are accessible at just 20 minutes. It doesn’t take loads of time or mental energy to get it done, says Edwina. “When you’re tired, a long, intense workout can feel like another mountain to climb: this is where Joe’s uncomplicated 20-minute format works really well.”

If motivation is low, focus on tangible outcomes. “Strength training [is about] getting stronger and seeing what your body can do, rather than always making exercise about weight loss. At this stage of life, we need to build a robust, strong body that carries us into the future and protects our independence and autonomy as we age,” adds Edwina.

4. Improves cardiovascular health

Improving cardiovascular health is crucial in midlife as oestrogen, which protects the heart, starts to decline, putting women at higher risk of heart disease and heart attack. Joe’s workouts are slow and steady, rather than full of HIIT-based moves, but that doesn’t mean your heart rate won’t rise (as I discovered).

Commenting on Joe’s routines, Edwina says, “Repeated squats and presses with a challenging pair of dumbbells for 40 seconds, with only 20 seconds of recovery, can send your heart rate climbing considerably.”

Strength training alone isn’t enough to fully replace aerobic exercise, however. Ideally, women should do both.

5. Increases confidence and mood

Low mood and anxiety can be common in perimenopause and menopause thanks to fluctuating hormones. Add in lack of sleep, aching joints and an overwhelming schedule, and mood can worsen. Time and again, research has shown that exercise, which releases endorphins, dopamine and all the other feel-good hormones, can go a long way in lifting us, even when we really don’t feel like doing it.

In fact, a review published in Psychiatry Research found that strength training had, according to numerous studies, a moderate to significant antidepressant effect on people with depression.

Joe has long been an advocate for the mental health benefits of exercise, and that’s emphasised here in his menopause series. As Joe says in workout one, “Regardless of what stage of life you’re in, you’ll always feel better after exercise.”

Are Joe Wicks' menopause workouts worth doing?

Yes, I found Joe Wicks' menopause workouts to be challenging and time-efficient, equally as good for beginners as those who've been working out for a while, since each exercise can be progressed up or down.

Despite his popularity, Joe hasn’t been immune to criticism in the past, and the same goes for his menopause workouts. Some may view these sessions as a cynical ploy to tap into a large, health-aware, midlife audience (‘how can a 40-year-old man relate to the menopausal experience?’, some have said), but I believe that’s unfair.

Sure, coaching by a midlife female PT adds an extra layer of empathy and understanding, but when you solely focus on the movements, they are beneficial for women experiencing perimenopause.

PT Edwina believes Joe's got it right. “Joe Wicks has put together a well-rounded, simple and accessible 20-minute workout routine that removes a key barrier to exercise: finding the time. The format builds confidence without constantly changing sets, which is reassuring for women new to lifting," she tells me.

What's more, he sticks to the essentials. "[Effective] strength training is really about ‘rinse and repeat’: repeating the same movements builds confidence and technique rather than requiring you to learn something new. The basics, done well and repeated consistently, then made progressively more challenging, are what ultimately builds strength,” she explains.

Joe seems genuinely keen to learn more about perimenopause and menopause, and how fitness could improve women’s physical and mental health with age. He also brings his extensive fitness knowledge, encouragement and ‘can-do’ attitude to these exercises, reminding us to “keep believing in yourself”.

Tips for doing Joe Wicks' menopause workouts

• Practice progressive overload: You can't continue to build muscle unless you make your workouts harder over time. “If you can comfortably finish each 40-second interval, your weights are too light. The final reps should feel hard while form stays good," says Edwina.
• Experiment with weight on the first try: I found that I could go heavy on squats and bicep curls, medium for overhead presses, but much lighter on tricep extensions and lateral arm raises.
• Don’t skip the warm-up or cooldown: Even if you’re a seasoned lifter, these (seemingly simple) dumbbell workouts will leave your muscles burning if you don’t prep your body properly, particularly if you’re returning to exercise after prolonged time out from your routine. Gentle stretching, a roller and a massage gun can help here.
• Listen to your body: A bad night’s sleep, poor nutrition, stress. Add hormonal fluctuations into the mix, and you know that how fit and strong you feel can differ greatly, day by day. Edwina says, “On tired or low-energy days, you can still train using lighter weights. It’s about meeting your body where it’s at. Consistency matters far more than smashing every session.”

Core strength isn’t just about having strong abs. Your core includes the back, hips, glutes and pelvis, so improving it will help protect these key areas of the body, improve your posture, and prevent future injuries.

Pilates for beginners is one of the best workouts to try if you're looking to improve core strength and mobility for daily activities like climbing stairs and lifting bags, as much as any workout.

Claudia Armani is a Pilates instructor with over 15 years of experience working with clients. "It's a low-impact fitness method that can be adapted to all levels, from complete beginner to seasoned athlete. Each exercise can be broken down and built up, providing a perfect start for those who feel out of shape," she says.

The practice also "works on deep core strength, spinal flexibility, joint stability and flexibility, body awareness, coordination, proprioception, and coordination", she notes. These are often neglected in other workouts. Grab your thick yoga mat - here's where to start...

1. Pilates bridge

The Pilates bridge targets key core muscles, is easy to do and is suitable for beginners. It can also help loosen the hip flexors - a potentially stiff area for those who sit during the day.

Claudia says the bridge, sometimes called the shoulder or glute bridge, “builds spinal and body awareness, spinal articulation, and core engagement”.

How to do a bridge:

• Lie on your back on the mat.
• Bend your legs at 90 degrees.
• Keep your arms straight by your sides.
• Start with your lower back flat on the mat before slowly lifting your hips and spine off the ground.
• Press into your feet and pull your heels into your bum to work your glutes, hamstrings and quads.
• Slowly lower back down onto the mat.
• Repeat 10-15 times.

2. Abdominal curl

This is another move which can easily be done on a mat at home, and it’s the “perfect exercise to counteract hours seated at your desk", says Claudia. "It helps build abdominal strength and thoracic spinal flexibility."

How to do an abdominal curl on a Pilates ball:

• Sit on your mat with your knees bent.
• Tuck the ball behind your mid-back.
• With your hands resting behind your head, lie back over the ball.
• Slowly lift your head and shoulders up and towards your knees.
• Lower back down slowly.
• Repeat 10-15 times.

3. Superman

Box swimming, sometimes known as the Superman exercise, “strengthens your back muscles, improves coordination and stimulates core awareness and proprioception”, which is your body’s ability to sense its movements and the space around it.

This move will activate both the big and small muscles in your back and challenge your deep core abdominals and glutes.

Here's how to do the Superman exercise:

• Come down onto your yoga mat, with your hands and knees on the floor. Make sure your wrists are under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
• Brace your core and make sure to keep your back flat.
• Bring your right arm straight in front of you and push your left leg behind you simultaneously.
• Pause for two to three seconds, keeping your body steady.
• Lower your hand and knee to the floor.
• Switch sides.

Gillian Anderson has a refreshing approach to exercise. No treadmill workouts or dedicated strength training routines. In fact, nothing at all up until recently.

Aside from one year where she had a boyfriend who loved to work out, the actress says that she's never exercised regularly - and hasn't done so on principle.

"Don't tell me that I am not OK if I am not exercising," she said on Elizabeth Day's How to Fail podcast. "More than ever, there is a wellness culture that is actually potentially making people even sicker as people have got more and more into exercise, eating well, macros, and you name it."

Since turning 50, however, Gillian has said her attitude to exercise has changed. "Now that I'm 55, I'm finding it for myself. There's a plethora of stuff out there for people, particularly my age and above, talking about longevity. If you want to pick up your grandchildren, you should move your limbs a bit.

"In that context, I feel like OK. I am actually ready. I am going to do it in the way that I want to do it, and that feels good for me," she said, adding that she wanted to get stronger in her core and herself.

"But it's got to be pleasurable for me. There is power in pleasure. If it doesn't [offer pleasure] in some way, then it won't last," she said.

Far from finding the 'perfect workout routine', Gillian has settled into working with a trainer on a workout app and started doing the "smallest things, like not taking the lift, taking the stairs". This is called NEAT exercise.

What is NEAT exercise?

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) refers to all the calories you burn while you move but don't exercise. "This can include activities such as taking the stairs, parking further away from the office, walking to/from the coffee machine, or even gentle housework," says personal trainer Charlie Bertoia.

It accounts for about half of the calories we burn every day, whereas dedicated workouts would only cover about 10% if you exercised every day. It's more about finding opportunities to move, rather than doing dedicated exercises.

"They are movements that increase the total number of calories you burn throughout the day. This will help manage your body weight and improve blood sugar, cholesterol, and fat, and improve mobility," he says.

According to studies in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, NEAT exercise has also been linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, as well as improved insulin sensitivity.

"Regular movement breaks throughout the day contribute to NEAT, and people who rack up more calories burned tend to be healthier," says Charlie.

What workouts has Gillian Anderson done in the past?

While the actress has said she's used personal trainers in the past to get in shape for roles, she told The Daily Mail in 2015 that she doesn't "try that hard to stay in shape".

She said: "I go through stages of yoga a few times a week and throw in some running."

This appears to be a habit still, as she told Elle UK last year that she meditates and does yoga, and when she allows herself to take "that space and connect the mind and body", she notices the difference.

How to do more NEAT exercise

• Use a standing desk or set a timer: If you normally work sitting down, it's worth getting a standing desk or having a timer that'll mark a break period for you to stand and walk around. Many fitness trackers have movement alerts that do this to improve the amount of NEAT exercise users do.
• Move while on the phone: Walking around the house while on the phone could improve your levels of movement naturally. You could also get a walking pad to use while watching television.
• Take the long way: If there are two routes you could follow on a walk home, to the office, or to a friend's house, choose the longer one. You'll naturally get more steps in. Equally, if you work from an office, head outside to a spot further away to pick up your lunch.
• Move during television breaks: While this is more of an exercise snack than NEAT exercise, it works. Dr Zoe Williams recently recommended that viewers of This Morning do squats during the show's breaks, working out to 550 squats a week for those who watch the daily program.

When creating a strength training programme, many personal trainers and fitness instructors have the plank in their sessions as a go-to core exercise. I'd do the same. It's a great full-body move that strengthens the core, improves posture, and builds stability.

However, it's a foundation exercise. Mark Harris, a level 4 PT and strength and conditioning coach, says: "It primarily focuses on the muscles through the centre of the body, particularly the rectus abdominis and the transverse abdominis. There are plenty of progression options available, including adding external weight while maintaining the same position."

Keep the classic plank exercise in your workouts, but try a few plank variations, as recommended by this expert personal trainer.

Copenhagen plank

The Copenhagen plank moves the focus from the front of the body to the sides, similar to the side plank. "It's performed one side at a time, making it a unilateral exercise. This can help identify and reduce side-to-side imbalances," says Mark.

I switched to the Copenhagen plank about a year ago. I'm a runner, and as the months ticked by, I saw my balance and full-body stability grow. It translated as much into my treadmill workouts as my strength ones. I also felt the exercise more in my shoulders and arms than in a traditional plank, as you hold one side at a time.

Here's how to do it:

• Bring a weight bench or stool (if doing the exercise at home) near your feet.
• Come down into a plank, resting on your forearm, making sure your elbow is under your shoulder.
• Place the inside of your top foot onto the bench or stool.
• Engage your abs and squeeze your glutes.
• Drive your hips up to the ceiling.
• Your body should form a straight line from head to foot.
• Hold the position then switch sides.

Reverse plank

The reverse plank is one of the only plank variations that focuses on lower-body strength. PT Monty Simmons previously told woman&home that constant sitting weakens and tightens the muscles down the back of the body. Doing reverse planks can help prevent this.

"It trains the glutes (buttocks), hamstrings (back of thighs), lower back, and even the muscles around the shoulders. These are essential for everyday movement."

Here's how to do it:

• Lie down on the floor, propping yourself up on your elbows with your legs out in front of you.
• Engage your core, press into your palms and heels.
• Lift your hips up to create a straight line from your shoulders to your heels.
• Be sure to draw your shoulder blades together and keep your chest open.
• Hold this position.

Plank rows

From the back of the body to the front - plank rows basically do the opposite. "This exercise combines upper-body strength with core stability," says Mark. "Alternating arm rows mean one arm performs the rowing movement while the other stabilises your body in an isometric hold. This challenges strength and stability at the same time."

It's also a great plank variation for those looking to target these muscles who are new to strength work.

Here's how to do it:

• Put two dumbbells (preferably hexagonal ones) on the floor.
• Come down into the high plank position, resting on your hands.
• Hold onto the dumbbells, making sure they are shoulder-width apart and directly under your shoulders.
• Move your weight onto your right arm and pick up a dumbbell with your left.
• Once stable, drive the left elbow up and back towards your hip, as if you're trying to put the dumbbell in your back pocket.
• Repeat the movement.

The sea is mirror-like as the first rays of sunshine cast a golden shadow across the Cornish coastline. Although it's July, the cold water is enough to make me gasp. But as I look out towards the horizon, I can't imagine a much better way to begin the day.

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” says a woman as she swims past. I smile and nod before stepping into the water and spending the next 30 minutes swimming, alternating between breaststroke, front crawl and simply floating on my back. It's a world away from my usual early morning walking routine.

While I grew up in Falmouth, Cornwall, these days I live near the hilly Pennines in the North of England, where I spend mornings walking. I try to pull on my walking shoes before emails and deadlines take over. Even if I can only get out for 10 minutes of walking, it's a daily reset. It gives me a chance to clear my head and move before hunching over a laptop for the rest of the day.

Swimming was often in my routine as a teenage club swimmer, but I moved inland as an adult. It had been years since I'd swum before breakfast, and I found I had missed it. Walking will always be one of my favourite ways to enjoy nature and clear my mind, but swimming offers something entirely different. Immersed in the water, it's a complete sensory escape, and I wanted to find out why.

Whether you’re tempted by the sea, a lake or your local pool, I asked the experts why an early swim can do as much for your mind as it does for your body, long after you've dried off.

Benefits of a morning swim

1. It calms your mind before the day begins

Every morning swim started with the same negotiation: "it's too cold" or "I'll go in tomorrow", yet I never once regretted it once I found the courage to get in. Within minutes of entering the water, the mental chatter faded.

Researchers describe the restorative effect of nature as ‘soft fascination’, when natural surroundings gently capture your attention, allowing the brain to recover from mental fatigue. Walking can create this effect, but swimming amplifies it.

