More people are joining gyms now than at any point in recent history. This is happening everywhere, from major cities to smaller towns that used to have maybe one gym if they were lucky. What’s interesting is the reason people give when you ask them why they signed up.
Mental health comes up more than anything else. Five years ago, people joined gyms because they wanted to drop a few pounds or build muscle. Now they’re more likely to say they need it for their head, not their body. The conversation changed.
Why did the mental shift happen?
Everyone knows exercise makes you feel better. That’s not new. What changed is that people actually admit they need help with their mental health, and they’re willing to pay for a gym membership to get it. The stigma lifted somewhat.
Group classes do better than facilities that just have equipment. People want to show up, see the same faces, and suffer through a workout together. Boxing has become huge. Plenty of people who never hit anything in their lives now turn up twice a week for pad work and drills. You don’t need experience, just turn up and the instructor tells you what to do.
Jiu-jitsu pulls in a different crowd and teaches you how to handle yourself, but it also gives you something to think about besides work and bills. Self-defence classes help people, especially women, feel safer when they walk home at night. Yoga helps people breathe properly instead of staying tense all day, and mobility sessions keep joints working while they prevent the stiffness that comes with age.
Pilates has become popular for targeting back problems that develop from years of sitting hunched over computers. Kettlebell workouts feel different from traditional weights but deliver results, and barbell classes teach proper form while they build actual strength at the same time.TRX suspension training hits your whole body in one session, and Hyrox mixed running with functional exercises until it turned into a whole competitive scene.
Dance fitness gets your heart rate up but doesn’t feel like you’re exercising, which is exactly why people stick with it. Most decent facilities now, including any Gym, London location, stock all these classes because they figured out people get bored fast and quit if there’s only one or two options.
Budget operators changed everything
Low-cost chains made gyms accessible to people who couldn’t afford the old model. These places moved into towns that previously had one expensive gym or just a knackered leisure centre with broken equipment. They picked retail parks where rent is cheap, kept things simple, and charged reasonable prices.
The financial numbers back this up. Membership revenue went from £4.05 billion in 2022 to £5.19 billion in 2024, which works out to a 13.1% compound annual growth rate. This happened while people were cutting back on takeaways, nights out, and holidays because of inflation.
Young people drove the comeback
The pandemic closed gyms, and everyone tried working out at home with YouTube videos, resistance bands, and Joe Wicks in the living room. Plenty of people thought that would stick, but it didn’t. When gyms reopened, people came back fast, and younger people led the return.
About 15.9% of the UK population now belongs to a gym, and that figure rose from 15.1% just a year before. Scotland hits 16.5% while Northern Ireland sits at 11.3%, but everywhere is going up.
The market reached £5.9 billion in 2024, and the figures show a 9.7% jump from 2023, with both membership numbers and revenue beating pre-COVID levels.
What still needs fixing
Council gyms are in trouble. Budget cuts hit local authorities hard, and public facilities closed even though demand went up. Private chains filled some gaps, but not everywhere. Where you live determines what options you have.
Money is still a problem for a lot of people. Budget gyms brought prices down, but £25 a month still matters when you’re barely getting by.
The Final Thoughts
The gym boom comes from a shift in why people join. Mental health matters more than appearance now. Budget chains made it affordable. Group classes gave people community and structure. Towns that had one gym now have several, so prices dropped and quality went up because they had to compete.
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