Last Updated on August 1, 2025 by Laura Jensen

With mental health challenges rising among young people, group exercise may just be the social lifeline they didn’t know they needed — and the research is backing it up.

A small group of young adults sit spread apart on yoga mats in a gym, as they participate in a fitness class together. They are each dressed comfortably and are working through a series of sit-up repetitions.

Health Club Management recently published an article written by Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi, about the current relationship between mental health and exercise within young people, and our first thought – unsurprisingly – was about the relationship between group exercise and young people. 

With key factors affecting mental health in young people including digital exposure and social media use, loneliness and social disconnection, group exercise seems like the perfect solution to help support them, thanks to its positive impact on social engagement and mental health. 

As the article notes, “recent surveys [suggest that] Gen Z is drinking less and turning to health clubs as a social and stress relief outlet”, meaning we’re already halfway there to getting more young people into group exercise. 

Not to mention, we’ve already got the proof to back up the claims about the benefits of group exercise.  

Our recent social value assessment – which revealed that group exercise is worth a remarkable £5.3 billion in social value – delved into the topic of mental health and found that group exercise “reduced usage of mental health services by 8%” and even, in some cases, “demonstrated reduced global symptom severity, effectively addressing conditions such as clinical depression, insomnia, PTSD, panic disorder” and more. 

Not to mention, within the case study section of the report, all participants spoke of the physical and mental health benefits of being involved in group exercise and advocated that “the positive influence of group exercise is felt in their day-to-day life through self-reported physical, mental, and social improvements”.  

Download the full EMD UK Social Value Report

So, how can we make sure young people know that group exercise is accessible for them and can support their mental health? 

  • Social Media

    Firstly, we have to meet young people where they are. Yes, social media use may be a factor affecting mental health, but it’s also where young people get the majority of their information from. If you run a class you think would be of interest to young people, jump onto Tik Tok and Instagram and share it with the world! 

    A study from Les Mills in 2023 identified that young people are looking for more “low-impact exercises”, such as pilates and yoga, so whether you run hot yoga or pilates, promote it on your social media, your website and target young people in your communications.

    Make your communications attractive to young people, letting them know they could join your class, by following these tips on how to reach new people on Instagram.

  • Tailored Sessions

    If your class is not specifically geared towards young people, why not consider running a session purely for younger age groups to give them an opportunity to connect with people their age and foster some social interactions? Make your community classes work for a young audience by using themes, structure of classes and marketing communications that they can relate too and that the younger age group will connect with and be inspired to join.  

    This may take some research on your part. The best people to help you understand the younger age group are the younger age group themselves. Reach out to some young people you know – either in person or through polls or questions on social media – and get to know what makes them tick.  

  • Adapt Operator Offerings

    If you are Operator or health club studio based, why not talk to your manager about running some social group exercise classes within your gym, specifically for young people. Whether that’s running a pop-up of a current class with a specific age demographic limit, or introducing a new class entirely, it’ll give young people the space to start without feeling out of place.

    You could even talk to your manager about the club reaching out to young communities and offering adaptions to make it accessible to them to come to the club to socialise in a class, either together or individually, through student discounts, scheduled social events or partnering with other organisations like youth clubs or university student unions.

There’s a wealth of opportunities out there to help more young people find community and fitness fun within group exercise, all we have to do is put those possibilities out there for them to find. 

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If you’re looking for more information on how to connect with audiences on social media, we’ve recently launched a new video on our Reach Up resource hub, specifically focused on “Video content confidence for social media”. Sign up to Reach Up to access it.

Or, why not check out our blog on elevating your personal branding to give your online presence a boost.

EMD UK is the only governing body dedicated solely to the group exercise community. Our members benefit from our guidance, CPD-accredited courses and over 250 resources. Pro membership with insurance starts from just £51 annually.

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