Eighty nine per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds are doing some form of strength exercise weekly and 17 per cent of the UK population is now a gym member.

These are some of the key findings from PureGym’s The UK Fitness Report 2024/25 – now in its third year – which uses internal customer data supported by further insights from YouGov. The censuswide survey of 2,006 nationally representative respondents was conducted in September 2024.

There are many encouraging results: 76 per cent of people say they aspire to be healthy, with 34 per cent wanting to improve their mental health, 34 per cent wanting to improve their cardiovascular health and 33 per cent wanting to get stronger.

Gymtimidation is becoming less of an issue: only 8 per cent identified this is as a problem compared with 21 per cent last year. Of those who do still struggle with this, 70 per cent say it’s because they don’t feel comfortable working out in front of other people and 61 per cent aren’t confident with using the equipment.

There is still room for improvement in terms of activity levels, as one in three feel their mental and cardiovascular health needs to improve and currently only 10 per cent meet the physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity and two strength building sessions a week.

There are some incremental improvements: 48 per cent are now taking part in regular exercise, which is a 3 per cent increase on the previous year and represents a further two million people. While 22 per cent of people don’t consider themselves at all healthy – from a mental, physical, emotional or social viewpoint – this is 1 per cent less than last year.

When it comes to exercise, age and geography are contributing factors. Sixty five per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds currently participate in exercise, followed by 61 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds. However, 45- to 54-year-olds are the least confident about their health, with just 27 per cent considering themselves to be healthy.

People in the south east are the most active (49 per cent), with Londoners coming out top overall (59 per cent). These are the areas which have the biggest concentration of gyms, especially low-cost operators.

The top five health issues which people struggle with the most are: feeling fatigued (68 per cent); not getting enough sleep (66 per cent); back aches/pain (65 per cent); poor flexibility (63 per cent) and coping with stress (63 per cent.)

Interestingly, improving personal appearance is less of priority than last year: 27 per cent this year, compared with 35 per cent in 2023. Simply improving general health is the biggest exercise goal (49 per cent), followed by improving mental health (34 per cent).

Dislike of exercise is still putting 20 per cent of people off, with 13 per cent finding it boring. This could stem from negative experiences such as school PE lessons, or finding it unpleasant because it’s hard when they are out of condition.

You can read the full reporthere.