When we tell someone that exercise might support their mental health, what are we actually asking them to walk into? For some people, a gym can become one of the most positive places in their life. It can provide routine, community, movement and a reason to leave the house. But what if walking through the door is the hardest part?
Gyms can often present a particular image of ‘fitness’. If you do not see yourself in that image, entering these environments can feel incredibly intimidating. I understand that personally: I have my own struggles with body image and I know how self-conscious training around other people can sometimes make me feel. Given the choice, I am far more comfortable exercising somewhere private where I do not feel as though other people are watching or judging me.
How independent gyms can build community
That experience was part of the reason my wife and I created our private personal training studio, Buds Fitness in Cambridgeshire. We wanted to provide a space where somebody could start moving without feeling that they needed to already be fit enough, strong enough or confident enough to belong there.
Independent gyms often feel very different from large corporate gym environments. They are frequently owned by local people who know the people coming through their doors. They build communities rather than simply building membership databases. They may see the same members several times every week and develop genuine relationships with them over months and years – and that creates an opportunity.
Could the people we already trust become part of earlier mental health support?
A personal trainer should not be expected to be a therapist. A gym owner should not be expected to diagnose a mental health problem. But what if they were better equipped to support their members’ mental health?
What if they were able to notice when somebody they know does not seem quite themselves? What if they felt confident enough to ask a simple question? What if they knew where appropriate local support existed and could help somebody find it?
That is why Together We Lift believes supporting independent gyms to access Mental Health First Aid training for their coaches and personal trainers could make a big difference to preventing potential mental health crises.
This training enables people to develop greater confidence in recognising signs that someone may be struggling, have an appropriate conversation and signpost them towards further support.
Why wait until someone reaches crisis?
My own involvement in this work comes from lived experience. In 2021, I experienced a mental health crisis and attempted suicide. That experience fundamentally changed the direction of my life. It is one of the reasons I care so deeply about creating opportunities for conversations to happen earlier, and in places where people already feel they belong.
This is something that came through strongly in a recent conversation I had with Centre for Mental Health: prevention and early intervention do not always have to begin within traditional mental health services. Sometimes that support can begin in the everyday places people already go.
Together We Lift is working to create a simple, local model that connects three parts of a community: independent gyms, local mental health organisations, and coaches trained in Mental Health First Aid.
How do we bring those three things together?
For us, it starts with an event. We work with an independent gym and a local mental health organisation to create an inclusive community strength event that raises awareness, starts conversations and, importantly, brings those organisations together. The money raised through the event goes directly back into the local mental health organisation. But the fundraising is only one part of the impact.
The event is the catalyst. The relationship that remains becomes the legacy
What matters most is what remains afterwards: a gym that knows where its local mental health support can be found; a mental health organisation with a new route into a community; and coaches and personal trainers who can access Mental Health First Aid training and play a role in supporting mental health in their communities.
We are now working to carry this message across the UK, not only through our community events, but by attending major fitness events including FitXpo and the Arnold Sports Festival. Being present in those spaces allows us to start conversations with athletes, gym owners, coaches and personal trainers who may never otherwise engage with a mental health organisation.
We already tell people that movement can support their mental health. Perhaps the next question should be: how do we make sure the places people go to get moving are ready to be there for them holistically?
Liam Baker is Founder and Managing Director of Together We Lift.
