There’s always plenty of discussion in the fitness industry about the role we should play in improving the nation’s health. It resurfaces every few months, usually triggered by a government initiative, an industry report, NHS pressures or another obesity statistic.

I’ve had countless conversations about it. Some thoughtful, some heated, but almost all starting from the same assumption: that the fitness industry has a responsibility to improve public health.

Until recently I largely accepted that. We’re in fitness; helping people get healthier is what we do. Then something made me stop and reconsider the whole premise. Is it actually our responsibility to improve the nation’s health? Or is our responsibility to run successful businesses that provide products and services people want to buy?

That might sound cynical, but the more I thought about it, the less straightforward the answer seemed.

The Michelin Lesson

Today Michelin is synonymous with restaurant ratings. A Michelin Star can transform a restaurant overnight. But Michelin never set out to improve restaurants. Michelin wanted to sell tyres.

In the early days of motoring there weren’t enough people driving. If Michelin could encourage people to travel further and more often, they’d wear out tyres faster and need replacements. The Michelin Guide was born to promote travel and help motorists find places to eat and stay. Restaurants benefited, standards improved and an entire industry grew around the guide. But that wasn’t the goal. The goal was selling tyres.

I wonder if our industry has fallen into a similar trap, just in reverse.

We Are Businesses First

If we’re honest, we’re businesses first. We employ people, pay rent, manage cash flow, market our services and compete for customers. Like every sector, we need revenue, profit and sustainability to survive.

The fact that our service improves people’s health is wonderful, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed passionate about this industry for almost three decades. Few sectors can claim to improve both quality of life and longevity. We should be proud of that.

But I increasingly question whether we should position ourselves as the main solution to the nation’s health problems.

Inactivity Is Only Part of the Story

Obesity is often cited as proof we should do more. Yet inactivity is only one factor. Modern diets, ultra-processed food, sugar, sedentary lifestyles, urban planning, education and social behaviour all play a big part.

The food industry in particular has enormous influence. Whole product categories are engineered for taste, convenience and repeat purchase, and they’re often cheaper, more accessible and more heavily marketed than healthier options. Yet we rarely see the same expectation on food manufacturers to fix public health.

Instead, the responsibility keeps landing on fitness operators. We’re expected to reduce obesity, relieve the NHS, improve national wellbeing and become a pillar of public health policy. That’s a huge burden for an industry that still doesn’t engage most of the population.

Knowledge Isn’t the Problem. Engagement Is.

What if our focus shouldn’t be convincing people exercise is good for them? Most already know. I’ve never met anyone who genuinely believes sitting on the sofa all day is healthier than exercising. People understand that exercise helps with weight, fitness, stress and quality of life.

The real challenge isn’t educating people. It’s creating experiences that make them want to take part.

When people join our facilities, they’re rarely buying health. They’re buying confidence, enjoyment, community, friendship, motivation, achievement and belonging. They might arrive with a fat-loss goal, but if they don’t enjoy it, feel part of something or stay motivated, that goal won’t keep them coming back. They want somewhere comfortable, somewhere they enjoy visiting and an experience that makes them feel good about themselves.

In many ways, we’re closer to hospitality than healthcare. Nobody goes to a restaurant excited about the nutritional breakdown of the menu. They go for the experience. The food matters, but the experience drives repeat visits. Fitness is the same. People don’t return because we reminded them of obesity statistics. They return because they enjoyed it, felt welcome, achieved something and connected with others.

Make Health the Outcome, Not the Pitch

I think our industry sometimes takes itself too seriously. We spend huge amounts of time discussing our public health role when we might achieve more by creating experiences people love.

If we make exercise enjoyable, people do more of it. If more people do it, they get healthier. If they get healthier, society benefits. The difference is that health becomes the outcome rather than the pitch.

Hyrox is a fascinating example. Love it or hate it, it understood something fundamental about human behaviour. It didn’t sell exercise. It sold challenge, achievement, identity and community. People train for Hyrox because it gives them a purpose beyond getting fitter. The fitness is almost a by-product.

So how do we create that level of engagement for the average person? Not the athlete or the enthusiast, but the person who simply wants to feel better, look better and enjoy life. How do we make movement something they look forward to, create environments that are welcoming rather than intimidating, and build products that feel exciting rather than obligatory?

Answer those questions, and I suspect we’ll do more for the nation’s health than any awareness campaign.

What We Can Do

After nearly thirty years in this industry, I’m still incredibly optimistic about what fitness can achieve. I just think we’ve become distracted trying to be the answer to every public health challenge.

We won’t solve obesity alone, transform the NHS or single-handedly make the nation healthier. What we can do is build businesses people love, create experiences that inspire movement, build communities that support positive habits and help people feel stronger, happier and more confident.

And in doing so, we’ll probably improve the nation’s health anyway. Not because we set out to save it, but because we became exceptionally good at giving people something they genuinely wanted.

---

Want help putting this into practice in your gym? Black Raccoon Consulting are gym and fitness business consultants with over 25 years’ industry experience in sales, marketing, member retention and operations. Book your free 45-minute business call or explore our services.

Ryan Charlesworth, Founder, Black Raccoon Consulting