According to new research, over half (53%) of Northern Ireland residents intend to use a health and fitness app this year to help reach their 2026 fitness goals.
Exactly half (50%) say the main benefit to health and fitness apps is the provision of guided workouts and expert advice accessible from the home. The joint second most popular benefits for these apps (both 44%) were that they enable people to remain active when they don’t want to exercise around others and they grant access to fitness support even for those who live in rural and remote areas.
The research from
Better – who launched their new
Live Better platform this week – also reveals almost half of respondents (49%) want to get fitter and improve their overall health this coming year, while 39% feel improving mental health and reducing stress is a key goal.
Apps are increasingly seen as a way to support both, particularly as they can combine physical activity with progress tracking and wellbeing features.
Top reasons Northern Ireland residents use them are diet or mental health mindfulness (29%), diet or nutrition tracking (24%), and sleep monitoring (16%).
Digital fitness tools are also helping people overcome barriers that stop them exercising in traditional settings. For instance, 24% say they sometimes prefer to exercise at home for reasons of convenience or privacy.
At the same time, 27% say they would be prevented from going to a gym or leisure centre if they felt uncomfortable or intimidated, but only 18% feel an unpredictable or overly busy work schedule can stop them from going to a gym or leisure centre altogether.
When asked what matters most in supporting their fitness routines, minimal travel time to start a workout is the top priority (35%). Being able to work out in a hybrid way that fits into a routine is the top priority for 31% of respondents, while staying motivated through the use of apps/tools is the next most common priority (29%).
38% of Northern Ireland respondents believe apps allow them to work out whenever suits them, and 31% say using apps is more affordable than attending in-person classes or gyms.
Taken together, the findings suggest that as people set fitness goals for 2026, health and fitness apps are well placed to play a central role.
By combining motivation, flexibility, privacy and accessibility, the new Live Better platform is designed to help people find realistic ways to stay active and support their overall wellbeing. Not-for-profit charitable social enterprise
GLL operates the 16 leisure centres in Belfast under the
‘Better’ brand.
Jamie Cromie, Health and Fitness Hub Manager, GLL, said:
“For people who are pushed for time, too far away from Belfast, or unable to get to a Better leisure centre for any reason, the app will allow them to exercise in the comfort of their own home.
“For UK-wide members, the access to additional services such as being able to contact a GP is a real game changer and really shows that we are pioneers in our sector. This will have a positive impact on our customers, especially as we all know the challenges of trying to get a GP appointment.
“GLL is committed to ensuring that people in every area of Belfast have access to state-of-the-art fitness and leisure facilities, and these days those facilities are not just physical buildings with equipment inside them. While we only operate within Belfast for now, we are happy that the rest of Northern Ireland can now benefit from the expertise at our disposal through the Live Better app.”
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