The instructors at the gym were singing the praises of fitness balls and having tried a few there I was impressed. I saw this profitness on offer for just £2.50 and at such a bargain price could not resist buying it for use at home.

The ball comes deflated but you simply attach a pump to the valve and with a bit of elbow grease soon have it fully pumped up to around 80cm tall. The ball itself is made of a rubbery plastic which on a positive note is non slippery and does seem to grip the carpet reasonably well. On the other hand it is not an especially rigid material and even when it is fully inflated it will squash down fairly low when I sit on it. It is fine for doing sit ups but my gym instructor had recommended sitting on it and then using free weights as well and here the ball performed badly. With the extra weight I found myself sinking lower and lower towards the floor and I was far from convinced that the ball would not burst. The other negative (and a very obvious one admittedly) is that the ball is bulky. You can either deflate it at the end of each session and spend 5 minutes inflating it the next time or you can keep it inflated and find a spot around the house to store it. A final word of warning - the balls are very attractive to small children: our 4 year old loves rolling around with it and throwing it around the room. It bounces very very well and has been known to damage one or two ornaments....