A report from UK Active and Les Mills has found that 43 per cent of adults are failing to meet the Chief Medical Officer’s strength guidelines.

Shaping a New Era of Strength Training, shows that engagement with strength training varies greatly across the generations. 

The Chief Medical Officer guidelines recommend that adults should do activities to develop or maintain strength in the major muscle groups twice a week, these could include heavy gardening, carrying heavy shopping, or resistance exercise. 

The report showed that awareness of these guidelines is lacking across all age groups – 73 per cent of adults were unaware of the amount of strength exercises they should be doing each week. However, females, older age groups, those from lower socio-economic groups and never-members were the cohorts with the least knowledge about the guidelines. 

Fifty eight per cent of the population are meeting guidelines and 40 per cent take part three to seven times per week. Gen Z and Millennials are the most engaged – 75 and 74 per cent respectively meet the guidelines – this drops to 55 per cent of Gen X and 34 per cent of Boomers.

One third do no strength building activity at all. More active individuals are also more likely to strength train than those who are moderately active and those who have never been gym members are less likely to engage.

Martin Franklin, CEO of Les Mills UK, calls for a landmark five-a-day style public health campaign to build awareness and inspire action: “Such a feat will require bold thinking and unprecedented collaboration between central and local government, public health bodies and the physical activity sector to drive this agenda forward and make strength training accessible for all.

“Les Mills has been helping people become stronger since 1968 and we’ve learned that the best workout is the one you actually do. Making training motivating, inclusive and most of all fun is the key to inspiring people to embrace healthy habits and reap the rewards of an active lifestyle.” 

Barriers

Confidence in strength training is lowest among those with health conditions, such as obesity or MSK issues. It’s also lower in females than males; never members than current gym members and older generations. A targeted approach from the fitness industry may be warranted to support these cohorts.

Barriers to strength training include physical limitations and injuries (24 per cent); lack of motivation (23 per cent); a lack of confidence (16 per cent); unsure of how to perform the exercises correctly (14 per cent) and having no professional guidance or coaching (10 per cent). 

To overcome the last three barriers, the report recommends that operators actively promote their expertise, as well as run programmes which specifically offer support to those who are new to strength training.

While confidence is higher among gym members than non or never members, only 30 per cent report being very or completely confident. Sixty three per cent are moderately or slightly confident, so more education and support is needed on the gym floor, even for those people who have been coming to the gym for a while.

Recommendations

With gyms and leisure centres being the most popular place for strength training (31 per cent) this highlights the important role the fitness sector has in providing the access and opportunity to strength train going forward.

The report recommends that the government makes strength training a core part of the physical activity campaign that it committed to within the NHS 10 Year Plan. Falls cost the NHS more than £2.3 billion a year and musculoskeletal (MSK) issues, such as back pain and osteoporosis, represent the third largest area of NHS spending, costing around £5 billion a year.

Other recommendations include better promotion of strength training by the NHS and establishing national partnerships between the fitness sector and experts in the third sector, such as Age UK and Women in Sport.

UK Active CEO, Huw Edwards, says: “With a third of the population doing no strength exercises at all, it’s clear the UK is sleepwalking into another health crisis. This report makes a powerful case for the nation to rethink its relationship with physical strength so people can reap the benefits for their health.

“The government should seize this opportunity to help more people access strength training by promoting the work of our sector, which will reduce pressure on the NHS and improve the health of the workforce too. Strength training is one of the best tools we have to help people live healthier, happier, more independent lives.”

The report was carried out by Savanta on a UK nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults and Active Insight provided further consumer insight. It can be downloaded here.