National Fitness Day: The perfect time to take the first step

By Cameron Saunders, CEO of ukactive

Last week I finally plucked up courage to have my ‘bioage’ measured at EGYM’s showroom by St Pauls. I still have an inbuilt phobia of getting things checked out, even when there’s nothing to worry about, and I was very pleased to learn that my bioage is in fact 37-years-old – a good 16 years younger than my actual age. By coincidence, 37 was the exact age when I started my fitness journey.

Having not exercised since school, I’d gradually put on a few pounds every year and a heath check had told me I was on the borderline of being obese. I’d signed up my team at 20th Century Fox to an ambitious team challenge – to climb 20 peaks across the Lake District over 20 hours – and didn’t want to be the “overweight managing director” holding people back!

This Dydd Cenedlaethol Ffitrwydd we’re looking to welcome millions to start, or restart, their fitness journey. Reflecting on the EGYM experience, there’s so much more to fitness than simply losing weight and also so many ways to measure success. There’s strength, mobility and, most importantly, how you feel both physically and mentally. These days we have the technology and insight to help people with personalised, customised training plans that are right for them, and with so many ways to get moving.

A few weeks ago, I was inspired by a member of the team who’d taken his daughter on her first parkrun, and I decided to take may own teenage daughter out for her debut parkrun in Cheltenham. It was great to see such an eclectic range of people out early(ish) on a Saturday morning, to run without fear of judgement or failure, just to be out there being active.

Our research shows that any form of activity – be that walking or short workouts at home – significantly increases people’s confidence in their physical health, and their intent to join a health club, gym or leisure centre. Plus our latest consumer polling shows that sense of community, connection and friendship is also found in our nation’s gyms and leisure centres, across all generations.

Of course, it’s the first step that can be the hardest, followed by the consistency needed to turn those first efforts into a regular, lifelong habit. Our industry has many great pathways so activity levels are slowly trending upwards, but activity is unequally distributed with many barriers still existing. These barriers can be cost and convenience, but they exist in areas super-served by facilities as well as those where they’re few and far in between.

The biggest barrier is in the mind – it’s the uncertainty about where to start, the fear of not fitting in and the gap between wanting to change and actually showing up. National Fitness Day exists to collapse that gap. This year we’re working with organisations across the sector, as well as schools, community groups, employers and others to make that first step easy, fun and frictionless. Free taster sessions, beginner-friendly groups, times that fit real life – all ‘Powered by you!’

That’s what National Fitness Day is for; not for people who’ve already decided they’re fit, but for the millions like my 16-year-younger self, who have a reason to be active but are looking for a way to start. If you’ve been thinking about it, this is the week! This is the perfect time to take that first step.

Find out more and get involved at www.nationalfitnessday.com

This blog was originally published by Sport England to celebrate National Fitness Day 2026