It requires no gym subscription, no legwarmers and is an activity to which even the most fitness-phobic individual might not be averse. So what is the latest exercise trend that we are being encouraged to embrace for the good of our health? A daily stroll. Lucy Knight, author of Walking for Weight Loss (Kyle Cathie), says that the benefits of walking are countless.

If there is one glaring false assumption made by the fitness industry in its attempts to lure us to the nearest gym, it is that we sign up as members purely to get fit and healthy. What really drives those who pay a monthly subscription to these temples of bodily worship is vanity.