We're thrilled to be featured in the Country Living online magazine!

Emma-Louise Pritchard, a well known writer specialising in lifestyle, mental health and wellbeing topics and now Digital Editor of Country Living, meets with Joanna Hall. Joanna is the creator and founder of Walkactive. Together they discuss tips and recommendations for products to help you loose weight, and tone up whilst walking.

Whilst walking is something we all learn from a young age, there are techniques to help you walk faster, more efficiently and more effectively. Small changes can help you burn more calories, improve posture and engage your muscles more effectively.

At Workplay Bags we are so pleased to be recommended for TWO best buys.

The importance of proper chest, arms and back support for women

First, Joanna discusses how to improve our walking. She touches on our arms not being restricted while we walk and the importance of not having slumped shoulders or a closed chest. The arms should be able to swing naturally, supporting our abdominal muscles and improving tone.

Joanna recommends the Workplay Bags Gymwise II for it's clever design. The Gymwise II Backpack has curved "S" shaped shoulder straps, to go around the chest comfortably. It also has a shorter back for women enabling greater weight distribution and support. These design features are tried, tested and approved by women. No more 'one size fits all' for women and men!

The Gymwise II also comes in pink for women who like a pop of colour.

The importance of a well designed running belt

Now Joanna discusses the benefit of wearing a low impact, low weight running belt. You might be walking the dog and be tugged unexpectedly, walking on uneven ground, walking up a steep hill. Now in any of these scenarios, the bag needs to be sat virtually noticeably on the body, not weighing you down, getting caught or digging into your hips.

The Fleetfoot III addresses just that. We were fed up of seeing women struggle with poorly designed bags that had no ventilation, left you feeling hot and bothered or left marks and abrasion on the skin.

As Joanna mentions, the running and walking belt is designed to be worn on the hips for virtually zero bounce. It can carry all your essentials and not cause any discomfort. The well ventilated, yet padded back, of the bag means you have a supportive and comfortable running and walking bag, that sits, rather than hugs the waist.

Final thank you and acknowledgement of contributors

As a small business, we truly appreciate every piece of recognition our designs get. A huge thank you to Joanna and Emma for recommending Workplay Bags and it's carefully considered individual design features. Your support and that of our customers doesn't go unnoticed.