There has been a record amount people going to gyms with 11.5 million members of a club – 1.6 million more than three years ago.
According to the Guardian online Generation Z, who are aged between 13 and 28, who are the main drivers behind these statistics.
So why have so many young people made the decision to start going to gym?
Student Jack Gibbs, who is a regular at the University of Derby Sports Centre, gave his view about why so many young people have started going to gyms.
He said: “A lot of young people nowadays are really into getting in shape and prioritising their health.
“I think that the gyms become more of a social activity as a lot of people like to go with a friend which I think adds to the appeal.
“Social media has also had an influence on the amount of young people going to gyms.
“A lot of people post photos on there which gives others motivation to go the gym and exercise.”
Social media is also incredibly popular amongst young people with over 95 per cent of 16-24-year-olds having a social media account.
So it is clear that social media definitely has an impact on the uprising of young people going to gyms due to amount of fitness accounts and posts on there.
Jack was asked about the benefits of using the gym as a way to socialise.
He said: “I think it’s a great way to socialise to be honest. It’s a productive and healthy way to go out with a friend and have a chat while you’re exercising.”
“It’s also a great was to meet new people, since I started going I’ve made a lot of new friends here so it’s definitely a good way to socialise.”
In contrast to the rising the numbers of young people going to the gym a lot less young people have stopped going to traditional social venues such as pubs.
Fellow student Dan Gardner (20), a gym regular, was asked about why young people prefer to go to the gym.
He said: “I think pubs and other ways to socialise are still fairly popular amongst young people, but I would say that the gym is the most popular form of socialising.
“Personally, I would say I definitely prefer going to the gym over socialising in a pub as I always prefer to be active.”
The gym is also widely considered to be beneficial to peoples mental health. Dan was asked how his mental health is impacted by regularly going to the gym.
He said: “I find it has a good impact on my mental health as it offers an escape from the pressures of everyday life.
“When you are in the gym and concentrating on something that you really enjoy it makes all your problems disappear.
“I think that the link between your mental and physical health is really strong, so getting out and exercising is always a great way to make you feel productive and better about yourself.”
Due to the massive increase in young people joining gyms it appeared that the community was very welcoming and friendly.
Josh Morton who works at the University of Derby Sports Centre was asked for his opinion on the gym community.
“From working here I’ve seen that the gym community is very helpful to one another as more experienced members are always helping about beginners.
“A lot of the people that go here seem to get on really well. In the evenings the gym always packed and everyone’s talking and having a good time.”
Due to the increase in young people going to gyms it raised the question: How can we get older people interested in going to the gym?
Josh said: “There are quite a few older people that go here to be fair, although I would say most of the people who go here are mainly young people.
“I would say the best way to get more older people in the gym would be by existing members telling their friends and getting them to join a gym.
“The social side of the gym is really important in getting new people into the gym.
I would say if more older people used to gym as a way to socialise it would become very popular among that age range.
It is clear that social media and the opportunity to socialise at the gym has given the younger generation more motivation to go to the gym.
The increasing numbers of young people going to gym makes the title of healthiest generation suit GenZ very well.