“Sounds become softer and more muted, while your visual perspective shifts compared with being on land. There is something inherently calming about being supported by the water; it can feel both physically relieving and mentally freeing, creating a sense of relaxation that is difficult to replicate in other forms of exercise,” says Celia Boothman, a certified triathlon coach and IRONMAN ambassador.

When your face touches cold water, the mammalian dive reflex is triggered. "It's an evolutionary survival mechanism designed to protect your brain and heart from oxygen deprivation," says Celia. "The heart rate drops, your blood vessels constrict and breathing changes. The initial shock can feel intense, but the effect is a sense of calm and reduced anxiety.”

That explains why I climbed out of the water feeling noticeably calmer and more at peace with the day. Any worries I’d woken up with had been left behind in the water.

2. It helps you feel more focused

Morning swims help you feel mentally and physically buoyed too, which can improve your concentration and decision-making for hours after you get out of your swimwear.

“A morning swim doesn’t solve all my problems, but it gives me a few minutes each morning where I feel grounded, capable, and connected. I always come home better able to deal with whatever is waiting for me,” says Sophie Hellyer, former professional surfer, outdoor swimmer and Dryrobe ambassador.

The cool temperature of water also releases endorphins and norepinephrine, which are the brain's natural 'feel-good' and focus chemicals.

“You’ll find that after a morning swim, you’ll have a reinvigorated, sustained mood boost, which is longer lasting than the peak and crash of a morning espresso. That calm, resilient energy can often stay with you all day,” says Celia.

But it's not just a feeling. Celia notes that just 20 minutes of moderate-intensity breaststroke has been shown to improve visuomotor performance, which includes hand-eye coordination, visual reaction time, and spatial awareness.

“The study also found swimming can acutely enhance cognitive function. In other words, a morning swim doesn't just wake up your body, it can also sharpen your mind and set you up for a more productive day.”

This was hugely beneficial for me, as someone who procrastinates. Back at my desk, I wanted to crack on with my to-do list and was more ready to do so than I had been the previous week.

3. Swimming is a full-body workout

One of the biggest benefits of a swimming workout is that it works almost every major muscle group, from your shoulders and back to your core and legs. Yet, the water's buoyancy reduces the strain on your joints and muscles, so it's a low-impact workout.

“Being in the water provides your body with a unique sense of support. The feeling of weightlessness reduces the impact on your joints and muscles. Hydrostatic pressure, a gentle, even pressure around the body, acts like a mild compression garment, helping to improve circulation and reduce swelling and inflammation,” says Celia.

If you want to improve your cardiovascular fitness and strength without too much impact on your joints, then a morning swim is the workout for you. I was happy to be waking my body up without feeling like I'd put it through a gruelling workout.

“You walk out feeling open through the chest, long through the spine and like your body’s been oiled rather than battered,” says Samantha Russo, an elite swim coach at Virgin Active UK who loves seeing more women over 40 discover swimming.

“As the upper back and shoulders become stronger, people stand taller and develop a different relationship with their body. Instead of asking, ‘What do I look like in these leggings?’, the question becomes, ‘What can my body do today?’ That’s powerful at any age, but especially through perimenopause and beyond.”

Water is considerably denser than air, creating natural resistance without the need for weights or high-impact movements. However, swimming isn't a weight-bearing exercise. That's why experts recommend combining swimming with progressive strength workouts, at the gym or at home, to help build stronger muscles and bones.

4. It helps healthy habits stick

Building new habits takes time. Celia is a big believer in making them as easy as possible to stick to. “For many people, mornings are the ideal time to establish a routine because they're generally free from the distractions, competing priorities and decisions that build up as the day goes on. By setting aside time for yourself first thing, you're less likely to let other commitments get in the way and by removing barriers and making the decision the night before, you're much more likely to follow through when the alarm goes off,” she says.

“Consistency isn't about relying on motivation every morning, it’s about creating a routine that makes the healthy choice the easiest one.”

Her advice is simple: Pack your swim bag, lay out your kit and leave everything by the door.

I'd also recommend a swim hat, goggles, and a flask of warming tea if you're heading out in chillier weather.

5. A morning swim is good for sleep

After just a few days of morning swims, I was falling asleep more easily, staying asleep for longer, and waking before my alarm feeling ready for the day. This isn't necessarily about swimming, but it is about swimming in the morning.

Morning light plays a key role in regulating your circadian rhythm, your body's internal clock and exercising first thing outdoors is a great way to expose yourself to natural light early in the day, says Celia. This helps encourage the body's sleep-wake cycle, and may help you sleep better in the evenings.

“While any exercise will increase cortisol to some degree, moderate-intensity activities like swimming generally produce a smaller stress response than more intense forms of exercise," she says. "This means you can enjoy the physical and mental benefits of exercise without placing as much additional stress on your body."

Getting outside for a morning swim also requires you to set an alarm, she notes, and this "consistent wake-up time promotes healthier sleep patterns, making it easier to fall asleep at night, improve sleep quality, and wake up feeling more refreshed".

I'm not sure whether it was the combination of daylight, fresh sea air or the swim itself. Instead of lying awake at 3 am with a racing mind, I felt genuinely sleepy at bedtime and slept more soundly through the night. I also found myself waking naturally around 5.30 am, feeling refreshed rather than groggy and ready for the day, and a dip.

Morning walks vs morning swims

Morning walks will always have a place in my routine, but swimming has earned one too. My aim now is to swim two or three mornings a week before breakfast, which feels realistic. I may not have the sea on my doorstep, but my local pool offers many of the same physical and mental benefits.

As autumn arrives and temperatures drop, an indoor pool will undoubtedly feel more inviting than open water, and having another way to move before breakfast means I can choose what suits my mood, the weather and my body that day. That's a habit worth holding on to.

As Samantha says, morning swimming isn’t about being 'disciplined' or 'hardcore'. It’s about gifting yourself a pocket of time where your body moves, your mind softens, and the day hasn’t had a chance to take over yet.

"Whether you give yourself 10 minutes of swimming or 40, whether you’re gliding serenely or stopping often to catch your breath, you’re still doing something profoundly kind for your future self when the rest of the world is still sleeping," she says.

Whether you're gearing up for marathon training or you're just looking to build up your miles, comfort is key. There's nothing more off-putting than a knee niggle thanks to under-supportive or worn-out running shoes.

I ran the Saucony London 10km in the Asics Superblast 3 running shoes, back in July on the first truly hot day of the year, and I could have kept moving past the finish line. Springy yet comfortable, these trainers do what few others manage and blend speed with support.

I've tried close to a hundred pairs of trainers in my time as woman&home's digital health editor. I've trained for two marathons, several half-marathons, and more 10km races than I care to remember. I've also seen my fair share of trail running shoes. While the Asics Superblast 3 sit on the higher side of the price spectrum, and I'd love to see a female fit in the future, these get almost 5 stars from me.

Asics Superblast 3 review

Specifications

• Size range: 2.5 - 14
• Weight: 253g per shoe
• Heel-to-toe drop: 8mm
• Waterproof version available: No

What are the Asics Superblast 3 like to wear?

Supremely comfortable and responsive are the words that first came to mind after taking the Asics Superblast 3 out for a spin. I ran 7km and immediately noticed how soft the soles felt. The wedge of lightweight cushioning means these truly feel like you're running on clouds. In the heat, I was also very grateful for the thin upper.

Thanks to the unisex fit, these shoes have a naturally wider toe box than others. I did notice that my regular size felt a little roomier than usual, but not so much I'd send them back for a smaller size.

While these shoes feel supportive when you're running (more on that later), they aren't the most stable to stand or walk around in. As I'm not used to stacked trainers in my daily life, I often find myself dragging the soles on the pavement when I walk in these. They are exclusively for running. So much so, I've walked to the gym in my Birkenstocks during this heatwave, only to change into them when I get there to use the treadmill. If you're looking for trainers you can run and walk in, I'd recommend the Asics Gel Nimbus 28 or Hoka Bondi 9 instead, or a dedicated pair of walking shoes.

What are the Asics Superblast 3 like to run in?

I felt I could jog along for hours in the Asics Superblast 3. It shouldn't be underestimated how comfortable they are. I worked my way through my 10km run, counting off kilometre after kilometre at a much faster pace than I'd done in training, supported by my shoes. By the end, my feet felt like they could have gone on longer (the rest of my body, not so much).

It's very easy to pick up the pace in these shoes. In fact, as noted, they feel a little wobbly at very slow paces. A jog is fine, but a very slow jog needs a different pair.

The Asics Superblast 3 are noticeably very lightweight, which helps avoid the heavy-footed feeling you sometimes get when trying to run faster when you're tired. They have brilliant energy return as well, so it feels like you're really bouncing through every step. Yet, I still felt stable.

The foam stack in the Asics Superblast 3 is what makes it feel this way. The top layer is called FF Leap foam, and it's been taken from the brand's line of premium racing shoes. It's bouncy and lightweight, built for speed. This is combined with FF Blast Plus foam on the bottom. This is more supportive. Together, they cradle the foot into a rocker shape and naturally push you forward.

To counteract the softness, there's also better support along the sides of the shoe to prevent any ankles from rolling in. For an overpronator like myself, this was a real win.

Who are the Asics Superblast 3 made for?

Since my 10km race, I've run several more times in the Asics Superblast 3, up to 25km, and they are still as comfortable as ever. These shoes would be a good pick for marathon or half-marathon events and training, where you need a little extra support over longer distances.

They are my new favourite for longer runs and for tempo workouts, when I'm trying to improve my speed or increase my running time. Typically, I don't like shoes made for fast workouts. They often have a strong rocker and don't feel stable enough. These don't have that problem, and I'd wear these for anything other than a truly easy run.

Are the Asics Superblast 3 worth buying?

Absolutely. While it's always worth getting a gait analysis test to make sure shoes like the Asics Superblast 3 are a good fit for your running style and feet, I would recommend these to most runners.

The £200 price tag isn't to be sniffed at, but the complementing foam layers go some way to justify the cost, and I have faith they'd stand the test of a few hundred miles.

If you're only going to invest in one pair of shoes, these are ones I'd recommend - provided you're doing more than an easy jog.

You may remember the 12-3-30 workout from a few years ago. Its simple premise and set-up made it a viral sensation on social media - and a great option for those looking to get fitter, maintain muscle, and improve their balance. In 2026, it's as good as ever.

The 12-3-30 is a treadmill workout made popular by influencer Lauren Giraldo. She said: "I used to be so intimidated by the gym, and it wasn't motivating. But now I go and do this one thing, and I can feel good about myself."

In a similar vein, I swapped my after-work walking workout for this session when the ongoing summer heat took a toll on my motivation. I decided it was too hot outside, so I headed to the gym and revisited the 12-3-30 for all its low-impact cardio benefits.

How to do the 12-3-30 workout

The 12-3-30 workout is very simple. Lace up your running shoes and hop on a treadmill, then follow these steps:

• Adjust your incline to 12.
• Increase speed to 3mph or 4.8kph, depending on your treadmill settings)
• Set a 30-minute timed workout on your machine or fitness tracker

If this feels too hard at the beginning, set the incline to three or four instead of 12 and challenge yourself to hold the pace for as long as possible. Build up your time and gradient as you get fitter and stronger.

The speed at which you progress will be different for everyone, so don’t compare yourself - work at the level that’s right for you. It should feel challenging, but not so much so that you feel out of breath and can't continue.

It's also important to maintain good form as you walk. Engage your core, keep your shoulders back and your head up. Always look straight ahead, rather than down at your feet on the treadmill.

The 12-3-30 workout is a more efficient and effective cardiovascular workout compared to flat-surface walking, says Amanda Place, a certified personal trainer and the founder of Sculptrition. "It also can help with engaging various muscle groups, burning calories, and promoting overall fitness," she says, making it a great workout for beginners.

Benefits of the 12-3-30 workout

1. Builds fitness

When I first started exercising properly, about seven years ago, I found that my cardio fitness was letting me down. It was uncomfortable to work out for any longer than 10 minutes in one go.

I've seen how good the 12-3-30 workout is for building fitness. Today, 10 minutes into the workout, I was in my zone 2 heart rate. This is known as the aerobic zone, and it's about a 6 or 7 out of 10 for intensity. You should be able to have a conversation but not sing. It's ideal for building a baseline of cardiovascular fitness, no matter your fitness level.

A recent study by Queen's University found that this heart rate zone improves cardiovascular fitness by enhancing capillary density (how many blood vessels in a muscle) and stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped out of the heart in every heartbeat) with minimal recovery time or joint stress.

There are ways you can adjust the 12-3-30 workout to make it harder. For instance, adding ankle weights or a weighted vest adds resistance to your legs and glutes, and requires you to focus more on core stability.

2. Low impact

The softer surface of the treadmill and slower pace put less pressure on the joints compared to activities like running. This means less chance of injury and discomfort post-workout and more chance of round two later in the week.

"Unlike high-impact exercises, such as running or jumping, the 12-3-30 workout is low-impact. This makes it suitable for individuals with joint issues or new to exercise," says Amanda.

3. Maintains heart health

It's well-established by health bodies and expert facilities, including the Mayo Clinic and Ohio State University, that aerobic exercise like power walking and running helps keep the heart healthy.

The extra effort compared to regular walking makes it work harder to push blood (containing oxygen) around the body. The heart is a muscle just like any other, the more you use it, the more effective it is. In turn, this lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and other serious diseases.

4. Maintains muscle

Trust me, by the time you've done 20 minutes of walking at a 12% incline, you'll be feeling your glutes (buttocks), hamstrings, calves, and lower back working overtime.

Walking uphill forces the muscles at the back of your body, known as the posterior chain, to work harder than they would on the flat ground. This is just enough pressure to preserve the muscle that you have without stressing your joints.

You can further maintain and grow that muscle by combining the 12-3-30 workout with regular full-body strength workouts in the gym.

5. Versatile

While the heatwave rages on, I wouldn't blame anyone for putting exercise last on the list of priorities. However, this workout can be done under the cooling air conditioning in your local gym or in front of the fan, if you have a treadmill at home.

It's also only half an hour. Most people will be able to find this time in their day, either by adding it into an existing routine (like at the end of a dumbbell workout in the gym) or by waking up half an hour earlier. Make the most of the cool mornings.

As many as 8 in 10 women say that time is their biggest limiting factor when it comes to exercise. I certainly fit in this camp. Yet, even in a busy and hot week, I found the time to do the 12-3-30 workout four times. Next week, I'll be aiming for five times.

Can you do the 12-3-30 workout every day?

Yes, if you're looking for a daily exercise, the 12-3-30 workout could be a great choice. The NHS recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week, divided up across seven days. You'd only need to do this workout five times a week to hit this target, leaving plenty of time for rest, recovery, and other workouts.

