"Our fitness facility runs class by class, so it's pay as you go - and what I can generally see is that when times get tougher and with inflation, I see people just start to look at how many classes they're doing a week," the owner of Soul Fit Co, in Gerringong, said.

"They're cutting back, and PT clients will go 'I'm really sorry, I'm going to choose to change my personal training and I'm going do one every fortnight as opposed to one every week'.

"The first thing that people generally look at where they can make a change for their own household budgets is things they can cut back on, and unfortunately, their fitness and gym membership becomes one of those things."

In an effort to stop this, the lobby group for the fitness industry, AUSactive, recently submitted a budget proposal to ask the federal government to allow gym memberships to be claimed as a tax deduction by all employees.

The group also wants employers to be able to offer gym memberships through an expansion of fringe benefits tax incentives for corporate gym memberships and fitness initiatives.

Currently, a tax deduction is only available for professions that require an extremely high level of fitness, but AUSactive says anyone should be able to claim back their expenses for the gym, or other activities like pilates, yoga and Tai Chi.

"This policy change will be significant to those experiencing financial stresses," AUSactive chief Barrie Elvish said.

"Given the government already uses the tax system to encourage Australians to contribute to superannuation to reduce demand on the pension, and uses the tax system to encourage Australians to take out private health insurance to reduce demand on the State hospital system, why not also use the tax system to keep Australians out of the healthcare system?"

Ms Koutsomihalis said the fitness lobby's proposal would help the government to deal with the cost of managing chronic health conditions, especially in regions like Gerringong and Kiama, where there is a large ageing population.

"Our hospital systems are overwhelmed, people can't get to GPs and our aged care systems are overwhelmed," she said.

"This would be a preventative measure that helps us to become healthier and maybe we won't see that impact for a generation but it could have a really big impact on public services."

Soul FIt Co client Evelyn Moreno said anything that encouraged people to get more fitness into their working lives would help them be better off in the long run.

Ms Moreno, 56, was made redundant from a corporate career last March, which she said had left her 'pretty unhealthy".

"That redundancy enabled me to start my journey on weight loss, I met the beautiful people that are a part of the gym here and I've since lost 20 kg," she said.

"I'm doing pilates and yoga and I'm super fit and active and it's been an incredible journey for me."

However she said it shouldn't have to take people leaving their jobs to make exercise a regular part of their lives, and believed a tax incentive - for both businesses and individuals - could help workers to prioritise their health.

"Having survived a corporate career, it would have been fantastic to have, group fitness classes, gym memberships to keep you healthy and happy at work," Mr Moreno said.

"People would value their workplace so much more if their workplace was providing gym memberships or fitness classes."

Mr Elvish says current FBT legislation categorised venue-based physical activity and exercise in gyms, pilates and yoga studios, pools and leisure centres was caught up under the category of 'entertainment', which has an FBT tax which was designed to address corporate entertaining in the early 1980s when long lunches were tax deductible and a way of life.

With Australians living and working longer, AUSactive believes employers should be able to offer gym memberships without paying FBT.

"To achieve longer working lives, workplaces need to become more supportive of workers, especially mature ones, and accommodate long-term health conditions," Mr Elvish said.