Ben Shephard isn’t one to stick to a single training style. Over the past year alone, he’s completed an intense strength programme for his Men’s Health cover, finished his first Hyrox (in 1:15:17), and is now deep into training for the London Marathon.
So when it comes to trying new fitness gear, he’s not exactly short on context. The 51-year-old recently put a selection of affordable training gadgets to the test – to see which ones are genuinely useful and which are more novelty than necessity.
First up: fitness dice. Designed to keep workouts varied, they’re especially useful for anyone travelling, training without equipment or simply lacking inspiration.
The set includes one die with six exercises – squats, lunges, burpees, push-ups, jumping jacks and crunches – and another with time intervals or rep counts. That gives you 36 possible combinations. Still, it’s fair to say Shephard wasn’t thrilled when he rolled 90 seconds of burpees.
‘The devil exercise,’ he says. ‘Literally my most hated exercise – we’ve established the fitness dice can fuck you.’
Next, he tries a resistance bar, typically used by people dealing with golfer’s or tennis elbow. Twisting the bar creates resistance through the forearms, wrists and elbows, helping to build grip strength and support the surrounding tendons. Shephard quickly sees the appeal.
‘As phallic as they look, they’re really brilliant for loosening off. Essentially, you twist it and hold it. Being able to do something that targets all the tendons and muscles around the elbow is really important,’ he explains.
He also gives a boxing reflex ball a go – a small ball attached to a string that wraps around your head, designed to improve speed, coordination and reactions.
‘Punch it and keep it away from my face,’ he says. ‘It’s great fun, but it’s terrifying. Just don’t get hit in the face.’
Finally, Shephard tries an orthopaedic back stretcher – something that hits closer to home given his history of back issues.
‘A little gadget the team have given me to support my lumbar spine. It’s got these acupressure points as well. You lie on top – it mimics the natural curve of your spine and decompresses all those small joints,’ he says.
Boxing Reflex Ball
Now 18% Off
Orthopaedic Back Stretcher
Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