The experts recommend alternating between the 12-3-30 and strength-focused workouts, like a 30-minute dumbbell workout or an upper-body dumbbell workout, to help maintain and grow the muscles somewhat neglected by cardio. For example, you could do the 12-3-30 three times a week and a type of strength training twice a week to hit the overall quota.

Being able to reach above your head, go up stairs, and pick bags up from the floor may not sound like a challenge now, but we all lose at least some mobility with age.

According to the NHS, everyone loses up to 8% of their muscle mass every 10 years between 30 and 50. After 50 and menopause, this rises to 10% unless we do something about it. That something? Strength training.

Olympic hurdler Sally Gunnell is a personal trainer and dedicated strength coach for women. There are a few moves you can do now to ensure you stay moving well into your 80s and beyond, she says. These are known as functional exercises. They mirror movements we make in daily life, strengthening the muscles we need to do them.

One-arm rows

Rows are a staple exercise as they work multiple muscles at once. This one-arm row requires a set of dumbbells and a stable stance, so you can rest on a gym bench or study chair if you need to. Otherwise, follow Sally's demonstration...

Here's how to do a one-arm row:

• Come down into a lunge position, but keep your back leg straight out behind you and turn your foot outwards.
• Rest your arm on your front leg, if needed, and make sure your back stays straight through the movement.
• Taking your dumbbell in the opposite hand to your bent leg, row from a straight arm position towards your hips.
• Move as though you're trying to put the dumbbell in your back pocket.
• Repeat on both sides.

Shoulder press

The shoulders are among the most underrated muscles. The shoulder press is the perfect movement to ensure they get the attention they deserve in an upper-body dumbbell workout.

Here's how to do a shoulder press:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding your dumbbells at shoulder level. Turn your elbows out slightly.
• Brace your core and squeeze your glutes (buttocks).
• Press the weights up over your head until your arms are straight at the top.
• Slowly, lower the weights back down with control.
• Repeat the movement.

Split squats

Single-leg exercises like walking lunges and split squats build strength in the lower-body muscles, such as the quadriceps (thighs) and glutes. They also boost balance, as you have to use the smaller muscles to stabilise your body during the exercise.

How to do split squats:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, then take a step back into a lunge position. Hold your dumbbell in the opposite hand to your front leg.
• Make sure most of your weight is planted through your front foot by lifting your back heel from the floor.
• Bend both knees and bring your back knee down until it sits a few inches off the floor.
• Push through your front foot to come back to standing.
• Repeat the movement on both legs.

Other exercises to include

Want to turn Sally's 3-move workout into a longer session? Add in some of the best exercises for longevity. These include:

• Squats or sit-to-stand exercises
• Press-ups (either flat on your yoga mat or against a wall)
• Plank
• Deadlifts or Romanian deadlifts

Zoe Saldaña's priority is strength training for the future. Weights in the gym, working with a personal trainer, and doing compound exercises (working multiple muscles at once) are the actress's focuses as she approaches 50.

Not least because she's playing a character at peak fitness, about the same age as her, in Yellowstone director Taylor Sheridan's Lioness. Ahead of the third season, Zoe told US Today: "Weight training is essential, especially for women of a certain age. It gives you strength you never thought you had, and that gives me so much confidence. It's like you can do difficult things. Building muscle for [character] Joe inspired me."

It didn't always look this way, she told the Wall Street Journal. "I was a big fan of Pilates for like 20 years. Now that I'm in my 40s, these last two or three years [I have had a] discovery and education around weights. Twenty years ago, I would have been against it. I just felt like we didn't really need it if we were doing cardio," she says.

"Rediscovering techniques that you would have otherwise disregarded" has been really interesting, she says, at an age "when your body needs a little more of a shake up and a lot more attention".

Taking to Instagram ahead of the show's latest season, Zoe said: "Showing up to stay strong. For me. For my family and for all women. 💪🏽" and shared her latest gym workout.

Zoe Saldaña's weights workout

Single-leg deadlifts

Single-leg exercises are among the best glute exercises you can do. They boost lower-body strength, and they improve balance. Working one leg at a time means you have to engage your core and use the tiny stabilising muscles in the ankles, knees, and hips.

Here's how to do it:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, then step forward on one leg and put your body weight through this front leg only.
• Keep a soft bend in your front leg, hinge back (push your buttocks to the back of the room), and grab the kettlebell off the floor with the hand that's opposite your standing leg.
• Make sure your back stays straight and your hips stay facing forward.
• Push through your front leg only to come to standing.
• Repeat the movement.

Squats

Zoe turns a typical squat exercise up a notch by standing with one foot on a step. The added height means she can come down lower than normal and get more of a stretch through her glutes and hamstrings.

Here's how to do it:

• Set up two steps, grab a dumbbell by the plate, and place one of your feet on each of the platforms so you're comfortable.
• Hold the dumbbell between your legs, lowering it between the platforms.
• Complete the squat as normal, as if you're sitting down on a chair behind you.
• At the bottom of the movement, push through your feet to come to standing.

Hip thrusts

Hip thrusters require a barbell, two plates, and if you want to really feel the burn, a resistance band wrapped just above the knees. This forces all the muscles in your glutes to continually work through the movement, instead of taking a break at the bottom.

If you're doing this workout at home, you can take a similar resistance band to Zoe's and do a glute bridge instead. This works all the same muscles.

Here's how to do it:

• To set up for the exercise, place your shoulder blades on a bench behind you and see where your feet naturally sit when you bend your knees to a right angle. This is your foot placement.
• Roll the barbell to your hips.
• Bracing your core, push through your feet to bring the barbell up so your back lays horizontal with the bench. Keen your chin tucked in, and squeeze your glutes at the top.
• Slowly lower back down.

Expert tip: If this foot placement doesn't quite feel right, sit with your back against the bench and straighten your legs. Where your knees are is the perfect foot placement, so make a mark on the floor in this area and use it as a marker for your feet.

Swapping Pilates for strength workouts meant a whole new routine for Zoe, but her personal trainer, Elena Ferretti, says it's not always a perfect one.

Writing in the caption of her own Instagram post, Elena said: "Training doesn't happen when everything is perfect. It happens between calls, chaos, and real life.

"And yes - even a short session counts when it’s done with intention." A lesson we could all learn!

The push-up is in almost every upper-body workout for women I've seen, yet most women (including myself, up until recently) can't do one. In fact, some data suggests that seven in 10 women would struggle to do the exercise without some training.

That's not on us. Women typically have less upper-body muscle mass than men. Our centre of mass is also towards our lower body and hips. But it is easy to start strength training and to build upper-body strength by working the arms, chest, back, and shoulders.

Mark Harris is an expert strength and conditioning coach, level 4 personal trainer, and an ambassador for Mirafit. He says there are two exercises he recommends for anyone looking to work their way up to a full push-up.

How to do push-ups for beginners

Dumbbell floor press

The dumbbell floor press is a great place to start, says Mark. "Performing the exercise lying on the floor prevents your elbows from travelling too far behind your body, as the ground naturally stops them in line with your shoulders. This makes it a safer and more controlled movement for beginners," he says.

It also still allows you to increase the weight as you get stronger, he adds. This is known as progressive overload, and it's what you need to get stronger.

How to do the dumbbell floor press:

• Sit on the floor with two dumbbells, one in each hand. Hold them upright.
• Roll back and lie down on a yoga mat or on the floor, making sure to keep the weights close to your chest.
• Keep your back flat, feet flat on the floor, and elbows at a 45-degree angle from your chest.
• Push the dumbbells up and over the middle of your chest.
• Once at the top of the movement, slowly bring your elbows down until they reach the floor.
• Pause for a moment, then repeat the movement.

Plank

Not everyone likes planks, but Mark says they are "essential" to develop the core stability needed for push-ups.

Here's a reminder of how to do a plank:

• Lie face-down on the floor or on your yoga mat, resting on your forearms.
• Make sure your elbows are right under your shoulders.
• Lift your body up, making sure to keep a straight line from your head to toes.
• Brace your core and squeeze your buttocks.
• Hold this position.

Mark's tips for doing push-ups

Another way to progress to a regular push-up is to do it against a higher surface, he says. "Start with wall push-ups, standing a short distance from the wall and pressing away from it instead of the floor. As your strength improves, you can gradually reduce the angle by moving to a sturdy kitchen worktop or similar elevated surface before progressing to the floor," he says.

"Just make sure it's not a movable kitchen island – I know someone who learned that lesson the hard way!"

Strength and balance are what doctors call 'key mobility indicators'. The stronger you are and the better balance you have, the more likely you are to stay independent with age - and that's what we all want.

A new study from Penn State College of Medicine has found that doing four minutes of strength training every day can boost strength and balance considerably in adults over 65, in as little as 12 weeks.

"The human body is designed to improve very quickly, and just a few repetitions of an exercise performed regularly can lead to huge improvements," says Christopher Sciamanna, professor of medicine and of public health at the college.

"Exercise is about forward thinking - think about what you want to be able to do and train for it," he says.

The study, published in PLOS One, involved almost 100 participants with an average age of 74. Before the study, the participants did about 18 minutes of exercise each week, which is well below the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise recommended by the NHS and other bodies.

The Penn State 4-minute workout

In the study, participants completed each of the following exercises for 30 seconds, followed by a 30-second break. You can set a timer or use a fitness tracker to keep an eye on the seconds. They did each exercise once per day.

Each participant had a set of resistance bands and an adjustable stepper to do the exercises. You could also use dumbbells if you have them already.

• Assisted push-ups: Place hands slightly wider than shoulder-width against a wall or stable surface (e.g. kitchen countertop) and lower yourself down until you're a couple of inches away. The higher your hands are, the easier it will feel.
• Chair stands: Also called sit-to-stand, this exercise is essentially sitting and standing from a chair unassisted. You can also do squats, but make sure to keep your hands on your knees or hips.
• Two-arm rows: Hold each end of the resistance band, stepping on the bottom to keep it in place. Row the band towards your hips, as if you're putting them into your back pockets.
• Stair stepping: One leg at a time, step up and down from a stable surface. You could also walk up the stairs in your home.

After 12 weeks, the researchers found that this exact workout was enough to create "significant improvements in functional performance". Participants could do an average of four more repetitions in the chair stand test, stand on one leg for three more seconds, and move more quickly from sitting to standing by over two seconds.

This shows how useful the balance exercises are in this workout for healthy ageing. The movements reflect many we do in everyday life. This is called functional exercise, and it helps reduce the risk of falls in later life and helps with everyday activities like climbing stairs, carrying bags, and standing up.

This study was the second one done by the team. The first was a study called FAST (Functional Activity Strength Training). Here, 24 adults performed 30 seconds of push-ups and squats daily, with improved performance over six months.

Other studies, including one in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, have found that a few exercises every week can create the same improvements in strength and balance as longer workouts.

This is key. Exercise recommendations from the NHS suggest that all adults should do at least two days of strengthening exercise every week. Yet, data from NHS England suggests that fewer than one in five do, down to issues with routine, access, and pain.

While this workout still doesn't equal the 150-minute minimum exercise requirements, it's a good start. Participants went from doing under 20 minutes of exercise a week to following the workout over 80% of the time during the study.

"If we can make it short, we’re partway there," said Sciamanna. "These indicators predict your future ability to go into a nursing home, your future likelihood of falling and of developing difficulty walking. They give you a sense of whether or not you're going to be able to be active in the future."

You won't find Hannah Waddingham in the gym, but the star says she always makes time to "activate" her muscles with short daily workouts and quick bursts of exercise.

Her favourite workout? Calisthenics. This is the practice of using bodyweight movements like squats to challenge strength, balance, and endurance, as in any weighted strength workout.

It's this exercise that the star recommends to her friends. "Activate your muscles - every day. People are very lovely; they talk about my arms. I just keep activated. And never underestimate the value of doing squats the whole time you're brushing your teeth," she tells Women's Health.

Squats are a compound exercise, meaning they work multiple muscles at the same time. Hannah is building strength, stability, and balance at her bathroom sink in as few as two minutes at the start and end of each day.

Otherwise, Hannah says she doesn't do loads of exercise. "Just calisthenics [with] my own body weight and some light weights for 20 minutes in the morning," she says.

Hannah learnt the value of bodyweight exercises after returning to exercise from a back injury a few years ago. After doing no exercise at all for a year and a half, she told Glamour magazine: "I've come out the other side of it now, and so I need to get back into [exercise]. But having been a dancer all my life, Pilates, reformer Pilates, and band work, your own weight is great for the female form."

All of these workouts use bodyweight exercise to some degree, and studies support the practice for healthy ageing. Not just for the body, either. A study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reviewed older adults and found improvements in decision-making processes, attention span, and general brain health after a dedicated bodyweight workout program.

Benefits of squats

• Boosts full-body strength: Squats aren't just a quadriceps exercise. You'll feel them in your glutes (buttocks), core muscles, and back.
• Improves posture: As squats train the core and back, and force you to straighten your back to do the exercise properly, your posture will naturally improve.
• Boosts bone density: Squats are a loaded exercise. Every time you squat down, you load your legs, spine, and hips, boosting bone density and helping to ward off conditions like osteoporosis.
• Great for progression: How many squats can you do in two minutes? Make a note and see if you can increase it from one week to the next. You'll know you're getting stronger and fitter if the number goes up.
• No equipment required: As good as a set of dumbbells can be, you don't need any equipment to do regular squats and get stronger.

If you're looking to get back into regular exercise like Hannah did, combining something you're already doing with a new practice is worth trying. It's known as habit stacking.

James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, made the concept popular, but it essentially helps you introduce a new habit into your life by linking it up with an old one. E.g. doing squats (new) while brushing your teeth (old). That way, you remember to do it regularly.

Hip pain is no fun for anyone, especially those of us who love to hike and run. But it doesn’t always mean you’re dealing with an injury, and as I found out, sometimes there’s an easy fix.

A couple of years ago, I developed muscle pain in my outer hip, a few inches above the hip joint. It was always worse after a run. It improved if I took a break from my running shoes for a bit. I tried everything to fix it: massage, foam rolling and endless stretching. Nothing helped.

Finally, I consulted a physiotherapist. I expected to get a tendonitis diagnosis and a prescription for rest. Instead, after a thorough examination to rule out injury, she handed me a resistance band and told me to start strengthening my gluteus medius with lateral leg raises. Within a week, my pain was gone.

What is a lateral leg raise?

