The 2017 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report provided some great news for the sector, with health club membership penetration rates up to an all time high of 14.9 per cent. Although this is fantastic news for our industry, unfortunately at the other end of the spectrum there are some more depressing findings, with almost half the middle aged people in the UK failing to walk continuously, at a brisk pace, for even as little as 10 minutes a month.
According to Public Health England (PHE), 41 per cent of the UK’s 40 to 60 year olds – 6.3 million people – fall into this category. For these people, the recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week is insurmountably high and they’ve given up. In response, PHE has launched a new app, Active 10, to encourage at least 10 minutes of brisk walking a day. Although this still falls short of the minimum guidelines, PHE is hoping that this will feel achievable and therefore help with changing behaviours.
Clinical advisor for the Active 10 app, Sir Muir Gray, says that even 10 minutes of walking at a brisk pace every day reduces the risk of early death by 15 per cent. If 10 per cent of this group started walking for 10 minutes a day, then 251 premature deaths could be prevented and the NHS could save up to £310m a year.
Getting these people into health clubs is a tough sell, but are there other ways the industry could reach out to engage with the deconditioned market, to start changing behaviours and possibly turn them into gym goers further down the line? We look at some activities suitable for getting the deconditioned back on track...