BOURNEMOUTH has been named as one of the most fitness conscious locations in the country, according to the latest study.

Since the start of the pandemic different methods of staying active and the limit of reasons to leave the house have all played a huge part in making the nation fitter.

The popularity of wild swimming has increased by more than 240 per-cent while searches for home workout equipment increased by 234 per cent. 

MoneySupermaket analysed Google search data to find the fitness activities we’ve been searching for the most, as well as those that saw the biggest increase in searches during lockdown compared to the previous year.
The study revealed that wild swimming was 2020’s biggest fitness trend, with related searches such as "open water swimming near me" and "wild swimming clubs" increasing by more than 240 per cent year-on-year.

READ MORE: Beachfront pavilion will have space for open water swimmers

What were the top 10 lockdown fitness trends?

  • Wild Swimming - 243.8%
  • Home Workout - 234.6%
  • Spin - 230.3%
  • Hiking - 207.7%
  • Yoga - 176.7%
  • Kettlebells - 140.9%
  • HIIT - 95.5%
  • Running - 87.8%
  • Virtual Classes - 70.6%
  • Cycling - 59.8%

Bournemouth Echo:

Members of Poole Lifeguard Open Water Swimmers at the Canford Cliffs Pavilion

While wild swimming saw the biggest increase in searches, the most popular way to stay in shape was cycling – there were an average of 63.6 cycling-related searches per 1,000 people every month between April and December 2020.

Which areas of the UK are the fittest?

The study looked at a seed list of the top 1,000 keywords for popular exercise activities, it then chose 50 terms that best represent searcher intent to find the average number of monthly searches for each activity in 2020 and 2019.

Bournemouth placed ninth on the list, with more than 242 average monthly fitness searches per 1,000. 

Top 10 fittest areas: 

  1. Bristol - 339.0
  2. Liverpool - 278.5
  3. Bath - 278.4
  4. Birkenhead - 277.2
  5. Cambridge - 269.3
  6. Reading - 263.8
  7. Watford - 247.9
  8. Warrington - 246.1
  9. Bournemouth - 242.9
  10. Glasgow - 242.29

 

With an average of 339 exercise-related searches per 1,000 people each month, Bristol is the UK’s fitness capital, while Liverpool, Bath, Birkenhead, and Cambridge round out the top 5.

On a regional level, The North West and South West both have three entries in the top 10, however, when we look at total regional search volume the South West comes out on top with 208.9 searches per 1,000 people.