Join the club

Find out more
For a list of clubs near you, check out www.england-netball.co.uk.

Adventure training

Who does it
Those who like their fitness laced with adrenaline. Adventure clubs offer members a full spectrum of action sports, and are especially popular with stressed-out thirtysomethings who are too busy to organise their own thrills.

Fitness payoff
Depending on the amount of risk involved, adventure sports get the heart pumping in a balanced cardiovascular workout.

What to do in your lunch hour
Go in-line skating. Half an hour’s worth will work your core muscles, trim your abs and tone your bum, and burn 220 calories.

Don’t worry if ... you’ve never pushed your comfort barrier before. Most new members haven’t, so you’ll all be learning together.

Find out more
Eighth Day (www.8thdayuk.com) offers members stacks of daily activities from surfing, mountain-biking and sea-kayaking to climbing, windsurfing and break-dancing. Membership costs £120 a year (or £72 for a “country” member, living outside London). Alternatively, try www.thepursuitsclub.co.uk.

Football

Who does it
Who doesn’t? Football has overtaken netball as the most popular team sport for women, with more than 130,000 registered club players. If you love team spirit and being outside, then footie is for you.

Fitness payoff
On the pitch, you’ll burn nearly three times as much energy as in the gym, which makes football great aerobic exercise and excellent for losing weight.

What to do in your lunch hour
Take a chair and five markers to the park and try this drill from the training company SAQ (www.saqinternational.com). Sit on the chair and imagine the D of a football pitch spanning in front of you (you are in the middle of the straight line). Place the markers out towards the edge of the D, at varying distances of up to 8 metres. Pick a marker and sprint towards it as fast as you can, before jogging back to your base. Repeat 10 times, varying which markers you run to. Rest for two minutes, then start a fresh set. Do three sets.

Don’t worry if ... you don’t want to fill up your weekend with matches. Most clubs offer training sessions during the week, so you can get all the fitness benefits without having to prove yourself in a competitive match.

Find out more
Contact your local authority for details of clubs near you, or visit the FA website at www.thefa.com. For Scotland, visit www.scottishfa.co.uk, and for Wales, www.fawtrust.org.uk. For clubs in Northern Ireland, e-mail smooth@irishfa.com.

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Climbing

Who does it
About 700,000 people in the UK, and it’s women who are boosting the numbers nationwide at climbing walls and rock faces, with many clubs inching towards a 50-50 male-female split. If you need a confidence boost, this is one of the best sports for developing self-esteem.

Fitness payoff
All that balancing gives the core abdominal muscles an intense workout, which will flatten your stomach and improve your posture. You’ll also get great leg definition and sculpted arms from clambering up rock faces. It burns about 400 calories an hour.

What to do in your lunch hour
Take a Pilates class. Like climbing, Pilates taps into the mind-body connection and helps you to safely gain strength, flexibility and endurance, without adding bulk.

Don’t worry if ... you’ve got the upper-body strength of a gnat. Climbing is more to do with leg power and balance, and women, who generally have weaker upper body strength, are at an advantage, because they don’t rely on their arms, so develop better technique.

Find out more
Visit the website of the British Mountaineering Council (www.thebmc.co.uk), or the Association of British Climbing Walls (www.abcclimbingwalls.co.uk).

Running

Who does it
As charity challenges take off, running clubs can give you the motivation you may need to train. Plus there’s the safety aspect of running in groups.

Fitness payoff
With the exception of cross-country skiing (which is hardly convenient in Surrey), running burns more calories (up to 630 an hour) than any other form of cardiovascular exercise. As it is a high-impact exercise, it also helps to increase bone density.

What to do in your lunch hour
Run. Set yourself a goal that’s achievable, yet challenging. Try increasing either the length of time or the distance you run by just a fraction each day.

Don’t worry if ... you can only run for a few minutes before turning red in the face. According to coaches at the Serpentine Running Club in London, if you are new to running — even if you are physically fit — you should walk for the first three weeks. Start slowly and build up.

Find out more
Look for a local club through www.british-athletics.co.uk or www.clubfinder.org.uk.

Triathlon

Who does it
Triathlon is the fastest-growing sport in the UK, and there are more than 300 clubs affiliated to the governing body, British Triathlon. Gym-fatigued women are one of the biggest groups that are ramping up numbers of participants, and a club is the best place to train if your self-discipline leaves something to be desired.

Fitness payoff
By combining three disciplines — running, cycling and swimming — triathlon ensures that you tone the whole body and don’t over-stress muscles or joints. All three disciplines stoke up the metabolism: running can burn up to 630 calories an hour, cycling 410 calories and swimming 560 calories.

What to do in your lunch hour
Pick your discipline and do a mini-session to keep things ticking over. Try to cover all three disciplines each week.

Don’t worry if ... you can’t do front crawl, you certainly won’t be alone doing breaststroke.

Find out more
Look for a club and research the kit you might need at www.allabouttriathlons.co.uk or www.britishtriathlon.org.