ukactive has announced Movember and Endurance Zone as the campaign partners for National Fitness Day 2023, taking place on Wednesday 20 September with the theme ‘Your Health is for Life’.
The partners will work with ukactive to help the campaign reach new audiences, building on the reputation of National Fitness Day as the UK’s most active day of the year.
Millions of people across all communities will be inspired to be more active, with thousands of free activities for people to try, hosted by gyms, swimming pools, leisure centres, sports clubs, workplaces, schools, and online providers.
The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘Your Health is for Life’, encouraging people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to recognise and celebrate the life-long physical and mental benefits of being active.
With the support of Movember and Endurance Zone, National Fitness Day will encourage millions of people to take the first step in their health journey.
This year’s campaign will take a holistic view of the importance of health and wellbeing, focusing on three key areas: mental health, nutrition and recovery, and physical activity itself.
There has never been a greater, evidence-based understanding that moving our bodies is essential for us to feel well, both mentally and physically. In the UK today, physical activity is helping millions of people to fight cancer, type 2 diabetes, skeletal and muscular pain, depression, anxiety, and many other conditions.
Despite this, more than a quarter of the population in England is classed as inactive – averaging fewer than 30 minutes of exercise a week – according to Sport England’s latest Active Lives Survey.
Men’s health charity Movember will be National Fitness Day’s mental health partner, highlighting the importance of looking after our wellbeing and celebrating the role of physical activity in building mental strength and resilience.
Endurance Zone, the world’s largest sports reward platform, has been named as the physical activity partner for the 2023 campaign. The partnership will incentivise users by rewarding them for taking part in any form of physical activity, helping to motivate more people to be more active.
It works by way of an intuitive app that utilises the growing popularity of fitness trackers – turning exercise into points that can be redeemed on competitions to win health and fitness related products. On top of this, the app will be full of exclusive offers from top sports brands, to save people money throughout their fitness journey.
In 2022, National Fitness Day saw participation reach an estimated 11 million people, including over four million children and young people, and the total audience for the campaign hit more than 50 million through social media, TV, radio and the press.
Huw Edwards, CEO of ukactive, said: “The message behind National Fitness Day has never been more important for the nation’s physical and mental health, so we are delighted this year to welcome Movember and Endurance Zone as our campaign partners.
“Your health is for life, so we want the benefits of National Fitness Day to extend far beyond our big day, and for everyone to experience the fun and the power of fitness throughout the year.
“There is no one-size-fits all, so ukactive’s members will be hosting a huge variety of free events for people to try something new and take the first step to a healthier, happier life.”
Lewis Jones, Head of New Partnerships UK and Europe at Movember, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with National Fitness Day this year to help spread the message of the importance of physical activity, not only for your physical health, but also the positive impact it has on your mental wellbeing.”
David Birch, CEO and Founder of Endurance Zone, said: “We know first-hand that positive actions are heavily influenced by the prospect of a reward. Whether this is an internal reward, such as how exercise makes us feel or external rewards like a treat when reaching a fitness milestone.
“Rewards are a key motivator for staying active and that’s why we’ve made exercise even more rewarding with the National Fitness Day app.“We are incredibly proud that our expertise around the psychology of rewards aligns with ukactive and its mission to get people active. We can’t wait to engage, reward, and motivate people from all walks of life in their fitness journey.”
To join the fun and to find a venue near you, check out the National Fitness Day website. Share your fitness inspiration on social media using the hashtag #FitnessDay and tagging @FitnessDayUK
