THE waves are crashing on the beach around me. I can smell the sea and feel the board moving under my feet. But even though I've never surfed before in my life - there's no danger of getting my feet wet!

For I'm balancing on what's called an Indo Board - an oval shaped piece of wood that rests either on an inflatable cushion or a roller depending on your ability.

Apparently it's what many surfers use to hone their skills and is also one of the props that personal trainer Laurence Canning uses to get his clients fit.

We are at Boscombe Pier and after a ten-minute warm up run on the sand, we start a series of squats and press-ups using the Indo board which works in a similar way to a Swiss Ball.

"The Indo Board is ideal land training for board sports including surfing, snowboarding, skiing, wake-boarding, windsurfing and kite surfing as well as many other sports like cycling," says Laurence.

"It makes you work lots of different core muscle groups at the same time which gives you a more intense and effective work-out, " he explains. "It also helps to improve your balance and co-ordination too."

Although Laurence, 29, has a base at a local gym - he is a big advocate of exercising in the great outdoors.

And I can't argue with him today - the sun is shining and the wind is blowing and it certainly beats being in an air-conditioned gym.

When he's not putting clients through their paces with beach runs, weight training and land surfing, he also likes to take them out mountain biking too.

"It's important to keep your exercise regime varied and if you can keep fit in the fresh air, it is much more enjoyable. Even I don't like going on treadmill and I worked in a gym for three years. I'd far rather outside enjoying the scenery!"

And it doesn't matter if you've never set foot on a mountain bike or surf board before, as Laurence works with anyone from complete beginners to athletes.

"This form of exercise is also good for rehabilitation for an ankle or knee injury. It can also help if you suffer with back ache as it builds up the lower back muscles," he explains.

"It's a more intense, specific and time efficient way to train as you are working lots of different core muscle groups at the same time.