A lateral leg raise is a glute exercise, meaning it targets muscles in the buttocks. It's particularly beneficial for the gluteus medius, one of three large muscles in the area. When a lateral leg raise is done with a resistance band, the exercise helps "improve strength, endurance, and neuromuscular control of this muscle," says Paula Ralph, a physiotherapist and former endurance cyclist.

Paula explains that when stabiliser muscles in the hip and knee aren't working effectively, the gluteus medius is forced to work harder. As the muscle sits on the outer side of the pelvis, covering much of the hip, this can lead to overload and pain in the hips.

"If weakness or poor stability is the underlying issue, repeatedly stretching the muscle does little to address why it is being overloaded in the first place," she says.

You can do lateral leg raises just about anywhere to strengthen your outer hips and core stabiliser muscles, as long as you have a resistance band. I bring mine along on every work trip and holiday. I’ve now been pain-free for over a year, and I make these movements a regular part of my fitness routine.

How to do lateral leg raises with a resistance band

• Place the resistance band around your thighs, just above your knees.
• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and if balance is an issue, place one hand on a wall or chair to steady yourself.
• Brace your standing leg so that it doesn’t move, then press your other leg as far out to the side as you can.
• Bring it back in, then bend your knee and draw it up in line with your belly button.
• Repeat 10 times on each leg.

There are a few different approaches to strengthening the gluteus medius, but the lateral leg raise was recommended to me as it also strengthens my hip flexors. These small muscles can often be weak in runners and contribute to hip pain.

Benefits of lateral leg raises

• Improves running form: “Since the glute medius acts as a hip stabiliser, strengthening it helps to protect correct alignment in the lower body," says personal trainer Eloise Skinner.
• May help prevent hip pain: “Keeping the glute medius strong also reduces tendon damage and can promote healthy healing of damaged tendons in this area, reducing the overall feeling of pain or discomfort," she says.
• Improves lower-body stability: “If the stabilising muscles around the hip are not functioning efficiently, or if the body lacks adequate control through the pelvis and trunk, the glute med can become overworked and eventually painful,” says Paula.
• Improves balance: The gluteus medius' job is to move your leg out to the side (hip abduction). It plays a critical role in stabilising your pelvis when you are standing on one leg. This means it is working continuously whenever you are running or walking.

While the lateral leg raise is a great strength training exercise for runners, there could also be other reasons for your hip pain. Paula recommends checking how you run, how often you run, your footwear choices, mobility, and even how tired you are to understand the muscle weakness.

“The key is identifying why the muscle is being asked to work harder than it should rather than simply treating the symptom," she says. Speak to a physiotherapist if you're unsure what's causing the issue and for alternative treatment options.

We all lose our balance occasionally, but there’s a difference between tripping now and then and a declining ability to move. This puts our long-term health and independence at risk.

Falls are one of the most common causes of injury and hospitalisation in the UK. Whatever your age, it's never too early or late to do more balance exercises. A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that those in their mid-50s who couldn't stand on one leg for 10 seconds had a higher mortality risk.

GP Dr Amir Khan, woman&home's resident doctor, previously told us: "As we age, we naturally lose joint flexibility, and some of the sensory feedback from our feet and inner ear that keeps us steady. Hormonal changes, particularly during the menopause and perimenopause, can also affect muscle strength and coordination. The result is a higher risk of falls, trips, and injuries, even in otherwise fit women."

It's why balance exercises like standing on one leg are so important. "Balance relies on muscle strength, coordination, vision, and the inner ear," he says, and this single-leg exercise can help improve some of these factors.

"As we get older, these systems naturally decline, and poor balance is one of the biggest risk factors for falls," he says. "Simple and powerful, this is one of those small daily habits that add up over time."

Simply stand on one leg for the first minute as you brush and then switch to the other leg for the second minute, Dr Khan says. “It engages your core, strengthens your stabilising muscles and improves something called proprioception, your body’s awareness of its position. And if you want to make it even harder, try it with your eyes closed.”

Dr Khan says this balance exercise is an example of 'habit stacking', which "means linking a healthy behaviour to something you already do. So no extra time and no gym needed". You're already brushing your teeth, so why not work to improve your balance at the same time?

Other healthy morning habits we can add to our morning routines for better sleep and energy throughout the day include hydrating before caffeine and getting outside in the first 10 minutes after waking up.

Other ways to improve your balance

• Strength training: There are many bodyweight or weighted exercises we can do to improve our balance. These include lunges, sit-to-stands, and squats. These will all strengthen your legs, glutes and core, improving balance, mobility and stability.
• Exercise: Yoga, Pilates, dancing and Tai Chi all include movements to help you practice balance techniques. There are one-legged poses which require focus, mind-body engagement and coordination.
• Lifestyle: Not sleeping and eating well can also affect your balance, energy levels and risks of a fall. Try to get eight hours of sleep a night and eat a balanced diet.
• Speak to your doctor: If you feel dizzy or frequently off-balance, speak to a professional. They will check if there’s an underlying health problem causing it. Some medications can also affect your balance.

The summer is upon us! Mine involves a lot of family activities with my three energetic children. We’re going to be hiking and paddleboarding in Dorset, plus swimming, cycling and playing football on holiday with friends. I exercise regularly, but I started including the wall sit exercise in my strength training routine as a hiking exercise to make sure my body could keep up.

Knee pain is something I experience from time to time, especially when walking downhill or running. I think it’s an age problem, but it’s not something I want to get any worse, so I asked my physiotherapist for a knee and leg-strengthening exercise I could easily do at home.

Wall sits are an isometric exercise, meaning you do it in one place, completely still. It's a bodyweight exercise and an underrated way to strengthen all the muscles in the lower body, from the tiny hip flexors to the largest muscle in the body - the glutes.

“Strong muscles are a stress shield to your joints," explains Helen O’Leary, physiotherapist at Complete Pilates. "If you already have knee pain, the wall sit exercise can be particularly helpful for relieving the discomfort for some people, especially if you can’t tolerate moving your knee through range.”

How to do the wall sit exercise

• Stand around a foot away from the wall, with your back to it and your feet hip-width apart.
• Keeping your whole back against the wall, side down until your knees are bent to about 90 degrees.
• Hold this position for about 30 seconds if you can.
• Stand up by driving through your heels.
• Repeat three times.

Benefits of wall sit exercise

1. Reduces knee pain

The wall sit exercise works to reduce knee pain as it strengthens the quadriceps (thighs) without putting pressure on the joint, as you would in a squat, lunge or other quadriceps exercise.

Doing an isometric exercise like this one also helps to build endurance and stability in the area, which works to reduce pain as well. Exercises that put a lot of pressure on the knee, like running and hiking, require this.

I'm looking forward to pulling on my walking shoes this summer and feeling lighter on the downhill as a result of doing this exercise.

2. Builds leg strength

I found that doing three sets of 30-second wall sits every day for two weeks really improved my leg strength. I do a lot of squats during my weekly Pilates and weight training sessions, but I rarely have to hold my legs in position for as long as a wall sit requires.

The first few times I did it, my thighs shook, and I felt incredibly hot and sweaty. It reminded me of how I feel when I have to hold a plank. But as the weeks went on, my quads, hamstrings and calves became used to the static position, and I was able to sit with my hips lower.

Moving my feet impacted the intensity. When I pressed the ground through the balls of my feet, I could feel a greater burn in my quads. When I pressed into my heels, I could feel it more in my glutes. If I pulled my heels back, I could feel it more in my hamstrings.

3. It switched on my core muscles

The core is important when doing a wall sit. You need to maintain an upright posture and keep your back on the wall, and this uses the abdominal muscles, obliques, and lower back.

As the seconds built up, I could feel these muscles switching on to support my stability and help me maintain good posture against the wall.

4. Good for heart health

Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that isometric exercise can help lower high blood pressure in those with mild elevation, Helen points out.

“In the research protocol, the wall sit is recommended for two minutes," she tells me. "Make sure you are not holding your breath for this time, as it can actually increase blood pressure instead."

5. A mindful moment

Focusing on how you breathe when exercising can improve stamina and lung capacity, but it can also increase the endorphins that flow around the body post-exercise.

I used breathwork to help me get through the pain and shakiness of my legs during my daily wall sits, and found that inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth made the time go faster and helped me stay in position for longer.

It was also a mindful moment in my day, giving me a chance to turn my brain off for a moment. Life is busy but taking time away from my desk to just lean against the wall, breathe and wake up my muscles after sitting down felt so lovely. It became a welcome screen break, even with some mild discomfort.

How to make the wall sit exercise easier

There are adaptations you can make to avoid aggravating or causing any injuries. Helen says you can “reduce the time that you hold the exercise for. You might need to start with 5 or 10 seconds and build up your endurance gradually”.

You can also “reduce the range of motion", she says. "Slide only half the distance if you need to. This will be helpful if you sense that you may struggle to slide back up the wall again."

Anyone can do a wall sit of some kind. You can also experiment with taking your feet wider or moving closer to the wall, holding onto two chairs for support as you lower down or rise to stand.

As you get stronger, you’ll notice you can bend deeper and hold the position for longer. You might even be able to hold a couple of light dumbbells at the same time.

If you really struggle to do a wall sit, squats or sit-to-stand exercises, where you sit down on a chair and strengthen the leg muscles by rising to standing without using your hands, are good alternative quadricep exercises.

Speak to a physio or PT if you have any questions about your form or whether wall sits are suitable for you.

If you ask most personal trainers about the ideal number of strength training sessions to have every week, they'll say between two and three - or even more, depending on your goal. That's regardless of age, too.

It's fair to say this won't be a possibility for everyone, whether that's constraints with time or physical ones like tiredness or joint pain.

That doesn't mean you can't make progress if you're over 60 and looking to get stronger, says Ema Buckle, a personal trainer and women's fitness specialist in her 50s. "The biggest message is that it isn’t too late to start thinking about your health and fitness," she tells woman&home. With three simple focuses, you can get the most out of all the best exercises for women over 60 in just one day in the gym or one dumbbell home workout a week.

1. Prioritise functional movement

"As we age, certain movements get harder to perform, such as sitting to standing, bending over to pick something up, or reaching up to put items away," says Ema. Focusing on functional movements can help you stay mobile throughout life. These should be the priority of you can only lift weights once a week.

"These exercises mimic real life activities, significantly reduce your risk of injury, and preserve your everyday independence," she says.

Functional movements include exercises like:

• Squats: Bending your knees and lowering your body to the floor, as if you're sitting on a chair behind you. It works your quadriceps (thighs), glutes (buttocks), lower back, and core muscles, among others.
• Hinges: Bending at your hips, keeping a flat back, picking something off the floor without bending your knees. This is mostly seen in deadlift exercises.
• Lunge: Builds single-leg balance, stability, and strength by working one leg at a time.
• Push exercises: This could be a chest press, shoulder press, or leg press, with a machine or free weights. It helps with activities like walking and reaching above your head.
• Pull exercises: Think opening a door or taking something down from a high shelf. Exercises like a lat pull down or rows help with this.
• Carry: A farmer's carry is one of the most useful carry exercises, as it closely mirrors carrying shopping bags or suitcases.
• Rotation: Even turning to look behind you can get harder. Rotation exercises, like Russian twists, build core strength and stability to help you do this.

"Find a class that caters to you or a personal trainer who will listen to your needs and give you the basics," says Ema.

2. Focus on full-body workouts

If you can only get into the gym once a week, then you've got to work on each muscle group, instead of doing an upper-body workout one week and a lower-body workout the next. To get stronger, target all the muscles in the body in one session.

As a beginner, I'd adopt a whole-body session, concentrating on the larger muscle groups," says Ema. "These support the majority of our daily movements."

This could be a simple 20-minute kettlebell workout or a 30-minute dumbbell workout. Just because you're working out once a week doesn't mean it has to take hours.

3. Always focus on progressive overload

When you lift weights, you get stronger. Your weights have to get heavier or your workout has to get harder as you get stronger to continue seeing progress. This is progressive overload.

"When you are ready, this type of training is going to help build bone density and combat age-related muscle loss," says Ema. "Start with a low weight and work on your technique."

There are two ways to make sure you're progressively overloading your exercises, says the trainer: increase the amount of reps per set or increase the weight.

"You wouldn't increase week on week, but every four to six weeks, or as the exercise gets easier to perform," she says.

Nutrition is just as important as exercise when it comes to getting stronger. "Muscles require adequate nutrition to fuel and repair," says Ema.

"Aim to consume quality protein (such as eggs, fish, lean meats or plant based alternatives). The recommended amount is 1g per kilogram of bodyweight (for a sedentary adult). However, if you are active, 1.2g will help support muscle growth and recovery," she says.

"I'd recommend a breakfast of two eggs (cooked any way you like) with toast, and then a tuna or lean meat sandwich (or veggie alternative) or lunch, followed by a dinner of salmon or steak and vegetables. You could also include a good quality protein shake after your workout," she says.

Whether you like to make sure you're hitting your step goal and getting eight hours of sleep or training for something special, having one of the best fitness trackers is a good idea. Samsung has just added one to the list - the brand new Samsung Galaxy Watch 9.

I took this one for a spin before its August release to see what's new and improved. The feature that impressed me most was the new Vitals metric. After seven days, you'll get your baseline for skin temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen, respiratory rate, and HRV. When these deviate from normal, you'll get a notification. Instead of simply being a fitness tracker, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 joins the ranks of the best Garmin watches and the Oura Ring 5 as a device that can cast a second glance over your everyday wellbeing.

After a week of wearing the watch every day and night, I can certainly see the benefits of upgrading, but there are a few details I'd suggest you look at before you do.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 review

Specifications

• Size: 42.7 x 40.4 x 8.6 (40mm) or 46.0 x 43.7 x 8.6 (44mm)
• Weight: 31.5g (40mm) or 34g (44mm)
• Materials: Aluminium, glass, silicone
• Battery life: Up to 40 hours (without always-on display)
• GPS: Dual-band (built-in, leave your phone at home)
• Waterproof: Up to 5ATM (50 meters)

Design of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 has a sleek, futuristic design with a round face fixed to a soft square bezel made of aluminium. I could argue the bezel could be made smaller in favour of a larger screen, but I actually love this feature. In the sea of bulky fitness trackers, it adds a stylish element to the watch, turning it from a basic watch into a stylish piece I actually want to wear, versus 'have' to wear.

I'd always suggest turning the 'always-on' function off to save battery life. In this case, battery life increases from up to 30 hours to 40 hours when you do. When the screen is on, it's bright. I could read it even in the scorching sun of midday. While it doesn't sound like anything serious, there's nothing more frustrating (or potentially hazardous) than having to squint at your watch to check your pace or distance during a run or hike.

