Healthcare settings, including primary care, have been identified as important for the promotion of physical activity (PA) for a number of reasons (Pringle et al, 2010; National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE], 2013; Kime and Pringle, 2018; Kime et al, 2020). Primarily, they provide the opportunity for general practice nurse (GPN) involvement (Harris et al, 2017), which in turn offers a chance to assess a patient’s health profile, needs and motives (Dutton et al, 2016). Repeated contact with patients also facilitates continuity of care (Harris et al, 2017) and the opportunity to follow up patients, coupling PA information with treatment (Fong et al, 2018). Importantly, the nursing profession are respected sources of advice for lifestyle behaviours and are able to reach a large proportion of the population who may benefit from additional PA (McPhail and Schippers, 2012; Kime et al, 2020). This paper puts forward a range of strategies that GPNs can adopt when promoting being physically active.