The 39 Steps

When I was younger I read The Thirty-Nine Steps but much preferred the movie version. Calamity follows adventure and a sequence of unlikely escapes maintains the tension, along with the mystery of the 39 steps. It's a good introduction to Hitchcock's suspense-building technique.

Being handcuffed to a villain would be inconvenient but the heroine must have used up a few extra calories trying to keep up with her companion. With all the helter-skelter action in the movie it would be like being attached to a hyperactive toddler all day, rushing everywhere and never resting.

But the most obvious call to exercise in this movie is in the title - 39 steps. That's three flights of stairs.

Imagine if before every meal and every coffee break you walk up three flights of stairs. That would nudge your calorie intake up a bit and keep you active. A flight of stairs is around thirteen steps, so go up and down stairs three times. If you live in a block with several floors available to you, walk up three flights and then come back down. Go at a speed appropriate for your fitness level, but whatever speed you use, walking uphill will exercise the larger muscles in your body.

Try that today and every day. It's an easy way to increase your activity level, build up those fat-burning muscles and enables you to feel more energised in the middle of a busy day!

So get moving - you have nothing to lose but the weight!

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