Health: Get your heart pumping

The tongue in (ahem) cheek appearance led to her being dubbed Australia's greatest export since Foster's – something that gives the 29-year-old Aussie a fit of the giggles. "Wow!" she says and laughs. "I guess I can take that as a compliment."

Choreographing the routine was her first job in the UK, and came about almost by chance. "I was over here to tour with Cliff Richard and I had a little bit of time between doing the Albert Hall and the castles tour – which took me to Edinburgh – so I joined some agencies to see if I could pick up some extra work.

"The first casting I went for happened to be Call On Me and I got the role as the instructor. It was very different from working with Cliff!"

As well as the Peter Pan of Pop, Berry has worked with the likes of Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Basement Jaxx, Kanye West and Blue, plus Mr Motivator on GMTV. She also helped Coleen Nolan lose four stones. But she remains most famous for that workout. Which is why she'll be giving visitors a masterclass in the thrusting moves at Edinburgh's Your Healthy Living Show this weekend. "Feel free to wear a bit of Eighties get-up as well," she laughs.

The 1980s revival so effectively sent up in the Eric Prydz video has not just entered our television screens and stereos; it has even crept into the way we keep fit, she says. "I think people always want to have an element of fun when they're exercising, and they totally had that in the 1980s, with the way they dressed and the high energy movement," says Berry. "The thing is, those workouts really work. They burn calories and they're a lot of fun."

The high energy continues in Berry's latest DVD, which features a soundtrack by the likes of Cascada, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Pixie Lott – and a pair of teeny tiny gold hotpants. "It will get you very sweaty and your heart pumping, which is a good thing," she says, "because that's what burns calories. You want to get your heart rate right up there and keep it there for as long as you can to get the best effects."

At the other end of the fitness spectrum, yoga aims to leave participants energised, not exhausted. The nutritionist and TV presenter Amanda Hamilton says: "There's a huge variety of styles, but the idea is that you leave a workout more energised rather than less. Yes, it still works on strength and body tone – and cardiovascular fitness if you're thinking about Ashtanga yoga – but the principle behind it is that you gain more from it than you subtract."

The 35-year-old, who recently stepped down from presenting BBC2's Something For The Weekend so she could work closer to her young family in Edinburgh, will be giving nutritional advice at the Healthy Living Show, but she studied yoga in India and is a fan of Ashtanga, which connects the postures, rather than stopping and starting, making it much harder work.

And, unlike some sports that always use the same muscles, she explains that yoga works every single part of the body. "If you use a posture to open up your shoulder blades, for instance – a lot of us spend so much time hunched over a computer screen – you would use another one to do the reverse. It's very much a whole-body exercise."

Ah, but can it help us lose weight, in the same way that bouncing around a room to The Pussycat Dolls can? "Asthanga yoga or Bikram yoga, where the room is heated up, can be very cardiovascular," she insists. "And you only have to look at Madonna to see it works."

"Yoga's a bit more of a peaceful and calming workout, whereas mine are designed to make you have a little bit of fun at the same time," adds Berry. "I enjoy both, though."

And will she be dusting down her thong leotard and legwarmers any time soon? "I'll never say never," she laughs. "Call On Me was a great way to launch my career and am I ever grateful for it."

The Your Healthy Living show, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Saturday and June 13, 11am to 5pm. Tickets 5, see www.yourhealthyliving.co.uk

This article was first published in Scotland on Sunday, June 6, 2010