Fitness commuting

The first scooter I rode belonged to my housemate. I borrowed it one morning, when I was running late for work. What was usually a 15-minute walk to the station turned into a five-minute ride. I folded up the scooter and took it with me on the train. At the other end of my journey, my usual 10-minute walk took just three minutes. I was sold, and bought myself a scooter the next weekend.

I didn't initially think about the fitness benefits of using a scooter, as I don't ride it for very long each day. But I definitely notice an effect of the adrenaline – it's hard to believe how fast you can go on something so small and, by the time I get to the station, I’m wide awake with my heart racing. When I used to walk to the station, I still felt half asleep when I got to work. Now I feel much more alert when I arrive.

I use my scooter all around the village I live in. I ride it to the shop to get a newspaper and use it to go and visit friends. I'm not sure what everyone thinks, but perhaps they wish they had one too.

The payoff: Sheila burns 8.2 calories a minute and around 160 calories a day travelling to and from work on her scooter.

The walker: Krista Nobilo, age 24
The main reason I walk everywhere is because I want to keep fit, but I don't trust myself to go to the gym everyday. I also hate waiting around for buses and trains, and prefer to leave when I want to, and get there under my own steam.

I live in central London and it takes me 20 minutes to walk to my office. I don’t power walk, or do anything snazzy like walk with weights – I just walk briskly.

Walking to work has made me really keen to walk everywhere around London. At the weekends I love strolling through Hyde Park. A few weeks ago, I set off and about an hour later had walked all the way to Oxford Street, which is about 4 miles from my home. I was on my own, just chatting on my mobile and looking in shop windows and generally enjoying myself. I didn’t even notice I’d walked so far.

Walking is really good for me. Even though it’s not really strenuous and I don’t break into a real sweat, when I get somewhere I feel my legs tingling, so I know my muscles are getting a workout.

The payoff: Krista burns 4.2 calories a minute and around 168 calories a day, walking to and from work.

All calorie estimations are based on a 9.5-stone female.