The following week is incredibly busy, but each day I find time to hoop while dinner is cooking. Hooping is the most convenient exercise I’ve tried – you really can do it anytime, anywhere.

By the end of the week, though, I am beginning to struggle. My body feels tired and sluggish and I can feel a few aches in my sides. I’m still dropping the hoop a lot, and feel like I need some extra motivation. I book onto one of Popa’s Planet Hoop Zoom classes in the hope of learning some useful tips.

The class is great fun, and while a 45-minute class isn’t really what I wanted (I’m the kind of exerciser who likes to do little and often, rather than long and infrequent), I definitely intend to go again when I want to do a longer workout. Popa had us doing a few moves that I had no idea could be part of hula hooping, including hooping on one leg and squatting while hooping (I failed completely at these). I still only kept the hoop up for about four minutes at a time, but I do manage a few half turns. By the end, I’m incredibly proud – and sweaty.

The following day I feel like I’ve made a major breakthrough, managing to hula hoop for a few minutes on one side, but it doesn’t last – halfway through my challenge, I’m dropping it left right and centre. It’s only on day 20 that I manage a full five minutes on each side and that’s when I realised that I’ve broken through a wall. The sense of achievement is phenomenal.

Hula hoop benefits: “I hula hooped every day for a month and it made me stronger than ever”