Despite the 8mm height off the wrist, this watch sits flush and doesn't clip things around the house or in the gym. However, the durability of the aluminium bezel does concern me. As far as I'm aware, it hasn't been made especially scratch-resistant, and it could lose its sleek appearance over time if it's scratched or bumped.

Tracking workouts with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9

I can start a workout on my Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 in three taps. The Walking, Running, and Cycling workout modes are pre-loaded, and others are available from a drop-down menu. It's such an easy process. For a walking workout, you'll get duration, distance, steps, average speed, live speed, elevation gain, estimated calories burned, average heart rate, and live heart rate. All on one of the clearest and easiest-to-read screens I've seen on any fitness tracker.

I was very impressed by the additional features you could add to the workout. For example, a heart rate alert to warn if yours is above or below your desired range, and fuelling reminders at your desired distance. It turns this fitness tracker into a contender for one of the best running watches.

Should you forget to log a workout, don't worry. The watch is keeping tabs on your movements at all times, so you'll get a notification and a workout will automatically start. It's saved me on my walking workouts a few times.

When the workout is over, all your data will be available in the Samsung Health app. In here, I can see all my workouts and delve deep into what they mean for my overall fitness. For example, with the sparkling new Cardio load feature, I can set a goal (e.g., cardiovascular fitness or healthy weight) and see how my workouts have contributed to this and where I need to do more - or less.

The Fitness Index feature is also worth noting. This looks at all the pillars of fitness, including flexibility and endurance, and tells you where you're putting most of your efforts. I used this to help balance out my routine. I was doing way too much cardio and strength work and not enough flexibility training up until recently.

All of this is housed in easy-to-read formats with graphics and further information points. It goes to show that advanced insights don't always need to come packaged in advanced language or complicated layouts.

It's also how the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9, like other premium fitness trackers, helps women actively improve their fitness rather than just logging their workouts.

My only complaint is with logging strength workouts. This workout comes under the 'Weight Machines' profile, or you can be incredibly specific and install a whole workout for specific exercises, like press-ups. These are general workout modes. They don't count reps, sets, or break times. Given the advanced features available for running and walking, it would be great to have this as a focus in future models, as found in watches like the Coros Pace 4.

Sleep tracking with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9

Sleep tracking features on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 are impressively detailed. All you have to do is wear your watch to bed, and you'll get a Sleep Score in the morning, with a plethora of data about your night.

You'll get basic sleep duration and stages (REM, deep, light) insights, sleep latency (how long it took you to fall asleep after getting into bed), blood oxygen saturation, and skin temperature compared to your baseline. These last two metrics aren't ones I tend to look at very often, but laid out so clearly in the Vitals tab, they can detect if anything is straining your body. For example, if you're getting a cold, your skin temperature will be higher than normal. On other devices, this feature has warned me I'm under the weather before any symptoms.

Otherwise, the sleep-tracking information is very similar to what I've experienced on the likes of Garmin watches and Fitbit devices. So, if it's a sleep tracker you're after really, I'd recommend the Oura Ring 5. Sitting at about the same price, it offers more data on your overnight activities than most other devices.

Smartwatch features on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 is as much a smartwatch as it is a fitness tracker. You can essentially leave your Samsung phone at home, confident you can do pretty much everything from your watch.

I liked that the watch's smartwatch features are customisable. Some give you all the apps immediately on set-up, which can leave the screen feeling cluttered if you don't want all of them. On this watch, swipe right and add the tiles you want.

Choose from Google Maps, Spotify or YouTube Music (which you can play directly through your exercise headphones), calendars, alarms and timers, and Google's digital assistant. You can also pay using Samsung Wallet with the bottom side button.

Price of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 is available to buy online from £349. You can also buy it from Amazon, but only in the all-black colourway, and from Argos and Very, but only in black or white.

It is available to pre-order now, with deliveries sent out from August 3 2026.

This is a typical price for a smartwatch like this when compared to similar options like the Apple Watch Series 11 and Google Pixel Watch 4.

Why I'll keep wearing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9

The Galaxy Watch 9 continually impressed me with its advanced-yet-accessible features. While many other devices offer similar or the same insights as this watch, few do so in such a clear way. I can see all my insights at a glance, with the chance to dig deeper into the ones I'm most interested in at any time.

Vitals is the new feature that stood out to me most. Fitness Index and Cardio Load are also impressive additions, and together, they put it up there with performance-focused devices from Garmin and Coros.

Even with very little knowledge of fitness trackers, you can make the most of everything this watch has to offer - and it's a lot. Runners and hikers will be particularly happy with the offering, as well as anyone new to fitness or looking to improve their health.

Battery life is an issue with up to 40 hours (without 'always-on' screen), but it's a problem shared my similar devices with the same screen quality, GPS function, and third-party app connectivity, such as the Apple Watch or Google Pixel.

That being said, there seem to be more fitness trackers released every week, and each one is more advanced than the last. As woman&home's digital health editor, I get to test them all. While other brands might present the information differently, many offer the same insights as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 does.

The Huawei Watch Fit 4 Pro, for example, has very similar fitness and sleep tracking metrics (including skin temperature readings and an ECG). It also has a longer battery life (10 days) and is priced at £169 at the time of writing. It lacks the same AI functionality and comprehensive layout of the wellbeing insights, but is a fraction of the price.

The new Fitbit Air is just £84. This screenless tracker is backed by full Google functionality, offers many of the same sleep and fitness insights, and Gemini integration, much like this Samsung watch. It doesn't have any of the smartwatch features or an ECG sensor, however.

That's not to say the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 isn't fantastic. It has standout features worth investing in. The only real downside is the 40-hour battery life, but even that's pretty standard across similar watches with this screen quality. I'd just say, with so many options out there, I suggest weighing up Samsung vs Garmin and exploring at least a few others before investing.

A company in Japan selling pedometers - or, as the creators called it, manpo-kei (which translates to 'the 10,000-step meter') - came up with the goal as a marketing tactic. It's a nice round number that feels doable but still like a challenge, so it stuck around.

Well over 50 years later, we're still trying to clock in 10,000 steps a day on our fitness trackers. Researchers have published studies to assess whether the goal is actually beneficial, or whether we could do less and achieve just as many benefits of walking.

A meta-analysis published in The Lancet suggests age should determine how many steps we take every day to lower the risk of early death. In the review, 15 studies were examined. Results showed that between 6,000 and 8,000 steps was ideal for adults over 60. For those under 60, 8,000 to 10,000 steps was ideal. After these upper limits, the benefits levelled out. There weren't any additional benefits found in the additional 2,000 steps.

Other studies suggest we need to do even fewer steps. Research from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Medical University of Lodz found that a minimum of 3,867 steps every day can reduce the risk of early death from all causes. As few as 2,337 steps a day were found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

For every 1,000 steps, the study found the risk of premature death from all causes reduced by 15%. A 500-step increase lowered the risk by 7%.

The NHS recommends all adults do 150 minutes (two and a half hours) of moderate-intensity exercise every week. This is exercise that raises your heart rate, makes you breathe faster and sweat more, but you can still hold a conversation. Examples include brisk walking or basic walking workouts.

How to do more steps

• Move around the house: If you keep busy with household chores and multiple trips around the house, up and down the stairs, you could easily clock in 10,000 steps at home.
• Use a walking pad: These small treadmills can be a great solution if you're struggling to clock in your steps. They fold out and tuck under desks for working and walking.
• Try intervals: If you find strolling boring, try an interval workout. This alternates fast and slow walking to raise your heart rate and get your steps up. It's as much a challenge for the mind as it is for the body.
• Mix long with short walks: As the research shows, the more steps you take, the better. Plan a mix of walks varying in length to prevent boredom and reach the 150-minute target.

Kettlebells are one of the more underrated pieces of fitness equipment to have at home. The unique shape challenges balance as much as the weight challenges strength, turning even the most basic exercises into a full-body workout.

That's why even just a 20-minute kettlebell workout can get the job done. "Kettlebells are incredibly versatile," says Jessica Robinson, a level 3 personal trainer and Mirafit ambassador. "They can be used for both strength training and cardiovascular conditioning within the same session. You can perform controlled strength exercises such as deadlifts, goblet squats, and shoulder presses, as well as explosive, dynamic movements like kettlebell swings and snatches. These ballistic exercises are a unique benefit of kettlebells and are often more effective and comfortable to perform than with dumbbells."

With no sign of the heat letting up, I know I'm not the only one who has resorted to doing as little as possible. I asked Jessica for her quick workout recommendation, and she created one exclusively for woman&home to boost strength, mobility, and cardiovascular fitness in just a few moves.

20-minute kettlebell workout

Complete each exercise for the given number of repetitions, before moving onto the next one. Do each exercise one after the other, one round after the other, working continuously for 20 minutes. If you need to take a break, do so.

Kettlebell swings

• Stand shoulder-width apart with a kettlebell between your legs.
• Hinge (push your bottom to the back of the room, keeping a soft bend in your knees and your back straight) at the hips and grab the weight with both hands.
• Drive your hips forward in one powerful move, using the momentum (not your arms) to swing the weights to chest height.
• Keep your elbows tight to the sides of your body, and your core braced.
• Control the weight's return to the starting position.
• Repeat this exercise nine times, then move on to the next one.

Front squats

• Hold two kettlebells in the front rack position - grab the handle and turn the kettlebell upside down, resting the bells against the outside of your forearms and shoulders. Keep your elbows bent and pointing forward slightly.
• Keep your elbows at around 90 degrees, and your core braced.
• Squat down until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, keeping your chest tall throughout.
• Repeat the squat 15 times, then move onto the next exercise.

Mountain climbers

• Begin in a high plank with your shoulders positioned over your hands.
• Alternate driving each knee towards your chest whilst maintaining a stable pelvis and torso.
• Repeat this exercise 21 times before taking a short rest or moving into the kettlebell swings again.

Is a 20-minute kettlebell workout enough?

Working continuously with a kettlebell for 20 minutes is more than enough exercise to see changes in your cardiovascular fitness and strength if you do it often enough. The NHS recommends 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise every week. If you did this 20-minute kettlebell workout four times per week, you'd meet this.

Many people weigh up kettlebells vs dumbbells when they are choosing exercise kit for their home workouts. Jessica says that kettlebells are "often more effective and comfortable" than dumbbells.

"Kettlebells are an excellent tool for home workouts because they are versatile, space-efficient, and suitable for people of all fitness levels," she says. "One of their biggest advantages is that they allow you to perform full-body exercises, making your workouts more time-efficient by training multiple muscle groups at once."

Kettlebells also don't take up very much space at home and can replace some larger pieces of equipment.

If you're a runner or a hiker like me, you'll know the importance of having a strong core. It's also essential for everyday movements like twisting and bending down. Last year, a trainer told me they'd swapped the regular plank for the Copenhagen plank, and I did the same after hearing the benefits.

The Copenhagen plank appealed to me more than other core exercises and side plank variations I've tried in the past. I could support myself throughout the movement, so I avoided wobbling while still challenging my balance and stability. In a regular side plank, where you rest on your feet, I find there's not enough support. I spend more time readjusting to avoid pushing my ankles into the floor than actually doing the exercise.

The foot elevation in the Copenhagen plank helps with this. Mark Harris, level 4 PT and Mirafit ambassador, says the biggest difference between a Copenhagen plank and other varieties is the muscles they target.

"This plank shifts the emphasis towards the muscles along the sides of the body, particularly the adductors on the inside of the thighs," he says. "It's performed one side at a time, so it's also a useful unilateral exercise that can help identify and reduce side-to-side imbalances."

How to do the Copenhagen plank

• Bring a weight bench or stool (if doing the exercise at home) near your feet.
• Come down into a plank, resting on your forearm. Make sure your elbow is under your shoulder.
• Place the inside of your top foot onto the bench or stool.
• Engage your abs and squeeze your glutes. Drive your hips up to the ceiling.
• Your body should form a straight line from head to foot.
• Hold the position for at least 15 seconds, then switch sides.

How to make it easier as a beginner

If the traditional Copenhagen plank feels too difficult right now, simply bend your legs. Prop a knee up on the bench or the stool instead of the inside of your ankle. You'll feel more stable if your body is closer to the bench.

From there, you can work towards straightening your legs on the bench.

What are the benefits of the Copenhagen plank?

1. Boosts full-body stability

The Copenhagen plank is a full-body exercise. When I'm doing it, I can feel my adductors (muscles on the inner thighs), core, glutes (buttocks), and shoulders doing most of the work.

As you rest your arm, your shoulders stabilise to prevent falling. Your top leg has to hold position, and you're pulling it up through the adductor muscles and keeping it level with the glutes. The core engages to keep you still.

These are the primary stabilisers for the move, and I can feel every one of them working hard in the Copenhagen plank. I don't think there's a better exercise for boosting full-body stability.

2. Improves balance

When I first started doing the Copenhagen plank, I'd wobble a bit. Your body is only supported one side at a time and you really have to engage your core muscles, upper- and lower-body stabilisers to resist the sideways pull.

Now, I can hold the position for a full two minutes.

3. Great for runners

Many runners have imbalances - where one side of their body is stronger than the other. I certainly do. I found the Copenhagen plank helps limit this by strengthening the stabilising muscles in the hips.

The most noticeable benefit of this, I've found, is in my running posture. I can keep up a more efficient posture for longer. My runs, whether it's a gentle treadmill workout or a 4x4 workout on the track, feel easier as a result.

How long should you hold the Copenhagen plank for?

I held the Copenhagen plank for 30 seconds at the beginning, graduating to a minute and beyond as I felt stronger. I'd avoid setting yourself big targets with this one as the adductors come under strain you may not be used to, even if you do regular strength training.

I also only did this plank variation twice a week. I felt like it was enough to see the benefits and work towards holding it for longer, without getting bored or feeling too sore.

Shoulder stability and mobility become even more important as we age. It's a small part of the body, but one that's responsible for essential movements like lifting, carrying, and reaching.

There's a huge range of upper-body dumbbell workouts you can do that include shoulder exercises, but one of the "simplest" is the lateral raise, says Ben Bruno, a personal trainer who counts Jessica Biel and Chelsea Handler among his celebrity clients.

He took to Instagram to share variations of the lateral raise he puts into his sessions. "Five years ago, I started focusing on getting stronger on laterals and now use 25-30-pound dumbbells, depending on the variation," he says. "I love a little cap on the shoulders, so laterals are actually awesome for that."

