Stop jogging - kick a ball around instead

Good news for those who prefer a kickabout in the park to running: football burns fat and builds muscle more effectively than jogging.

The study from Copenhagen University found that footballers lost 3.5kg of fat and gained 2kg of extra muscle after training two to three times per week for 12 weeks.

The joggers lost 2kg of fat and showed no change in muscle mass. An extra bonus is that the footballers found their form of exercise relatively easy, unlike the joggers, who found running hard.