Over 100K people are expected to join UK fitness clubs over the next few days, as they act on New Year's resolutions to improve their fitness according to the HealthClubBenchmark Survey by Deloitte.Data shows the number of people joining health clubs is 65% higher in January then other months of the year. In January 2006 in excess of 100,000 people joined a gym, compared to an average of 63,500 per month across the rest of the year.

Neil Burton, manager of HealthClubBenchmark comments: "January is a great time for anyone interested in joining a gym to shop around for bargains. On average health club members will pay £46.00 per month and many health clubs will offer competitive packages and incentives to help get members started. For regular gym goers, this monthly fee presents excellent value for money as the range and quality of facilities on offer is better than ever."

Whilst other areas of household expenditure such as hotels and private education have risen above inflation over recent years, membership subscriptions to a gym remaining fairly static. On average gym membership fees rose by 3.2% during 2006.

He added: "Operators are starting to look at innovative ways to engage the 61% of the population who have never considered walking through the door. As a result I would expect to see more clubs introducing flexible membership options and additional programmes and incentives to support members finding it difficult to maintain their New Year enthusiasm."

Other Results:

London remains the most expensive city for gym membership with average monthly subscriptions of £53.40. Northern Ireland is the cheapest location, charging an average of £35.93 for monthly membership. However, other parts of the UK have seen membership fees rise faster. The highest rise was in Wales where gym fees have increased by 5.4% during 2006.