If a pot belly or muffin-top are the focus of your bodily angst, then the joyous news to emerge from the recent annual conference of the American College of Sports Medicine is that repetitions of sit-ups and crunches are futile. Professor Michele Olson, an exercise scientist in Alabama, found that two Pilates-style mat exercises were particularly good at engaging deep abdominal muscles and flattening the stomach.

Double leg stretch (A)
1 Lie on your back with your knees bent towards your chest.

2 Clasp your hands behind your head, keeping your elbows out to the sides.

3 Breathe in and, as you exhale, pull the abdominal muscles in to curve the head, then the upper body, off the floor. As you do so, straighten the legs upwards as far as feels comfortable. Keep the lower back pressed to the floor and point the toes, keeping the abdomen pulled in.

4 Breathe in and, as you exhale, slowly lower your head to the floor while keeping your abdominal muscles pulled in.

5 Bend the knees to the chest and repeat the entire movement 8-10 times.

The hundred (B)
1 Lie on back with the knees bent towards the chest. Extend the arms towards the far wall, keeping them 2in off the floor and alongside your body with palms down and wrists straight.

2 Take five short breaths in and five out (as if you are sniffing, then puffing out) and, as you do, pump the arms up and down with a small movement. Keep the neck relaxed, abdominals pulled in and shoulder blades down.

3 Slowly lower the feet to the floor. The idea is to progress to a total of five repetitions - or 100 beats, hence the name.

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