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After reorganising the office, we were left with one big IKEA cabinet that needed to be moved to our storage facility. Given it was about half a kilometer away we could either perilously attach it to the car roof racks which would lead to the total disintegration of the cabinet or walk it over by foot.

So the quickest and safest option was to make the trip by foot which became challenging after 200m. It gives a great all over body workout as you are needing to brace from the core to ensure stability while engaging your links shoulders and arms to provide the movement.

Always remember when you are carrying any loads to be careful to maintain neutral posture, i.e. keeping your hips underneath your shoulders and not leaning forwards as this will place stress on your lower back. This follows on from the same principle of lifting the cabinet from the ground, being careful to bend at the knees and not to allow a rounded back as this again will place stress on your lumbar spine and cause lower back pain. Similarly remember to keep the chest out and your shoulders back as placing a load while having rounded shoulders can place stress on the rotator cuff muscles.

When you look at any furniture removal lists, they always carry in the optimum position to maintain a correct level of posture otherwise as you can imagine within a short period of time and will have low back problems.

If you’re looking at getting some incidental exercise into your day, way not start with some car park exercise.

Rather than getting stressed and agitated trying to park as close as possible to the front door of the shopping centre, try parking as far away as possible.
The big plus is the extra 200-300 meters of walking you can get. Throw in some weighted shopping bags and you have some extra calorie burning without having to do any specific exercise.

The other plus to parking way down the back, is that you’ll have more room and there’ll be less likelihood of other people parking next to you and slamming their door into your car, so your car will be happier for it.

But, if you are parking among other cars, try deliberately forgetting where you parked the car. When you return, run down every aisle looking for your car, before you know it you will have covered 1-3km

A great way to lose weight without trying is to incorporate a little bit of incidental exercise that will help burn calories while doing everyday domestic stuff. What we’re talking about is keeping the body moving so you break the sedentary lifestyle cycle of sitting all day long.

So try out these 10 great ways of burning calories while you’re out doing everyday stuff.

1.When you’re printing documents at work select a printer that is on the other side of the office.

2.Try cleaning your oven without the aid of nasty chemicals, use good old elbow grease.

3.Park your car at the furthest point at the shopping centre car park or better still forget where you park.

4.Clean your windows, once again without nasty chemicals. Try using good old methylated spirits and newspaper.

5.Take the stairs rather than a lift or escalator.

6.Walk and play with the dog, why let rover have all the fun!

7.Walk when picking up the kids. If you live close to their school, walking will help lead by example in setting healthy exercise habits:))

8.Always keep moving. If you’re a perennial sit-downer ie you spend long periods glued to the computer or TV screen, get up every 1 – 2 hours and go for a quick walk, it will boost your productivity and give your mind a break.

9.Sweep the footpaths and rake the leaves, it’s a great work out plus it keeps things tidy

10..Dust your blankets and small rugs by placing them on the clothesline and beating them with a broom handle, just remember to change sides to ensure an even workout.

While some of these may seem unconventional, they are a great way to burn some extra calories while going about your normal activities during the day.

Incorporate some exercise into your Ikea shopping with some orienteering around the aisles with power walking to find your way out.

After deciding last minute that I needed to spend a relaxing Sunday morning with thousands of other shoppers I headed for Ikea, the only place on a Sunday morning where extremely focused people are out shopping.

If you’er looking to incorporate some shopping and a work out, give yourself 20 minutes to get to the check outs, keep a brisk power walking pace. In this time you will cover at least 3km in the meandering cascade of Sweedish lifestyle designer sets. You will have to try numerous combinations of exit strategies to find your way out but don’t cheat by using

For an added core work out, fill the flat bed trolly with some book cases and navigate the trolly around the thousands of shoppers, be careful to miss the cuddly toys and the not to be missed designer plant holders.

Remember to brace your core by drawing in from below your belly button to your spine.

Also try out trying to find your car in the car park, jogging aisle by aisle.

So throw in a little incidental exercise into the mix with your Ikea shopping experience but do not forget to power walk.

A great unusual exercise, trying to find your car in a massive carpark. Think about the distance that you can travel when getting back to your car or when you cannot find your car, having to walk or preferable run isle by isle.

The work out can be improved by carrying shopping in either hand, ideally a shopping bag in either hand, remembering not to internally rotate the shoulders and feeling the weight of the bags around your shoulder blades.

Remember no cheating by using your phone camera to determine your location before you leave the car or a GPS unit. The best results will be gained by keeping it a total mystery.