Lateral raises are an isolation exercise, meaning they use fewer muscles than other moves such as chest press (a compound exercise). If you try to lift something too heavy, you’ll probably 'swing' the dumbbells more than you'll do the actual movement.

Light weights only here. The PT says many of his female clients start with 5lb (2.2kg) weights before building up to 8- 10 lb (3.6- 4.5 kg) after concentrating on their form and movement control.

How to do a lateral raise

• Stand shoulder-width apart with two dumbbells by your sides.
• Brace your core and retract your shoulders by bringing your shoulder blades back and down.
• Lift the weights to shoulder height, keeping your arms straight.
• Pause at the top, then lower your arms back down slowly.
• Try doing three sets of 10 reps, either with both arms at once or one at a time.

Ben shares nine ways of doing a lateral raise. Along with traditional dumbbell and cable lateral raises, he combines the movement with lunges, split squats, and a side plank variation to make it easier to do your regular full-body dumbbell workout.

"I see so many complex form tutorials for lateral raises online, and I’ve never understood that because form-wise it’s one of the simplest moves there is in my mind," he says. "I try to keep my arms straight and lift in a way that I could pause each rep at the top, but not robotically slow."

You'll notice that he's using the same weight across all the variations. "Even the split squat iso[lation] holds," he says. "So even though there's a lower body stability component, it's still really hard for the shoulders."

If you’re new to lateral raises, remember to start light and speak to a physio or PT for advice about how to do it with correct form and avoid injury.

You can just as easily build a stronger core with standing ab exercises as with those done on the floor, like planks and dead bugs. In fact, the experts say these upright movements may be a better way to boost your fitness, as they reflect how we actually move in life.

"Standing ab exercises train your core in a way that mimics how you use it every day - upright, moving, twisting, rotating, and stabilising," says Kate Rowe-Ham, a certified personal trainer and founder of Owning Your Menopause.

They target all the core muscles, including those deepest in the trunk, and "improve posture and balance, while being easier on the wrists, shoulders, and lower back", she explains.

Standing ab exercises to try

1. Standing wood chop

The standing wood chop builds rotational strength and is an exercise for the deep core muscles, like the transverse abdominis. It teaches your body to create and control force, explains Kate. "This is a skill we use for everything from putting a seatbelt on to carrying shopping bags. It's powerful, functional, and satisfying."

Here's how to do the standing wood chop:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and clasp your hands together.
• If you're doing it with a dumbbell or medicine ball, hold this securely.
• Start with your arms raised diagonally above one shoulder.
• Rotate through your torso and “chop” down across your body toward the opposite hip.
• Return to the starting position with control and repeat.

2. Standing side bend

Don't underestimate the standing side bend, Kate warns. It may look easy, but it "directly targets the obliques, improves side-to-side movement, and supports better posture and spinal alignment," she says. If you like the feel of the Russian twist exercise, this is a good swap.

Here's how to do it:

• Stand tall with feet hip-width apart.
• You can do it with your hands behind your head (bodyweight version) or by holding a dumbbell in one hand down by your side.
• From there, slowly bend your torso to one side, as if you’re trying to reach your rib toward your hip.
• Squeeze through your obliques to come back up.
• Keep your hips square and avoid leaning forward or backwards

3. Standing side crunch

The standing crunch is "a brilliant way to fire up both the obliques and the lower abs while also working your balance, coordination, and hip mobility," says Kate. "You’re moving dynamically. Your heart rate lifts. It gives you a little cardio boost alongside core strengthening."

Here's how to do it:

• Start standing tall with your hands lightly behind your head.
• Drive your right knee up towards your right elbow, crunching through the side of your waist.
• Lower back down and repeat on the same side before switching, or alternate sides throughout.
• To make it harder, hold a light dumbbell or small ball overhead as you bring your elbow and knee together.

How often should you do standing ab exercises?

The key to building a stronger, more stable core is little and often, says Kate. "Just 10 to 15 minutes, two to three times per week, can make a real difference. The key is consistency," she says.

"Try a set of side bends while the kettle’s boiling, a few standing side crunches after you’ve been sitting at your desk for a while, or some wood chops while you’re waiting for dinner to cook."

It's the "little bursts like this" that add up over time, she notes. You can train your core muscles and reap the benefits without dedicating time to a dumbbell workout at home, for instance.

Standing ab exercises vs plank

• Functionality: Standing ab exercises are functional exercises. They so closely mirror everyday movements, like picking things up off the floor. There's very little in life that mirrors the classic plank.
• Balance and stability: "Standing ab workouts also activate the deep stabilisers, like the transverse abdominis, obliques, and muscles around your spine and hips," says the strength coach. "These are the muscles that keep you upright, protect your lower back, and help you resist unwanted twists or wobbles when you’re walking, lifting, or even just carrying a shopping bag.
• Easier on the joints: Doing a plank puts a lot of pressure through the wrists, elbows, and shoulders, which might not be suitable for everyone. Standing ab exercises side-step this pressure completely.
• Versatile: Both planks and these standing movements are versatile enough to add to a plethora of workouts, whether that's treadmill workouts or traditional weight training. You can also do them anywhere, with no equipment if needed.
• Making them harder: It's a lot easier to make standing ab exercises harder with equipment like cables, resistance bands, dumbbells, or kettlebells. The easiest way to make a plank harder is to hold it for longer or to balance a weight plate on your back. Most people will find this hard to set up and need to do it at the gym.

Whether you're climbing a mountain or just exploring your local trails, hiking is a demanding activity on the legs. The uneven terrain and changing elevation put extra stress on your joints - even in a good pair of walking shoes or hiking sandals.

It requires doing a good few sets of hiking exercises to prepare. I've felt enough twinges in my knees going downhill and rolled my ankle to know that.

Recent injuries have meant I haven't been strength training as often as normal. Nervous about my upcoming holiday to the Jurassic Coast, I asked a physiotherapist and personal trainer for their exercise recommendations to help me enjoy the rocky terrain a little more.

Hiking exercises

1. Slow eccentric squat

The squat is a classic compound movement, working the quadriceps, calves, and glutes - all important hiking muscles. The slow lowering (eccentric) phase in this squat is what matters, though, says personal trainer Anya Russell, who demonstrates the exercises.

"It's training your legs to control your body weight going downhill. This is exactly what a descent asks of you. Doing it for four seconds is the eccentric work that builds trail-resilient legs," she says.

Here's how to do it:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Lower yourself down over three to four seconds, hold the bottom, then drive back up.
• Start with body weight and progress to a kettlebell or dumbbells from there.
• Aim for three sets of 10 to 12 reps.

2. Step downs

Step downs are considered the 'gold standard' for preventing hiker's knee. This exercise forces your gluteus medius (one of the muscles in your buttocks) to better stabilise your pelvis, stopping your knee from collapsing inwards.

How to do it:

• Stand on a step or bench - hold onto the wall if you need support.
• Keeping one foot on the step, lean forward and slowly lower your other foot toward the floor, tap the toes lightly, and drive through the heel of the front leg to come back up.
• Keep your knee tracking over your toes, with no caving inward.
• Aim for three sets of 10 each side.

3. Single-leg calf raise

The single-leg calf raise gets overlooked as it's a slower movement, and most people prefer doing squats. But it's important to focus on your calves as a standalone muscle, says Anya.

"They are shock absorbers on every single step, so leaving them underprepared is a fast track to Achilles issues or a rolled ankle when you're tired."

Here's how to do it:

• Stand on one foot (hold a wall for balance if you need it).
• Rise up onto your toes, then lower slowly.
• Try three sets of 12-15 each side.

How to train for hiking

Hiking is very different to a simple walking workout. You'll need good cardiovascular fitness and a strong body.

"Ankle sprains most often happen when your muscles are tired and can't respond quickly enough to uneven ground. The fitter and stronger you are going in, the more protected you are. Not just at the start, but six hours in when your form has gone to pieces," says Anya. "Strong legs also mean stronger tendons and ligaments, better knee and ankle stability, and a much more enjoyable descent.”

Building strength and endurance is essential for avoiding injury and making the hike feel easier - and not just when going uphill. "You might think that less effort is required going downhill, but it's still quite a challenging task for your knees," says Helen O’Leary, physiotherapist at Complete Pilates.

"As you descend, your quadriceps need to lengthen under tension, and this requires what is called ‘eccentric’ strength. Training the quadriceps in general, but particularly for eccentric strength, is really beneficial for reducing this pain," she explains.

Plenty of vigorous and moderate-intensity exercise will help you build your cardio fitness, but eccentric exercises like the ones above will help protect you on the trails.

Tips for doing hiking exercises

• Focus on the lower leg muscles too: You need more than quadriceps and glute exercises to stay strong on the trails. "Calves, ankles, and ankle mobility are almost always an afterthought, and when your ankles aren't doing their job, your knees pay for it on every downhill step," says Anya.
• Prioritise stability: Anya sees many clients who only concentrate on forward and back movement and fail to build “the side-to-side stability" that hiking demands. “Quad-dominant training with weak hamstrings throws off your gait and increases injury risk over time - balance matters as much as total strength,” she explains. Along with the routine above, add in crab walks, skaters, sideways step-ups, or sideways lunges.
• Remember to train your core: "Good core strength helps you to transfer forces from lower limb to upper limb, and vice versa, which is part of what drives movement when you are walking," says Helen. Building a stronger core doesn't mean sit-ups, though. You could do farmer's carry exercises, scissors, or even the dead bug exercise, provided you do them with light weights.
• Don't neglect your upper body: Even if you're not using hiking poles, the upper body works hard. Helen recommends using weights to strengthen your shoulder muscles, triceps and biceps.
• Give yourself time: “People book a hiking trip, do a week or two of squats, and wonder why their legs gave out on day one,” says Anya. She suggests doing at least six to eight weeks of leg training to build up strength gradually.

Compound movements like squats, lunges, and presses are key in a full-body workout. They use multiple muscles at the same time, saving time and energy.

Every morning, Alison Hammond says she picks up her dumbbells for a quick workout before filming for The Great British Bake Off begins. The star spoke to Good Housekeeping this month, revealing her trainer gave her the workout to do while she was away and couldn't train with him in person. "Every morning, I'll do my little routine. About 20 minutes and I'm done. I've got a mat that I put out. I'll do stretches, squats, weights, something for every body area," she says.

"It's easy to fit in. I just like to get out of breath. That's a daily non-negotiable. I won't feel like me if I don't do that," she says.

Alison doesn't reveal the exact exercises she does every day, but we know she works out with dumbbells, so her routine may look like a shorter version of a classic home dumbbell workout.

To try the following 20-minute workout, you'll need one set of dumbbells that feel heavy enough to work your lower and upper body.

20-minute full-body workout to follow

• Squat to shoulder press: Come down into a squat, holding the dumbbells level with your shoulders. Push up through your feet. As you do, press the dumbbells over your head.
• Romanian deadlifts: Holding your weights in front of you, bend your knees slightly and hinge at the hips by pushing your bottom to the back of the room. Stop when you feel a tight stretch in your hamstrings (or reach below the knee). Pushing through your feet, return to standing.
• Bent-over rows: Hold the dumbbells in front of you. Bend your knees slightly and hinge at the hips. Keep your elbows close to your sides. Row both weights in, pulling them towards your waist.
• Reverse lunges with curl: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and dumbbells by your waist. Step one foot back, bringing your back knee down a couple of inches off the floor. As you do, lift the dumbbells towards your shoulders. Push through your front leg to return to standing.
• Plank rows: Come down into a high plank, making sure your elbows are stacked directly under your shoulders. Rest your hands on the dumbbells. One at a time, row the dumbbells towards your waist, bringing your elbow slightly higher than your back each time.

The daily workout is clearly a priority for the presenter, as she keeps her own weights nearby and the crew at Bake Off store them every year for her to come back to when the new season begins. "I love to sweat. I love the feeling afterwards. I need some space where I do something just for me," she says.

Alison has also revealed she's a fan of cardio workouts like boxing, and earlier this year, she credited her personal trainer for transforming her gym routine and helping her get fitter. "You have made my life so much easier by simple changes and kindness I will never forget," she wrote.

Having taught yoga for 17 years, I see students struggle with mobility all the time. Often from sitting down at a desk all day or not having enough variety in their exercise routine. It all starts in the hips.

But improving strength and mobility in this area doesn't mean sitting in static stretches like frog pose or the pigeon stretch all day long. You have to mobilise the muscles surrounding the hip, like the glutes. These big, powerful muscles in the buttocks help in all daily movements, from climbing stairs to walking. When they are overworked in the gym (say you do lots of squats), stretching can be uncomfortable. When they are underworked, the connective tissues that surround the glutes and hips contract over time, a bit like shrink wrap, so stretching will also be uncomfortable. This can cause other muscles to compensate, creating imbalance and dysfunction.

No matter the cause, tight hips can lead to more serious issues if you don’t take steps to address the underlying cause. Along with exercises to loosen tight hips, I like to include these three yoga flows in my routine.

1. Jiva flow

I love this Jiva flow because it requires strength and balance, two things that help improve the overall stability of your hip and strengthen your inner thighs, which are often overlooked when improving lower-body strength generally.

Here's how to do it:

• Step your right foot forward into a lunge, lift your back knee and place your hands on blocks (or books) placed in front of your right foot.
• Inhale, push your right foot down to lift your left leg behind you.
• Exhale, bend both knees and draw your left knee behind your right knee to cross your thighs. Squeeze your inner thighs together.
• Inhale and press your right foot down to straighten both legs and lift your left leg behind you again.
• Repeat 3 - 5 times, then change sides.

2. Skanda flow

Your inner hip muscles, also known as your adductors, can get tight through underuse, and the Skanda flow is a great way to stretch them.

Here's how to do it:

• Take a wide stance and bring your fingertips to the floor or blocks.
• Straighten your arms to lengthen your spine, and try tilting your sitting bones up a little.
• Exhale and bend your right knee, but – and this is crucial – try to keep the pinkie toe edge of your left foot glued to the floor.
• Inhale back to the centre and exhale to the other side.
• Repeat 3 - 5 times on each side.

3. Flowing bridge

The bridge is a classic yoga pose that I highly recommend as a glute exercise, as well as a way to stretch your hip flexors.

How to do a glute bridge:

• From a reclining position, bend your knees and place your feet hip-width apart with your hands down next to your hips.
• Start the movement by tucking your pelvis to press your lower back down.
• Inhale and press your feet down, lifting your hips up and reaching your arms overhead. Squeeze your glutes at the top.
• Exhale and lower your hands and hips back down, trying to release your spine one vertebra at a time. Release your tailbone last and let your lower back lift.
• Repeat 3 - 5 times.

