How? Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and hold a barbell across the back of your shoulders. Keeping your lower back neutral, bend your knees until your thighs are at least level with the floor. Drive back up to the start.

Why? ‘You perform a squat every time you sit down,’ says Paul Millard, personal trainer at Pro Fitness. ‘It requires all of your leg muscles to work as a single unit and ensures that the strength of each muscle is proportional, whereas leg isolation exercises can create injury-provoking strength imbalances. The squat calls on your quads, hams, glutes and core, which powers up your metabolism by burning more calories during the workout and for up four hours afterwards – just by sitting down.’