The resilience of the UK fitness sector and its thirst for innovation was evident at Elevate which took place in London last week. Key takeaways were the need for data and communication.

In the opening panel on the Debate stage, UK Active’s director of membership and sector development, Marianne Boyle, said it’s an opportunity to stop and reflect on what the industry has achieved during a really challenging time.

“We need to be proud of what we’ve achieved. It’s an innovative and resilient industry, on track to reach the 20 per cent penetration set out in Vision 2030,” she says. “Year by year we’re improving, so imagine what we could do without the challenges we’ve faced in the last few years.”

She also spoke about engaging with the 83 per cent of the UK population who are not currently involved with the sector. “We won’t get everyone but we can get more,” she said. “We need to be better at closing sales, as well as keeping current members.”

It has been a long haul to get successive governments to notice the industry but significant inroads have now been made, Boyle says: “we are in the room and now we have to get to the table.

“We're in a unique position to provide a solution to current healthcare problems, so we must look at how we can support the NHS, talk their language, and also use our data to shout about what we’re already doing.”

The current government’s priorities are sustained economic growth and improving the health of the nation and the industry needs to prove how it is already doing both. The key is data and communication.

Moving the dial on penetration

There was a lot of discussion about reaching out to those populations who are not engaging with the sector. CIMSPA CEO, Tara Dillion, said we should be aiming for 80 per cent penetration.

And why not? For good health, everyone needs to build or retain muscle mass, cardiovascular capacity, as well as work on their mental health. If the industry continues to diversify and broaden at its current rate, taking a holistic approach, as well as working to remove the barriers to entry, we could be in a position to engage with the majority of the population.

“Thirty years ago fitness was a hobby but now – following cataclysmic changes in the food industry with 70 per cent of calories coming from ultra-processed foods – it’s essential,” says Oli Patrick. “People are buying products for solutions, when they should be buying us.”

Speakers talked about the need to speak to all audiences – young, old, unwell and female.

Boyle says it is important to consider the needs of Gen Z and also Generation Alpha. “They're our customers of the future, so we need to think now about how we engage them,” she said.

Dillon said: “Nineteen- to 24-year-olds are the biggest growing group of consumers ever and it’s the sector’s duty to raise the bar to stop them consuming bullshit on social media.”

Alliance Leisure CEO, Sarah Watts, said we need to be better at engaging with the over-60s, as 60 per cent of this population have never used a health club. Watts also cited a study by We are Undefeatable which showed that for those suffering from long-term health conditions, pain is a greater barrier than cost.

Exercise is safe

Speaking on a panel about supporting people living with long-term health conditions, Nuffield Health’s medical and charity director, Dr Davina Deniszczyc, noted there is often hesitation from the sector to work with people who have health conditions and if we’re going to be a government partner then this has to be overcome.

One unnecessary barrier is asking prospective members to fill out a ParQ screening questionnaire, or telling them to get cleared by their GP prior to taking exercise. “This is a false barrier which puts a lot of people off,” said Dr Natasha Jones, president of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine. “We need to get across the message that physical activity is safe.”

To this end, the faculty is launching a new digital resource in July which will replace the need for a doctor's consultation. “We want to replace the screening with knowledge and confidence instead of barriers. Looking at how to empower people and working with them to explore the barriers to help them find their starting point,” said Jones.

Inclusivity was also a big discussion point, with multiple panels on the subject. The industry needs to focus on being more inclusive for all types of users and across the full spectrum of disabilities. As well as accessible facilities, we need educated PTs. This isn’t a short-term fix, but a long-term commitment to change.

When will women be mainstream?

While women-focused programmes are starting to finally gain traction, thanks largely to the efforts of The Well HQ co-founder, Baz Moffat, they're still way off being mainstream. Considering that women make up more than half of the UK population, this should be part of foundational training, but until that time it’s up to operators to allocate budget for CPD, such as via The Well HQ.

“Men and women are different,” said Dillon, “and the demand for this education is huge. PTs could quadruple their client base and keep them for twice as long if they knew how to train women.”

David Lloyd Leisure’s head of fitness and programming, Michelle Dand, spoke about the launch of the company’s new women’s programme, which was developed after Dand saw Moffat speak at the HCM Summit in 2024. Professionals from 123 of DLL's sites have now completed the Female Health and Menopause Course.

“Our instructors have never been so excited to learn,” said Dand. “The women are keen to learn about themselves while the men are interested because of their partners or daughters.”

What’s next?

Future trends were discussed in a panel chaired by LeisureDB founder, David Minton. The panel included founder of Future Practice and Pillar Wellbeing, Oli Patrick; trustee of The UK Nutrition Society, Penny Hunking; CEO of Screen My Bones, Gary Rhodes; founder of MYG, Dr Samir Kapoor and regional director of Everyone Active, Duncan Jefford.

Nutrition is an area which the industry needs to start paying attention to. Especially in the light of more people taking GLP-1s which could leave them malnourished. (Singer Robbie Williams has revealed he experienced scurvy after taking a weight loss medication.)

Fitness professionals need to be trained, knowledgeable and confident in this space in order to work with clients, give credible advice, dispel the myths and fight back against influencers. Hunking said: “It’s dangerous to cut out food groups and few adults have sufficient fibre in their diet. There's a lot of rubbish about nutrition on social media.”

Body composition scanners are now increasingly part of the gym offering and bone scanners could be next. Rhodes spoke about their importance, saying: “Bones are not sexy but they’re our foundations and everything hangs off them.”

Wellbeing membership are already here, but we expect to see more. Everyone Active introduced its You+ membership category at the start of this year – a wellbeing membership created in partnership with Oli Patrick. There have been 36,000 sign-ups so far.

“Addressing lifestyle factors, such as sleep and stress, You+ allows us to influence our members even when they’re not in our clubs,” said Jefford, on a panel about emerging trends on the Debate stage.

A key message was that the foundational principles to good health are simple – sleep, hydration, nutrition and movement – but many people are struggling with this. Sixty per cent of the UK have a sleep disorder, many people are confused on nutrition and don’t drink enough water.

“It’s a difficult time for people to be well. We need to sex up the basics and use data to prove them,” said Patrick, who also said that strong social connections are more important than a monthly ice bath. A reminder for operators to tell members not to get so involved with wellness rituals that they forget to have fun with the people they love.

On the exhibition floor

With pelvic health coming out of its closet of shame to being fast regarded as a pillar of modern wellness – it’s not just mothers who need to be aware about their pelvic health, men have pelvic floor muscles too – it was great to try out PonteMed’s Pelvipower chair.

This Swiss-developed, German-manufactured chair uses non-invasive functional magnetic stimulation to provide probe-free sessions that strengthen the pelvic floor and deep core muscles while users relax, fully clothed. Effective and safe, the range of three chairs are already in use in medical settings and are now aiming to move across to the wellness and fitness sectors. Who will be the first to adopt?