ARE VIRAL FITNESS TRENDS WORTH THE HYPE?

Keen to know if the workouts she sees online can actually make her fitter, Rachel Tompkins, 44, gives them a try

We all know how important it is to stay fit and healthy, so it's no surprise that the internet is awash with a vast array of fitness trends ranging from the sublime to the outright ridiculous! Just the other day I was scrolling on social media when I came across 'exercise snacking', the 'hanging trend', a rather terrifying sounding 'battle ropes' and a very appealing 'lazy girl workout'. It made me wonder if any of these exercises actually work. So I challenged myself to give them a try to see if they make any difference to my 44-year-old mum-bod! This is how it went...

Hanging

Otherwise known as 'dead hanging' it basically involves hanging from a bar and letting gravity work its magic by decompressing the spine. One of the biggest benefits is meant to be the way in which it strengthens the upper body muscles, because these are working to support your body weight while you hang. As someone who works from home as a writer and sits hunched over a desk in front of a laptop for most of the day, and has zero upper-body strength, this sounded like a challenge I'd probably fail miserably at.

I wasn't sure I would even be able to support all 9st 5lb of my weight. And also, what on earth was I going to hang from? Fortunately, my husband has a workout bench in the garage with a metal frame so I figured that would be the best option. Annoyingly, it wasn't quite tall enough for me to hang completely, so I had to reach up to the bar and then bend my legs. Pain seared through my arms and shoulders as I held on for dear life, and my palms and fingers were agony in seconds.

With my two boys, Rory, 12, and Seb, eight, timing me, I rather shamefully only managed 10 seconds. 'I'll try again tomorrow,' I said. And I did, plus the next day and the next. I could feel the benefits in my arms and shoulders and by the end of the week was able to double my hanging time.