If you're worried that your six-pack has become more of a bulk buy, Playtrainer may be worth a look. For £19.99 a month they'll email you weekly MP3 or MP4 workout plans tailored to your requirements. Stick them on your PM3 and get ready to feel the burn.

'Monster exercise work several muscle groups and demand more blood flow by combining two moves,' says personal trainer Peter Rodwell. 'So you tone twice as much muscle and they give you a cardio workout. An example is a squat-to-press. Stand with feet hip-width apart holding a dumbbell on each shoulder. With your chest up and feet flat, squat. Then as you rise bring one dumbbell above your head. Repeat with alternate arms 16 to 20 times for two sets.'

We'd all love to be able to afford a personal trainer to whip us into shape, but it's as much as we can do to scrape together our gym membership fees each month.

However, a new website might be the key to saving the pennies and getting fitter than ever: For £19.99 a month, the people at Playtrainer.com gym, the brainchild of Peter Rodwell, will devise a personalise exercise programme which you then download to your MP3 player so that you can be talked through your gym workout, or, if you have a video iPod, watch a demo as you go.
The programme changes every month so you get the best results, and if you just want to tone up or lose fat, you don't even need a gym membership. Suck that up Third Space, with your three-figure monthly subs.

See Playtrainer.com for more info.

Jenny White discovers what personal training, iPods and a Finchley business have in common.

I decided recently after a rather sweaty workout in the gym, that I was never going to be able to achieve a bottom like Kylie's or conjure up enough motivation to be able to attain the biceps of Madonna. After all I do yoga at my gym, just like Madonna claims to do, and yet I don't seem to get the results she dose. So what is the difference between me and all these superstars? The answer is simple: they have the resources to spend vast amounts of money on personal trainers, who job is to keep them in top shape and push them to their limits. This is something that my budget just wont stretch to and, even though I do go to the gym, I feel I'm not sweating as much as I could if I had the right guidance.
Enter stage right (or more precisely, pictured left) Peter Rodwell. He runs own personal training business at MyGym in Finchley, has been at the top of his game for over a decade and has now developed the intriguing Playtrainer. “The Playtrainer is a personalise, progressive training programme that is sent to you via email and can then be downloaded to your MP3 or MP4 player,” he explains to an eager subject.

All done over the internet, I sign up and enter my workout history and my goals - “convert my bingo wings into Madonna-style toned arms!” I firmly state. Rodwell then takes all this information and creates a programme that helps me achieve my goals, which I then download onto my iPod along with the stretch programme that I am given to do at the beginning of each session. Each exercise is accompanied by a video demonstration of what the exercise consists of. So armed with my 'personal trainer', I hit the gym. Once I do my warm-up stretches I prepare myself for the first exercise: the dumbbell incline bench. Music starts to play and Rodwell tells me to start, counting me in so that I get the right rhythm: Up for one, two, three. Hold. Down for three, two, one.” I have 90 seconds to do each exercise and Rodwell tells me when my time is up. I repeat each exercise two to three times with a 60-second break, where Rodwell kindly reminds me to drink some water. Throughout the workout Rodwell talks to me, encouraging and reminding me to pull in my tummy and keep my back to the bench. At one point I have to look around to see if he is in the gym with me, watching my every move.

Once I have finished the workout and cool down, I can feel that my body is still slightly aching – a good sign. The beauty of Playtrainer is that every month over a period of six months, I am sent a new programme, meaning I never get board. Then there is the added benefit of being able to take it anywhere, including on holiday.
After using the Playtrainer over the next few weeks, I feel I'm using my time much more efficiently and getting better results then before. Its great to have a routine and to have Rodwell keeping me in time, encouraging me all the way. The only thing that Playtrainer doesn't do is drag me out of bed to get to the gym, but with definition already showing in my arms, it seems I am well on my way to achieve my goal. Madonna, here I come...

