What if access to strength training was treated like access to parks, schools, and clean water?

Hey loves,

Why is it that in the most modern of times do we face rates of obesity that are staggering and preventable?

Modern societies have created a strange paradox: we live in the most technologically advanced era in history, yet rates of obesity, metabolic disease, depression and inactivity continue to rise.

Physical inactivity is now one of the largest preventable causes of disease worldwide.

Yet the one tool that can dramatically change this, strength training, is often locked behind a paywall.

What if access to exercise was treated as a public good?

Gyms Are Not a Luxury, They Are Preventive Healthcare

Exercise affects nearly every system in the body. Strength training improves our insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular health, bone density, mental health and longevity.

It also helps prevent osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, sarcopenia and obesity.

Strength training can truly help one’s health beyond just the aesthetic and can allow us to thrive and prevent several types of illnesses.

Healthcare systems spend billions treating preventable disease, yet society underinvests in the behaviors that prevent it.

The Economic Argument

Preventive health is cheaper than treatment. Just look at the cost of diabetes medication, heart surgery and chronic disease management versus the cost of basic fitness infrastructure.

Research shows that physical inactivity alone accounted for $18.3 billion in type 2 diabetes medical costs in the United States in a single year, demonstrating how preventable lifestyle factors translate into massive healthcare spending (Shah et al., 2017).

If populations simply met recommended physical activity guidelines, billions of dollars in treatment costs could be avoided annually.

In other words, investing in basic fitness infrastructure: parks, safe walking spaces, community gyms, and physical activity programs costs a fraction of what healthcare systems spend treating preventable chronic diseases after they develop. 

Many cities already fund parks, public pools and walking trails. Gyms could be viewed similarly. An accessible training facility could save healthcare systems billions long term.

The Access Problem

The problem nowadays is that not everyone can afford a gym membership.

Barriers towards training at a gym facility include the cost, location, intimidation and lack of knowledge.

Fitness has unintentionally become a privilege, however, physical health should not depend on income. Access to movement should be universal.

What Free Gyms Could Look Like

What do I mean by free gyms? Let’s say for instance outdoor strength parks like those famous ones in Barcelona or by the beach in certain states in America.

Government-funded community gyms or after hours public school gyms also count. The government doing partnerships with private gyms or even simply subsidizing memberships can count as well.

Some cities, as previously mentioned, already experiment with public fitness spaces so the idea isn’t unrealistic. It simply requires political imagination and a desire from the government to help prevent lifestyle-related diseases.

Why Strength Training Matters More Than Ever

Cardio is important, but strength training addresses modern problems like being sedentary, muscle loss with age and metabolic disease.

Muscle is one of the most important organs for metabolism, glucose control and aging well.

In many ways, strength training is longevity medicine.

The Cultural Shift We Need

Fitness is often marketed as aesthetics, luxury or lifestyle but it truly goes beyond that. It’s potential impact on our health is immeasurable and it can truly prevent us from booking a doctors appointment, getting on medication or spending our lives dictated by some health diagnosis.

Exercise, simply, should be framed as infrastructure for health.

Just as society invests in roads, hospitals and schools, it could invest in movement. It is cheaper in the long term for society to invest in fitness instead of cover the price of healthcare for obese, diabetic or heart-disease ridden individuals.

The Counterarguments

Several people refuse to see fitness as preventative health care and will continue to see it as a pursuit of vanity and aesthetics.

Other objections would be that “people wouldn’t use them.” Evidence from public parks and trails shows many do.

In a study of Xihu Park, researchers used both onsite and video observations to track usage patterns. They found that the fitness equipment attracted a significant number of users, with peak activity occurring in the early morning and late afternoon.

During these peak hours, an average of 12 users per hour were observed using the stations (Chow et al., 2017). The study also highlighted that these spaces are particularly popular among seniors and adults, who accounted for 49% and 39% of the users, respectively.

Another argument could be that “gyms would be too expensive.” Healthcare costs from inactivity are far higher.

A 2025 study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion found that inadequate physical activity accounts for $192 billion in annual U.S. healthcare costs, with completely inactive adults incurring an average of $2,025 more in medical expenses per year than those who are active (Chen et al., 2025).

A final argument would be that “Fitness is a personal responsibility.” Yes but environments shape behavior. Accessible infrastructure helps people make healthier choices.

A Different Vision of Public Health

Imagine a world where every neighborhood had a place to train. Where teenagers learned how to lift safely and older adults maintained strength into their 70s and 80s.

Exercise would shift from a niche hobby to a cultural norm.

If we truly cared about preventing disease rather than treating it, gyms wouldn’t be considered luxury amenities.

They would be as common and as essential as public parks.

I hope that you enjoyed this blog post on Why Gyms Should Be Free: The Missing Piece in the Global Health Crisis, please let me know what you thought about it in the comments section below!