Big and Fit is a new lifestyle initiative which aims to get more people who are classified as overweight or obese – 24 million in the UK – exercising.

Created by exercise scientist Stuart Bate in partnership with a private investor and launched by Geoff Capes, the former Olympic athlete and twice World’s Strongest Man, Big and Fit will work to address the misconceptions it believes many people have about weight and its effect on health.

The initiative – which is inspired by research from the Cooper Institute in the US – promotes cardiorespiratory fitness, rather than weight loss, as the single most important determinent for health.

Big and Fit consists of an online membership club and magazine and Bate hopes that in the future it will be able to offer bespoke classes for its members at health clubs.

“In our view, what’s out there isn’t working. We want to change people’s thinking by simple communication,” he said. Details: www.bigandfit.com