Are you ready? with Leigh Elder

This week's question: 'What is about 1m-long, 10cm-wide, weighs less than a feather duster, can be used standing up, sitting or lying down, and provides you with a full body resistance workout?'

It's a ‘stretchy band' and is sold by a number of different companies, and comes in different colours and strength of stretch.

I bought mine from my physiotherapist and it is about 1.2m-long, was cut off a roll and cost about $10 odd.

Just wrap your hands around each end, shorten up the length if you want to increase the resistance and you can do a wide range of low impact exercises for your chest, shoulder and back. Increase this range by passing the band under your feet and perform other exercises, such as squats, rowing, biceps curls and arm raises.

You can increase the difficulty by introducing a balance element in the form of a balance cushion. These can be purchased for less than $30, are generally about 30cm in diameter, filled with air or gel, and can also be used for sitting on and they also help to engage your core, and burn more energy while you are sitting or standing.

Part of our new wellness programme will be to help people be more mindful of the serious health risks associated with long periods of sitting and other sedentary behaviour.

Simple, inexpensive and versatile aids such as stretchy bands and balance cushions are gold in terms of being completely portable.

By regularly using these two devices, particularly the band, you can actually improve your strength and fitness and help to break up long sitting periods, even while at your office, in front of the TV or even on travelling days.

While these bands and cushions are nothing new and lots of people use them, we see endless potential for their regular use in a wide range of settings.