The BBC programme ‘Trust Me I’m a Doctor’ the other day conducted some interesting experiments into whether it was possible to benefit from three types of non-strenuous exercise, potentially useful for people who can’t do much exercise for whatever reason. One involved having hot baths, but the ones that really interested me (we don’t have a bath and hot baths make me tired anyway!) were about the benefits of passive

stretching (lowers blood sugar level, improves heart rate and energy expenditure) and that it is possible to improve muscle strength and thickness by thinking about doing exercise. They weren’t huge trials but you can read about the results if you follow the above links. I’m always willing to try different therapies (acupuncture and hyperbaric oxygen treatment amongst others!) so I think I’ll give this a serious go. We shall see!