Why do my hips feel tight?

Mobility – which we usually call “flexibility” – refers to movement that happens at your joints. While the degree to which your hips can move in any direction depends on the unique structure of your bones, your muscles play a big role.

Your hips are deep ball-and-socket joints surrounded by 20 muscles, and they provide you with both mobility and stability whenever you're moving around. Muscles can’t really be tight or flexible in the way we tend to think of them, but they can be strong or weak, and unfortunately, both scenarios can limit how well your hip joint moves.

When you stretch your hips and experience discomfort or pushback from your body, that’s actually your nervous system detecting an unfamiliar range of motion and bracing to avoid injury. It can mean you don’t want to spend much time stretching, because it’s uncomfortable. That becomes a self-perpetuating cycle that can lead to longer-term health issues, like piriformis syndrome. This is when a small muscle located deep in your buttock tightens and compresses the sciatic nerve. It's estimated to be behind 17% of cases of chronic low back pain according to one 2024 research paper, and it's something Harvard Health reports affects six times more women than men.

Keeping your hips mobile and strong is important for longevity and quality of life as you age.

The plank isn't everyone's favourite, but there's no denying it's very effective for building core strength, full-body stability, and endurance. The only exercise that's potentially better for all the above is the plank row.

This variation uses a set of dumbbells to "combine upper-body strength with core stability", says Mark Harris, a level 4 personal trainer who works with Mirafit. While one arm stabilises you, the other lifts the weights from the floor.

Simply adding this weight makes it a more challenging exercise, and it's better for building strength in the shoulders, back, and arms. If you're looking for an exercise to add to your upper-body workout, make it this one.

How to do plank rows

• Put two dumbbells (preferably hexagonal ones) on the floor.
• Come down into a plank position, resting on your hands.
• Hold onto the dumbbells or put your hands on the floor next to them if you find that more comfortable, making sure they are directly under your shoulders and about shoulder-width apart.
• Move your weight onto your right arm and pick up a dumbbell with your left.
• Once stable, drive the left elbow up and back towards your hip. As if you're trying to put the dumbbell in your pocket.
• Repeat the movement 8 times on each side, then switch.

Benefits of plank rows

1. Functional exercise

The plank row is an "excellent anti-rotation exercise", says Mark. "As you row with one arm, your core has to work hard to resist twisting, helping improve stability and control."

This translates to basic everyday movements, like lifting bags, closing a car door, and even walking. It's a functional exercise that helps us age healthily.

2. Boosts back strength

Even with the rows, you'll likely feel plank rows in your core and shoulders the most. Yet, Mark says it's also a great back exercise.

"I wouldn't rely on plank rows as a standalone back exercise. Your core will usually fatigue before your upper back does. But they still provide a good workout for muscles, including the traps and lats, while delivering the added benefit of core engagement," he says.

3. Improves full-body stability

Plank rows put you off balance, forcing you to stabilise yourself through your core and upper-body. This helps improve balance throughout your whole body.

Stability helps create a foundation to move from. Once you have good stability, you can walk, run, cycle, and lift weights a lot easier.

4. May help improve posture

The key to a good plank is bringing your shoulder blades back and down (retraction) and keeping your spine straight.

If you spend a lot of time sitting down, whether on the sofa or at a desk, practicing this position with resistance can help improve your posture.

5. Balances out strength

Many people find that one side of their body is stronger than the other - especially their arms and legs. Plank rows boost upper-body strength one arm at a time, helping to counter upper-body imbalances.

You'll want a few more single-leg quadricep exercises to balance out the lower half, but the added stability from this exercise can help.

What weights should you use for plank rows?

A pair of hexagonal dumbbells is best for plank rows. The shape of these provides a stable base under your arms to support your bodyweight if you lean on them, and they don't roll away.

If you're not resting your hands on the weights, you could also use kettlebells. Lift your hand from the floor onto the kettlebell and lift.

If you're new to this exercise, then start small. Go for 2kg or 3kg dumbbells and work your way up as you get stronger.

Slimline, lightweight, and complete with expert everyday health tracking features, the Fitbit Air and Fitbit Inspire 3 both make excellent fitness trackers. At around £80 each, they are also the most affordable.

In fact, the Fitbit Inspire 3 was the only fitness tracker I recommended under £100 for a very long time. That was until the Fitbit Air was released and quickly took the top spot in our guide to the best Fitbits overall.

I've worn them both for a few weeks at a time, comparing their design, health and fitness tracking, and sleep features, wearing them night and day to find a favourite between the two. It was a tough task, but I eventually arrived at one conclusion.

Specifications

Fitbit Air vs Fitbit Inspire 3: Design

The key difference between the Fitbit Inspire 3 and Fitbit Air is the design. The Inspire 3 is classic. A small plastic body sits on the wrist and holds the sensor, a touchscreen, and a haptic button on the side. There's a silicone band and buckle to secure it. You can use it to tell the time and check the date at a glance, as well as record your workouts and step count. If you're familiar with other Fitbit types, you'll know the look.

The Fitbit Air is completely different. There's no screen. On first glance, it just looks like a textile strap with a stainless steel buckle and Velcro tab. The sensor is held underneath it, flush against the skin. You can wear your regular timepiece with it as it looks more like a fashion accessory than a fitness one.

The design of the Fitbit Air means it's the more versatile of the two. When testing the Inspire 3, I'd take it off when wearing more formal outfits. This meant I missed out on health data every time I went out for the evening, skewing my step count, stress, and heart rate insights. The adjustable strap on the Air means you can wear this Fitbit on your ankle or arm, out of sight, and keep logging data.

Winner: Fitbit Air - unless you want to tell the time

Fitness and health tracking with the Fitbit Air vs Fitbit Inspire 3

If you're a runner, the decision between the Fitbit Air vs Inspire 3 is a no-brainer. When I run with the Inspire 3, I can see my live pace, distance, and heart rate data at a glance. I need this to see how my run is going. As the Air doesn't have a screen, you can't do this. You'll only be able to see your insights when you're finished, in the Google Health app.

For those who don't do cardio or don't mind not seeing their workout data live, this isn't a problem, but it means the Fitbit Air won't be for everyone.

The Google Health app was released at the same time as the Air, completely replacing the original Fitbit app. Regardless of the device you buy, the Google Health app will be the one logging data for insights into your fitness, sleep, and stress. It's an excellent replacement that makes fitness, sleep, and stress data clear and simple to understand

It is free to use, but I would recommend upgrading to the Premium version (after the free trial). With the £9.99 monthly subscription, you have access to Google's Gemini AI overviews of the day, workout programs, and daily suggestions. While I was initially sceptical about upgrading, the daily suggestions really impressed me. This takes factors like your completed workouts, plan, energy levels, and even the weather and temperature into account to suggest a plan for the day in one notification.

Winner: Fitbit Inspire 3

If you are a runner, I'd recommend the Fitbit Charge 6 over the Air and the Inspire 3. It's one of the best running watches, with more workout insights and features for cardio lovers available.

Sleep tracking on the Fitbit Air vs Fitbit Inspire 3

The design of the Fitbit Air makes it more comfortable to wear overnight. The sensor fits flush against the wrist so I can't even feel it when I wear the device, and the Velcro is secure enough that it doesn't catch on pillows or bedding. The strap was a little itchy for the first couple of days, but I quickly got used to it, and it was never a problem in bed.

To wear the Inspire 3 overnight, you first have to turn off the sensors that wake the screen when you move your wrist. The strap also has to fit perfectly - tight enough so it can record the data, but not so tight that it's uncomfortable. As the body sits on top of the wrist, it's also bulkier than the Air, and I have caught it under my pillow in the past.

Aside from this, there's very little difference between the two. Both devices record how long you sleep for and the quality of that sleep (REM, deep, and light sleep stages). If you subscribe to Premium, Gemini will write an overview of your night, highlighting the positives and how to improve.

One underrated feature on both is the smart wake alarms. I started using this with the Fitbit Air, but the Inspire 3 has it too. With this feature, you can set a morning alarm and the watch will gently vibrate to wake you up. No sound alarm and no grumpy bedfellow woken up earlier than they want to be.

Winner: Fitbit Air

If you're looking for a sleep tracker (and you have more budget to spend), then I'd recommend weighing up the Fitbit Air vs Oura Ring. While more expensive, the Oura Ring 5 is a smart ring that's even more low-key, comfortable to wear overnight, and has more extensive sleep insights.

Price of the Fitbit Air vs Inspire 3

If price is top of your priority list, you're in luck here. The Fitbit Air and Fitbit Inspire 3 are the same at full retail price (£84.99), and hundreds of pounds cheaper than many other popular fitness trackers - including the latest Apple Watch (Series 11) and the best Garmin watches.

The Fitbit Inspire 3 is an older model. During seasonal sales and on Black Friday, it's more likely to be discounted than the Fitbit Air. If my experience with these sales is anything to go by, it could be knocked down to as little as £65 during these periods - but there aren't any on the horizon for now.

Winner: They are both the same price

The w&h verdict

When weighing up the Fitbit Air vs Fitbit Inspire 3, there's only one key difference to consider: design. The Fitbit Inspire 3 has a screen so you can use it as your regular timepiece as well as a fitness tracker. The Fitbit Air doesn't have a screen.

Choosing between the two ultimately comes down to personal preference, but I like the distraction-free, discreet design of the Fitbit Air best. It's a welcome new era for Fitbit. The brand has elevated its design and technology to offer an option for the new age, competing with smart trackers from the likes of Whoop, Oura, and Amazfit.

Overall winner: Fitbit Air

The lower body is made up of large muscles needed for stability and support as we move through life. While lifting heavy weights in the gym is one way to build strength in this area, a quick 15-minute resistance band workout can get the job done in a hurry - or in the heat.

A set of the best resistance bands is cheap, easy to use, and they fold away into a small bag. One person who knows how versatile they can be is personal trainer Caroline Idiens, founder of Caroline's Circuits, who often shares workouts (including full-body resistance band workouts) with her two million followers on Instagram.

This time, she paired up with This Morning host Ben Shephard to demonstrate six moves you can do with one band to target the entire lower body. “A perfect one to save for your holidays with just a band. You can also do just bodyweight,” writes Caroline. She says each exercise should be done 10 times (on each side if required) over three sets.

15-minute resistance band workout

1. Banded squats

Caroline and Ben do their 10 reps quite quickly, but you can do these at any speed. Just make sure you’re pushing against the band to increase the intensity.

Here's how to do a banded squat:

• Stand with your legs hip-width apart and the band around your legs, just above the knees.
• Bend into a deep squat, as if you're sitting down on a chair behind you without using your hands.
• Push through your heels to return to standing.

2. Side tap outs

This is another great quadriceps exercise. Those who are fans of doing a Pilates workout at home might know it. The key to this move is keeping the band taut over your legs and stepping out wide enough.

Here's how to do it:

• Start off with your legs together, knees bent and the resistance band around your legs.
• Tap one leg out to the side to pull the band taut, and then swap to the other leg.
• Continue to alternate tapping out each leg to do 10 reps on each side.

3. Reverse lunge

A reverse lunge with a resistance band definitely adds some extra spice as you have to work against the band to complete the movement. If you struggle with balance, step out and back. Widening your legs will help stabilise your body.

Here's how to do it:

• With the band in place, step back on one leg and bend the back knee as close to the mat as possible.
• Do 10 on one leg before swapping sides.

4. Glute bridges

Glute bridges work the glutes and hamstrings and help build hip strength. In turn, this helps build pelvic and full-body stability for exercises like walking and climbing stairs.

Here's how to do it:

• Lie on your back with your knees bent, hip-width apart and the band just above your knees.
• Lift your hips and keep the outer sides of your legs pressing against the band.
• Lower back down slowly before continuing through the 10 reps.

5. Single-leg glute bridge

A single leg exercise forces you to lift and stabilise your entire lower body, and doing it right after the classic glute bridge will encourage real muscle fatigue. This is what you need to grow and get stronger.

How to do it:

• Start from the same position and with the band in the same place as the previous move, but lift one leg into tabletop position.
• Continue to lift and lower for 10 reps with the leg raised the whole time.

6. Fire hydrants

Caroline and Ben include one final glute exercise in their routine. Fire hydrants are worth including if you have tight hips and also want to work on your glute strength.

Here's how to do it:

• Start on all fours with the band around your knees.
• Raise one leg out to one side before lowering it back to meet the other knee.

The soaring temperatures in recent weeks have made dressing for anything - let alone exercise - feel very difficult. I normally reach for my trainers, but when packing for a recent trip to Wales, I quickly saw that wasn't going to be an option. One day was going to reach above 32 degrees. So, I dug out my Keen Newport H2s, a favourite pair of hiking sandals.

These slip-on sandals deliver all the convenience and breathability you want from a sandal, with a chunky rubber outsole and protective upper that are reliable on rough trails. The EVA foam midsole is flexible and supportive enough to be comfortable all day.

I like these hiking sandals so much that I even bought a pair for my partner this year, and he's barely taken them off since. They've got a more utilitarian look than some sandals, and they're not featherlight. But if you're looking for one pair of shoes for days out and active holidays, or even just for staying cool in the city with a gorpcore-inspired look - this is the pair I'd recommend.

Keen Newport H2 review

Specifications

• Size range: 2.5 - 8.5
• Weight: 330g per shoe
• Upper materials: Polyester webbing
• Sole: Subber outsole, EVA midsole

What are the Keen Newport H2s like to walk in?

Keen released the first edition of the Newport hiking sandal back in 2003, but I didn't try them out until the revamped H2 came out a couple of summers ago, and I was instantly impressed by their comfort and protection.

Unlike most sandals, the midsole is cushioned enough to keep my feet feeling great after hours of wear, and its flexible design lends the shoes a more natural feel. The Newports have all the arch support I need to stop me from over-pronating, and I get a nice, smooth walking feel.

I was a little apprehensive about hiking in sandals, but the rubber sole actually looks like it belongs on a sturdier hiking shoe, and it gives me all the traction I need on roads, pavement, and straightforward trails. I also put these sandals to the test recently on some steep sections of crumbly trails in South Wales, and as long as I was careful, I had no issues.

Where they really shine is on long walks from forest to beach, where I can easily shake out the sand and even cross streams and paddle in the sea without taking them off.

The bungee cord design isn't just easy – it secures the shoes nicely around my heel and midfoot, leaving plenty of room for my toes. I also love how easy it is to tuck the toggle away so it doesn't get caught up in the grass.

