Joe Wicks MBE, widely recognised for his pandemic-era PE with Joe workouts, has returned with a new project aimed at helping children stay active, this time in animated form.
His new series, Activate, is now available to Australian families via The Body Coach YouTube channel, offering short, inclusive workouts designed for use at home or in schools.
Backed by Universal Music and produced by the team behind Hey Duggee, the series blends five-minute bursts of movement with music, humour, and animated characters.
It arrives as health authorities continue to flag rising rates of childhood inactivity in Australia, where only 30% of kids aged 2 to 17 meet the recommended physical activity guidelines.
From school visits to global reach
Wicks’ motivation for the series stretches back nearly a decade, when he first tested the idea of movement-based fitness at his former primary school.
“Eight years ago, I went to my old primary school to test this kind of concept of PE with Joe. I wanted to see what it would take to get kids engaged in fitness, not in a traditional sort of competitive sport, or like a fitness or a PE lesson,” he told Mediaweek. “It’s more like a fitness class for kids with funny exercise moves and music.”
When lockdown hit, Wicks had to rethink how he could scale his mission: “I realised I couldn’t visit all the schools anymore. So I thought about ways in which I could create something that had more scalability, and was also more accessible and can be used anywhere, anytime.”
Joe Wicks of PE with Joe Fame
A collaborative production with big-name support
The journey to making Activate wasn’t without hurdles. After struggling to secure funding through traditional channels, Wicks and BAFTA-winning animation studio Studio AKA decided to produce the first five episodes themselves.
“Although people liked the idea of it, no one would invest,” he said. “In the end, Studio AKA, who create Hey Duggee, and ourselves self-funded the first five episodes, which got the concept off the ground.”
The production also placed a strong emphasis on music. “We tried really hard to get it off the ground and we realised this was only going to work if we had good music. Much the same way Apple Fitness and Peloton have good music.”
That led to a partnership with Universal Music, and eventually to artists like Elton John and the Spice Girls approving use of their songs. “For some of the most famous singers in the world, to agree to be part of the project made me realise that people see this as a really wonderful thing.”
Activate also received support from the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), which helped fund 10 more episodes and promoted the series through public health campaigns.
Built for classrooms and loungerooms
Each episode of Activate features Wicks as an animated version of himself, supported by a team of colourful characters called The Activators. Their roles are simple: model movement, make it fun, and give every child a chance to participate, regardless of fitness level.
The design makes Activate adaptable for both classrooms and living rooms. Teachers can use it for quick brain breaks, and parents can weave it into daily routines, especially on days where outdoor play isn’t an option.
“A lot of the cartoons kids are watching these days are amazing, like Bluey, Cocomelon and Hey Duggee, but it’s passive viewing, and I wanted to get kids physically moving,” Wicks said.
The focus on YouTube is a smart move. In 2024 alone, YouTube users streamed more than one billion hours of content each day on TV screens globally, according to Kurt Wilms, YouTube’s Senior Director of Product Management for TV, with sports and kids content key genres.
In an interview with Mediaweek earlier this year, VA Media CEO Mark Ashbridge said the broader shift means that YouTube is no longer just a creator platform. Instead, it’s evolving into a streaming destination in its own right, increasingly resembling the major subscription video on demand (SVOD) players.
Joe Wicks of PE with Joe Fame
Mental health, not metrics
Although much of the conversation around child fitness focuses on rising rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, Wicks prefers to highlight the emotional and psychological benefits of movement.
“When I did those school tours I would walk into a classroom and I could tell the ones who are going through a difficult time at home, and the ones who haven’t had enough sleep, or the ones who’ve missed breakfast,” he said.
“But the second the music begins and they start moving you can just see the energy lift and they walk out of there with a smile on their face. That’s really the aim of Activate. It’s about making exercise fun.”
He added, “Obesity levels are rising… but I don’t mention that too much because I want to focus on the mental health and mood-boosting benefits of exercise.”
That mindset stems from personal experience. “I grew up in a quite challenging home life. My dad was a drug addict. My mum had severe OCD, anxiety, and an eating disorder, but when I was around four or five I realised that whenever I did anything physical, like exercise or running, it removed the stress and anxiety from my body. Exercise became my therapy.”
Not your typical fitness influencer
While Wicks has built a huge following across books, TV, and social media, he resists the label of “influencer” and distances himself from appearance-driven fitness trends.
“I try and portray the message that movement is medicine, and it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, it can really change how you feel,” he told Mediaweek.
“Early in my career I was probably more focused on things like fat loss, and the body transformations. But over time I’ve evolved my message because I know that ultimately, exercise is more about the mind. The physical transformation will come later.”
He also believes in keeping things simple: short videos, catchy songs, and no pressure. “Even if you don’t like my style of fitness, when you do press play and hear a song by Elton John, you’ll naturally want to get up and move.”
Activate is free to access and releases new episodes weekly on The Body Coach YouTube channel. The series is designed for all ages and abilities, and can be used as a tool to support daily movement, whether at school, at home, or anywhere in between.