The Fittest Areas In The UK To Live

With gyms set to reopen next month, people all over the country will be looking forward to getting a sweat on and returning to their usual fitness routines.

But with gyms and other indoor fitness and leisure facilities forced to close for almost a year, how did the nation keep fit and what areas were the most likely to have stayed in shape?

To find out, MoneySupermaket analysed Google search data to find where in the UK has the highest number of fitness-related searches per 1,000 people as well as the workouts and fitness activities that saw the biggest uplift in search interest compared to the previous year.

Top 50 fittest areas

(average monthly fitness searches per 1,000)

Area	Region	Population	Average Monthly Volume	Per 1000 people
Bristol	South West	463400	157,101	339.0
Liverpool	North West	498042	138,696	278.5
Bath	South West	88859	24,734	278.4
Birkenhead	North West	88818	24,620	277.2
Cambridge	East	124798	33,608	269.3
Reading	South East	161780	42,677	263.8
Watford	East	96577	23,949	248.0
Warrington	North West	210014	51,689	246.1
Bournemouth	South West	187503	45,557	243.0
Glasgow	Scotland	633120	153,398	242.3
Chester	North West	118200	26,267	222.2
Shrewsbury	West Midlands	71715	15,690	218.8
Norwich	East	140573	29,434	209.4
Oxford	South East	152457	31,645	207.6
Worcester	West Midlands	101222	20,730	204.8
Crawley	South East	112409	22,978	204.4
Exeter	South West	131405	26,499	201.7
Peterborough	East	202259	40,654	201.0
Huddersfield	Yorkshire and the Humber	162949	32,599	200.1
Sutton Coldfield	West Midlands	95107	18,941	199.2
Newcastle upon Tyne	North East	302820	60,091	198.4
Paisley	Scotland	77210	14,921	193.3
Bedford	East	173292	33,138	191.2
Southport	North West	91703	16,979	185.2
Lincoln	East Midlands	99299	18,157	182.9
East Kilbride	Scotland	75390	13,748	182.4
Worthing	South East	110570	19,908	180.0
Nuneaton	West Midlands	86552	15,514	179.2
Mansfield	East Midlands	109313	19,373	177.2
Edinburgh	Scotland	524930	93,001	177.2
Londonderry	Northern Ireland	107877	18,873	174.9
Harlow	East	87067	15,139	173.9
Portsmouth	South East	214905	37,194	173.1
Cheltenham	South West	116306	19,888	171.0
Darlington	North East	106803	18,213	170.5
Stevenage	East	87845	14,902	169.6
Plymouth	South West	262100	44,438	169.5
Ipswich	East	136913	23,205	169.5
Basingstoke	South East	113776	19,231	169.0
Halifax	Yorkshire and the Humber	88134	14,856	168.6
Manchester	North West	552858	92,584	167.5
Hemel Hempstead	East	97500	16,258	166.7
Kingston upon Hull	Yorkshire and the Humber	259778	43,226	166.4
Redditch	West Midlands	85261	14,129	165.7
Belfast	Northern Ireland	343542	56,837	165.4
Eastbourne	South East	103745	17,126	165.1
Bury	North West	190990	31,203	163.4
Dundee	Scotland	148270	24,182	163.1
Blackpool	North West	139446	22,598	162.1
Aberdeen	Scotland	228670	36,419	159.3

With an average of 339 exercise-related searches per 1,000 people per month, Bristol tops the list of the UK’s fitness hotspots.

With a number of green spaces within the city itself, Bristolians can also take advantage of the surrounding countryside to keep fit through outdoor activities such as mountain biking, trail running, hiking and wild swimming.

The study also revealed that wild swimming is the UK’s biggest fitness fad, with related searches such as “Open Water Swimming Near Me”, “Wild Swimming Clubs”, and “Best Places for Wild Swimming” increasing by almost 240% year-on-year.

Top 10 fitness trends

(% increase)

1. Wild Swimming – 243.8%
2. Home Workout – 234.6%
3. Spin – 230.3%
4. Hiking – 207.7%
5. Yoga – 176.7%
6. Kettlebells – 140.9%
7. HIIT – 95.5%
8. Running – 87.8%
9. Virtual Classes – 70.6%
10. Cycling – 59.8%

Without access to public swimming pools, searches around wild (or open water) swimming exploded over the last 12 months.

While taking a dip in a pond, lake, or the sea might not be everyone’s cup of tea, people missing their regular swim have been braving the cold in droves.

Wild swimmers also tout additional benefits of the cold-water including its ability to help manage conditions like migraines and arthritis.

As part of the study, we also analysed where each trend was searched for the most to find the UK’s workout capitals.

Embracing the trend, people in Southport were the most likely in the country to dip their toe in wild swimming, while people living in Cambridge turned to yoga in order to keep fit and manage the mental stresses of lockdown.

Workout capitals

(Where popular exercise activities were searched for the most)

1. Cycling – Liverpool
2. Running – Glasgow
3. Yoga – Cambridge
4. Hiking – Reading
5. Kettlebells – Bournemouth
6. Home Workout/Home Gym – Bristol
7. Wild Swimming – Southport
8. HIIT – Watford
9. Spin – Worcester
10. Virtual Classes/Trainer – Lincoln