Speaking of toes, you'd be forgiven for worrying that sandals won't protect your feet from trail hazards like rocks and tree roots, but the rubber toe acts like a car bumper, and I've never had any painful meetings with hidden objects.

The uppers are stretchy and as breathable as you'd expect, and when I do wear them in the water, they drain easily and dry quickly without rubbing. In fact, the only time I've experienced any rubbing was on one toe after I wore them for a 16k coastal walk. I think for future long walks I might commit the ultimate faux pas and pair them with socks.

For the most part, I do, of course, wear them without socks, but they're treated with anti-odour, and even after several summers, they're still not smelly.

I only occasionally pick up a pebble, and when I do, it only takes a second to slip them off, dump out any debris and then I'm walking again.

Who are the Keen Newport H2s made for?

You can do everything but run in these shoes. You'll need a pair of trail running shoes for that. They're built for anyone who wants to spend summer outdoors, whether that's on the trail, at festivals or in the water. They might not be the best choice for true mountain hikes or very long walks, but for anything up to about 10k, you'll be comfortable in these supportive sandals.

They're perfect for active holidays where you want to walk, hit the beach and paddle without packing three different pairs of shoes. If you're going camping with your family, you won't even need to bring camp shoes, and they're the perfect easy solution for midnight trips from the tent to the toilet block.

The design is more function than fashion, so they're perhaps not ideal if you're looking for something you can also wear with a cute sundress. If you want something just a little prettier, I'm also a huge fan of the Keen Elle Backstrap sandals, which are surprisingly comfortable for hiking. The Teva Hurricane Drift, as seen on Helen Skeleton recently, are another low-key option.

With lots of hot weather ahead, I plan on leaving my socks rolled up in my top drawer, my hiking boots by the front door, and feeling the breeze between my toes in these sandals.

The w&h verdict

I'd recommend the Keen Newport H2 to anyone on the hunt for a hiking sandal that really provides both comfort and protection. The cushy sole and breathable upper make them perfect for hot summer days, but I can take them on rough trails with confidence.

I've worn these shoes from bog to beach, in mountain streams and for fun music festivals. I've put in many miles wearing them on the trails, and I am constantly impressed by their versatility, comfort and grip.

They're not the cheapest hiking sandals out there, but they are a little easier on the wallet than the Keen Hyperports, and they give you more toe coverage than others. This also makes them a good option as a daily trainer alternative in the summer months.

I do wish they came in more vibrant colours, and they aren't the most stylish option, but navy blue is smart, goes with most other colours, and doesn't show the dirt. Even after several summers, they still look pretty good.

The Russian twist is a powerhouse core exercise, perfect for slotting into your workout routine at the end of a strength training session or home workout. However, many people try it once and then never again after feeling a pinch in their lower back or feeling like it's doing nothing at all.

Once you get it right, it's one of the best functional core exercises, working the abdominals and obliques in a way that builds "rotational core strength" and directly translates to everyday life, says Mark Harris, a level 4 personal trainer and Mirafit ambassador.

"I regularly use Russian twists with my clients because they are an effective and easily adaptable core exercise," he says. Here's how to do one.

How to do the Russian twist exercise right

• Sit on a mat with your knees bent and legs together.
• With control, lean back until your upper body sits at a 45-degree angle to the floor.
• Make sure to keep your chest up, back straight, and core engaged throughout the movement. Breathe throughout.
• Lift your feet a couple of inches off the floor, engaging your core.
• Bring your hands together in front of you, then slowly turn your upper body to one side. Return to the centre.
• Complete the movement again on the other side, and switch sides until you reach your 12 repetitions.

Expert tip: "You should feel the effort through your abdominal muscles rather than your arms," says Mark. "As you rotate, your torso should twist in the direction of the weight, but avoid rounding your spine just to create more movement. The rotation should come from your torso while maintaining good posture throughout."

Benefits of the Russian twist exercise

1. Great for beginners

Those new to exercise or building core strength in particular will see benefits very quickly with this exercise. As Mark says, it's adaptable to all levels.

"Beginners can start with their heels on the floor using only their body weight, then progress by lifting their heels and adding resistance with a dumbbell or kettlebell as they become stronger," he says.

2. Easy to tell when you're doing it wrong

In the plank exercise, you can involuntarily raise your hips, making the plank easier and far less effective, and you might not realise. You'll certainly know if you're doing the Russian twist incorrectly, says Mark.

"If you feel any pain or pinching in your lower back, hips, or both, something needs adjusting," he says.

Start the movement again from scratch and adjust by leaving your feet on the floor to begin with, just rotating your upper body. If you've started using a weight, drop it for the moment and focus on your form.

3. May help reduce lower back pain

Strengthening the core muscles and those around the lower back, as you do with the Russian twist exercise, is one way to help reduce the risk of lower back pain down the line.

"However, if you have existing lower back issues, I wouldn't recommend it as your starting point, as there are more suitable exercises to build strength first," says Mark.

4. It's a functional movement

These days, the conversation around weight training is less about appearances and more about longevity - that's living better, not just for longer. We know that lifting weights can help with this, but those exercises need to be functional - replicating movements we do in everyday life.

Just like how the squat replicates standing up from a chair (or the loo!), Russian twists replicate the turning movement needed to look behind you quickly and can help resist unwanted twisting while carrying bags and other heavier objects.

5. Improves strength and definition

The Russian twist exercise, especially when done consistently over several weeks, is a "highly effective, compound bodyweight movement for conditioning the core", per research in IJFMR.

The study found that the exercise uses most of the core muscles, including the internal and external obliques (on the sides of the core), rectus abdominis (at the front), and transverse abdominis (the deepest of the core muscles; these act like a corset for the torso).

Together with dietary changes, working these muscles can help to create a more 'toned' look in the upper body as well.

There's nothing worse than buying a pair of running shoes that feel great for the first few wears, then lose their bounce - or, worst of all, start to rub your feet. That's why I've been reaching for the Asics Gel Nimbus 28 when I've got easy miles to do, and comfort is key.

The plush sole and flexible, textile upper make for comfortable wear for hours at a time. I've worn these shoes for everything from a 5km to a half-marathon, bouncing around along the pavement for over two hours without an issue.

Released in January, I've barely had them off my feet since then. They might not be your go-to for speedier runs, race day, or as a pair of trail running shoes, but if you've only got the budget for one pair, then I reckon you'd be just fine in these - especially as they are now on sale.

Asics Gel Nimbus 28 review

Specifications

• Size range: 
• Weight: 242g per shoe
• Heel-to-toe drop: 8mm
• Waterproof version available: No

What are the Asics Gel Nimbus 28 like to run in?

I'm not very familiar with the long history of the Nimbus lineup, but I have tried the Gel Nimbus 27 - and these feel noticeably softer and lighter, so those are two improvements. Overall, they have a very cushioned feel, and comfort has clearly been the priority in these shoes.

It shouldn't be underestimated, either. Even compared to the Asics Superblast 3, the springier older sibling in the line-up, these have more cushioning and feel more stable underfoot, making them a smooth, reliable ride - just what you want in an all-rounder running shoe, especially if you're not too concerned about breaking speed records.

However, they are still plush and feel noticeably lightweight, and have a slight rocker in the sole, which is designed to push you forward through every step. I can feel this on my runs, so while I tend to take it at a slower pace in these shoes, I have stepped it up to faster paces without any issues, clocking in 10km and a half-marathon personal bests.

The locked-in feel provided by the cushioned ankle girdle and classic interlocking lace system only adds to this comfort and support, as does the thin tongue on the upper, which is breathable and entirely flexible, so it can be stretched right over the foot to avoid rubbing.

The Asics Gel Nimbus 28 is a shoe designed for neutral runners or under pronators (where your foot rolls slightly outwards). If anything, I'm an over pronator (my foot rolls inwards), but I've never had any issues in these, so I think they're just about suitable for just about everyone. However, if you're unsure, get a gait analysis test and try them on first.

Who are the Asics Gel Nimbus 28 running shoes made for?

While a more responsive, springier running shoe will be a better choice for speedier runs and race days, one with a stronger rocker and even less weight to it, not everyone has the budget for multiple pairs of shoes. The Asics Gel Nimbus 28 is a running shoe designed for easy, longer runs, with comfort and impact protection on roads and pavements in mind. However, I think they fair up well when you push through to faster paces, so I'd recommend them to anyone - whether you're running as a beginner or have been going for years.

It's rare to find a shoe that I'll give such a rave review to, but over the last six months, they've been a versatile go-to for all my running - and I actually look forward to wearing them. My ankle-breaking speed shoes? Not so much, so they often get left behind.

The Asics Gel Nimbus 28 could also be a good walking shoe - or one for those who like to try Jeffing. I've spotted many women wearing them in central London, walking with speed up escalators and along busy tube platforms, no doubt because they are so comfortable. However, I personally wouldn't walk in them - I'm not used to shoes with additional stack height when walking, so I have dragged the soles on the ground many times, making for a loud sound and unnecessary wear to the soles.

The w&h verdict

I'd recommend the Asics Gel Nimbus 28 running shoes to anyone. Their comfort, stability, breathability, and lightweight feel make them a pleasure to wear for long and/or easy runs, and I've pushed through to faster paces without an issue.

These are the shoes I want to reach for every time I head out the door, which is perhaps why they are so worn after six months. That's hundreds of miles, hundreds of thousands of steps, and many, many workouts.

If you're a fan of the Hoka Clifton 10 or Bondi 9, then I'd say these are a close match in terms of cushioning, but offer a little more energy return for longer runs.

I opted for the pastel pink colourway when I got these shoes in the winter, which made for a pleasant pop of colour in my running wardrobe, but it didn't wear particularly well in wetter and muddier conditions, compared to the darker blue, purple, and black colourways that are also available. Now it's summer, you wouldn't have that same problem.

On descending Yr Wyddfa (Mount Snowdon) after completing the Three Peaks Challenge, Catherine, Princess of Wales, was met by Prince William, their three children, and her parents. She completed the hike with her brother. It was a moment captured by photographers and recently shared on the couple's social media pages.

The Three Peaks Challenge is a 24-hour event where participants must climb the three highest points in England (Scafell Pike), Scotland (Ben Nevis), and Wales (Snowdon), travelling between the mountains. The time limit makes it a real physical and mental task, as participants are often left with limited time to sleep and rest between climbs.

On her wrist, Kate wore the Apple Watch Series 11, the brand's latest. Featuring a 24-hour battery life, accurate and insightful workout data, and strong GPS with the cellular model, it's a reliable option for the Princess of Wales, who would have logged at least 50,000 steps on the Challenge.

In total, the distance is 37 kilometres (23 miles) with more than 10,000 feet of climbing, and about 460 miles of driving between the mountains. Based on average stride length, height, and pace, the future Queen would have tracked 50,000 to 65,000 steps over just one day and night. Luckily, she also had some good Scarpa walking shoes on.

The Apple Watch Series 11 is one of the best fitness trackers today. After starting a Hiking workout, the watch displays live workout data, so Kate would have been able to see how many steps she was taking, the distance she was covering, elevation, speed, and her precise location at every step along the way.

When the climb was over, she would have seen an overview of each hike, revealing the total distance, step count, average speed, and elevation, and she would have been able to see how these efforts impacted her body via the Training Load feature.

At night, Kate would have been able to see how well she slept (if only for a few hours) while wearing the watch, with sensors recording how long she slept for, her various stages of sleep (REM, deep, and light) and how well she slept, rounded up into a Sleep Score.

The watch can also play back music through exercise headphones, make and receive phone calls and texts, and take pictures remotely, all of which come in handy when you're taking on such an adventure.

The Apple Watch Series 11 also has new sharing features, so should she have wanted to, the Princess of Wales could have sent her live location from the watch to family members, who could have tracked her along the way.

Lightweight and ultra-thin, this Apple Watch also has the brightest screen to date, with a new scratch-resistant layer over the top to protect against bumps and bashes while walking or hiking.

Many hikers complete the Three Peaks Challenge for charity, and Kate was no different. Earlier this week, she posted to Instagram from atop one of the climbs, revealing that she was raising money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, an effort you can still donate to today.

She said: "Cancer doesn’t just affect the body. It changes how you think and feel and profoundly affects every aspect of life. I know this personally, and that the journey through and beyond treatment requires more than medicine alone.

"I have taken on the National Three Peaks Challenge, not simply as a physical endeavour but as a chance to explore life beyond diagnosis and to give something back. The Royal Marsden is a place that holds great meaning for me and whose care and expertise are life changing for so many people."

When it comes to choosing a good pair of walking shoes, comfort, durability and waterproofing are the three most important features - especially in unpredictable British weather. It's something that Catherine, Princess of Wales, would have greatly appreciated during her recent expedition.

The future Queen took on the Three Peaks Challenge, a long-distance hiking event across the highest points in Scotland, England, and Wales. She climbed three mountains one after the other (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)), within a 24-hour time limit. It's a feat of physical and mental strength, as participants also have to travel between the mountains, leaving them with little sleep and few rest stops.

For the challenge, the Princess of Wales wore Scarpa's Terra GTX walking boots. This Italian family-owned brand has been making reliable, supportive hiking gear for almost 100 years.

While these boots may look old-school compared to the likes of Hoka's Anacapa 2 or Merrell's Moab Speed 2, they have the same GORE-TEX waterproof membrane under the nubuck leather upper that keeps feet dry.

The Scarpa Terra GTX are ergonomic, designed for comfort as well as support. They have a cushioned ankle cuff and platform in the sole, and a slightly wider toe box than other shoes, which can help to reduce pressure on points around the ankles, feet, and toes, making for a more comfortable ride.

Thick lugs on the bottom of the Vibram outsoles have a particular tread pattern that would have kept Kate feeling stable on rocky and muddy mountainsides, both on the way up and down.

Many people do the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for charity, and the Princess of Wales was no different. She raised money for Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, and you can still donate to her effort today.

"I have taken on the National Three Peaks Challenge, not simply as a physical endeavour but as a chance to explore life beyond diagnosis and to give something back. The Royal Marsden is a place that holds great meaning for me and whose care and expertise are life-changing for so many people," she wrote in an earlier Instagram post.

"Healing, whether personal or collective, is not just about fixing what is wrong. It is about finding balance in how we live. Between effort and acceptance, between control and trust, between thinking and simply being. Because in the end, bravery isn’t just about pushing forward. It is about knowing how to stay grounded, connected and present, no matter the terrain or landscape you are walking."

Shop Kate's hiking wardrobe