Great Western Coffee Shop

Do 30 squats or pay 57p to ride the Tube ^ the choice is yours

Would you be willing to trade a free journey on the Tube for dropping and doing 30 squats instead? That^s exactly the proposition facing commuters on the Moscow Metro.

Officials in the Russian capital are trying to get people fit before the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi and decided offering free trips as an incentive was the way to go.

We^re not too sure if commuters would want to sweat it out before they even got on the notoriously humid transport system.

But if they are willing to, instead of paying the regular 30 rubles (57p), they can now perform 30 squats at Vystavochnaya station.

One young lady called Lyudmila was happy to take on the challenge and said: ^It was hard at first but I managed it. Two minutes is enough time.^

But anyone wanting to take a short cut while doing the exercise won^t get far as a special machine recognises whether you are in the right stance during the stretch.

So if you^re planning a trip to Moscow anytime soon it might help to start practising your squat technique now.