The new House moves

They are body contortions you probably did when you were small but got told off by your mum for smudging the wallpaper and endangering life and limb. Being a grown-up means what you've lost in flexibility you gain in freedom and a chance to exercise without so much as glancing at a gym.

House Gymnastics is taking off on bannisters, window sills and walls worldwide and the only special equipment required is, er, a house.

A fusion of yoga, break-dancing, gymnastics and climbing, House Gymnastics was invented by Nottingham-based art students Spencer Harrison and James Ford one day when they were fixing a bedroom blind. Finding themselves without the necessary stepladder they balanced precariously on the window sill.

Hang tough

They began to experiment around the house, hanging backwards off bannisters and wedging themselves against walls and in shapes in doorways.

There are lots of benefits, they say. Not only can you exercise in the comfort of your own home, you can expect an improvement in general fitness, upper body strength, balance, increased flexibility and focused mental and physical agility and 'an ability to impress your friends'. Also, you'll never again struggle to put up a blind or hang a picture in an awkward spot.

Since their website was launched in January, House Gymnastics has become an unexpected hit, with thousands logging on to 'bust a move'.

It has fans in places as far flung as Asia and Canada. There are DVDs, T-shirts and a book, to be published by Ebury Press next January. The website lists 25 basic moves which range from the Bridge (lifting yourself off the kitchen work-top), The Carpet Crab (taken directly from yoga - tucking your feet over your hands and balancing) and Shelf Pirouette (extending an arm and a leg while standing on a window sill).

The moves have to be held for three seconds to be valid and each has a difficulty rating from one to five stars. Impressive they may be - but do they actually help you tone up?

Core blimey

Yolanda Green, group trainer at LA Fitness, says: 'These guys have incredible core and upper body strength to get into the moves in the first place.

In the Brace, for example, you would need flexibility and abdominal strength to flip yourself up.

'I would recommend training in a safe environment such as a Pilates or yoga class before unleashing yourself on your home. The most difficult thing is not holding the moves but getting in and out of them.'

Indeed, a section on the House Gymnastics website lists injuries as 'an inevitable side effect' with pictures of nasty scratches, fractured wrists and chipped heels, mostly sustained from falling out of a move.

Harrison and Ford admit the positions aren't easy. 'It's is an achievement to be able to do all the moves in sequence. Stay focused and think of the aesthetic.'

They suggest 'busting a move' on outdoor structures such as lamp posts, telephone boxes, the office ceiling or even the Tate Gallery.

But what began as an irreverent poke at organised fitness (as much performance art as exercise) has, through sheer popularity, become an institution itself. Serious stuff - which House Gymnastics clearly isn't.

www.housegymnastics.com