To sign up to Playtrainer, visit www.playtrainer.com

...But cardiovascular exercise alone isn't enough. 'I never use BMI to assess my clients' health. I use body-fat callipers and then encourage them to do resistance exercise, such as weights training, as this helps build muscle mass and keeps body fat down,' says Peter Rodwell, a London based personal trainer who runs www.playtrainer.com, a fitness programme you can download onto your phone or MP3 player.
'You really need to do half an hour's weight-training three times a week to keep your muscle mass at an optimal level,' he says.

If you step up your weight training and you begin to reduce your waist size, don't be alarmed if your BMI increases. BMI's failure to differentiate between muscle and fat often means that those with leaner, more muscular bodies, such as athletes, register as overweight according to BMI.

The American College of Sports Medicine, which is considered the world authority on fitness, has long since denounced BMI due to its misclassification of athletes...

Download your very own sanctimonious fitness freak straight to your iPod. Playtrainer gets you pumped. And releases unearthed sexual tendencies. Can't afford £50 a time to be barked at by an overly toned fitness trainer? Tired of listening to motivational 80s dance music when working out? Never fear, unfit folk, help is at hand.

A new service, dubbed Playtrainer, has the hit the web. The idea's simple: download sessions to your 'Pod for the gym-beating price of £19.99 a month. You can update sessions depending on whether you're a hardened gym bunny or slothful layabout. All you need to do is boost over here and get going. Running on a freezing cold winter morning followed by a thousand crunches on the Common never sounded so appealing.

How many people do you know who say things like, "I was really fit, once…" and "I had a personal trainer, once…. Quite a few? Well, you can count me as one of them if you like.

I used to go to a fabulous gym in Highgate - really friendly, great facilities etc, etc. The only problem was that I didn't really make the most of it until I hired a personal trainer. The problem with that was, of course, the expense.

The cost of hiring a Lycra-clad taskmaster to get you into shape can be prohibitive and that's where this clever little site comes in.

For a monthly subscription, which pales into insignificance compared to the cots of a real-life trainer, they'll send you MP3 or MP4 training sessions to keep you motivated. You simply load these onto your media player and you've got your very own pocket-sized personal trainer.
Judging by the free samples (which anybody can try) they really know their stuff and even include a funky soundtrack to help you keep appropriate rhythms while you workout. This is a great idea, well presented and I think it could be a huge success.

How would you like the convenience of a personal trainer in your pocket?

The Playtrainer is a program you can upload to your iPod, so you can keep on top of your fitness goals on the go. "Playtrainer is available in both Audio (MP3) and Video (MP4) options.

If you have a Video iPod for example you can use our MP4 coaching, whereas if you want to put Playtrainer on your mobile phone - then you would use our Audio (MP3) coaching and workout sheets."
Now there’s really no excuse for slacking off!

How many people do you know who say things like, "I was really fit, once…" and "I had a personal trainer, once…". Quite a few? Well, you can count me as one of them if you like.

I used to go to a fabulous gym in Highgate - really friendly, great facilities, etc., etc. The only problem was that I didn't really make the most of it until I hired a personal trainer. The problem with that was, of course, the expense.

The cost of hiring a Lycra-clad taskmaster to get you into shape can be prohibitive and that's where this clever little site comes in.

For a monthly subscription, which pales into insignificance compared to the cost of a real-life trainer, they'll send you MP3 or MP4 training sessions to keep you motivated. You simply load these onto your media player and you've got your very own pocket-sized personal trainer.

Judging by the free samples (which anybody can try) they really know their stuff and even include a funky soundtrack to help you keep appropriate rhythms while you workout.
This is a great idea, well presented and I think it could be a huge success.

How would you like the convenience of a personal trainer in your pocket?

The Playtrainer is a program you can upload to your iPod, so you can keep on top of your fitness goals on the go. "Playtrainer is available in both Audio (MP3) and Video (MP4) options. If you have a Video iPod for example you…