FROM COUCH POTATO TO GYM BUNNY...

The astonishing success of Team GB in the Beijing Olympics – fourth in the medal tables with 19 gold and 47 medals in total – has inspired Britons to make the move from armchair enthusiasm to actually working up a sweat.

Sales of sports bras in John Lewis increased by nearly 30 per cent over the summer, as the women of Britain watched the likes of Rebecca Adlington, Nicole Cooke and Christine Ohuruogu swim, cycle and sprint their way to gold in Beijing.

Virgin Active health clubs also reported a surge in gym members taking part in classes involving spinning (stationary cycling), swimming and rowing, the same sports which brought us so many medals.

Reports from the retail sector also revealed a surge in sales of sporting equipment in August, including a 130 per cent increase in the sale of bikes and a 135 per cent rise in swimsuits and goggles.

The ‘Olympic Effect’ could be exactly what the UK needs to become a nation of lean, mean medal-winning machines in time for London 2012.