Top male kayakers have rippling bodies. While the top females are superbly toned.

You can join the 'new age' fit look too. It's no longer the skinny legs and waif-like upper body in vogue. Men like their women toned all over, not skin and bone.

When a woman wants exercise she usually thinks of walking or running, or even a cycle. All of these do wonders for the legs but that is just half a body workout. What about your abs, your shoulders and those all important chest muscles that hold you upright!?

Kayaking is the answer. Stop that chest and shoulder droop as you get older. Stay upright and walk tall forever. Kayaking exercises the whole upper body and some of the lower body as well.

The good news is kayaks are now easy to balance and paddle. No more tippy-hard-to-steer kayaks that tip over and jam your legs in them. For the more serious you could use a sea kayak that is fast and great on the open harbour, or you could get maximum use out of your dollar and buy a family sit-on-top kayak. These sit-on's are just the bees knees for the whole family. The kids can play on them in flat water or at the beach, you can have a great little adventure around the harbour and burn up heaps of calories, or when you have had enough, send the hubby out trawling a fishing line to bring home the dinner.

So how do you paddle them to get the best exercise?

As you put the paddle in the water, pull back with your shoulder and use a lot of body twist. Lift your shoulders to help pull the paddle out of the water at the end of the stroke and then push it forwards as if you are doing a bench press. Twist your body and push your shoulder right forward so as to reach as far forward as you can to get a bigger, stronger stroke. The repeat over and over again. Soon you will be in a nice swinging rotating motion. Your shoulders will be pumping and all the muscles in your abdomen will be working hard as you are pushing, pulling, lifting and slamming that paddle down into the water.

Twice a week will do wonders. You are no longer at the mercy of those aching knees, feet and hips to get your exercise. If you want to hire or buy a kayak, or you would like a lesson or two, come down to Fergs Kayaks at Okahu Bay on Auckland's waterfront, or Queens Wharf, Wellington. Bring a friend, you could paddle single or double kayaks, but explain you are just starting out and the staff will look after you really well (I know they will because I am their boss).