Whether the water bottle is half-full or half-empty depends on how you choose to consider new fitness statistics released during last weekend’s National Sporting Goods Association trade show at McCormick Place.
The biannual report from the association reveals that nearly 36 million American adults are exercising at least twice per week, up 10.5 percent from 1995. However, 76.6 million among us are classified as non-participants in physical activity, an increase of 9.2 percent.
“What we call the occasional exerciser is moving one way or the other,” said Thomas B. Doyle, vice president of research for the Mt. Prospect-based association. “I guess we should be encouraged that more people are realizing the best fitness gains come from consistent participation. You benefit much more from working out twice each week than maybe doing something once a month.”
Seven forms of exercise were used to determine activity levels: exercise walking, exercising with equipment (weights or cardiovascular machines), running, swimming, bicycling, calisthenics and aerobic dance workouts. The survey sample underrepresents the African-American and Hispanic populations.
Though the idea of an “anti-fitness” movement, fashioned in the media as a reaction to overzealous exercise gurus and food police, appears to carry some merit, no organization has tracked such attitudes. It is unclear what percentage of the sedentary set might actually be conscientious objectors, as opposed to being too busy, unmotivated (not making the connection between exercise and feeling good) or partial to other more sedentary pursuits (especially television and computers).
Looking deeper into the report, the only age group that has fewer frequent exercisers since 1995 is the 25- to 34-year-old category. But Doyle said the decline might be due to an omission in his study: Inline skating, popular with younger adults, is not counted as a core exercise activity. The most positive shift to frequent exercise occurred in the 55- to 64-year-old group, which is comfortable with exercise walking.
“People have a whole different psyche about exercise walking (compared with 10 or 20 years ago),” said Doyle. “Now we go out for a power walk instead of a stroll. It allows people to feel like they are athletes.”
“People today in their 50s don’t feel old. They are more willing to try activities that 50-year-olds would have passed up a decade ago. Backpacking is one example.”
One happy result for equipment makers: Treadmill sales continue to skyrocket. A market that just got on track in 1993, when the economy afforded a certain comfort level and more disposable income, is now grossing more than $1 billion in the U.S. Doyle said women outnumber male users by a ratio of 2-to-1.
A related National Sporting Goods Association survey about sports participation showed exercise walking is the top activity, with 76.3 million Americans at least seven years old participating. Rounding out the top 10 are swimming (59.5 million), exercising with equipment (47.9 million), camping (46.6 million), bicycling (45.1 million), bowling (44.8 million), fishing (44.7 million), billiards/pool (37 million), basketball (30.7 million) and hiking (28.4 million). People were categorized as participants if they engaged in the sports activity at least twice during 1997.
The top three recreational sports in terms of growth are skateboarding, mountain biking (on the road as opposed to off-road) and golf. Doyle said the skateboarders (now 6.3 million whisking around our cities and towns, up from 4.7 million in 1996) are predominantly preadolescents and teens who see it as a “rebel sport now that inline skating has become mainstream.”
Golfers increased to 26.2 million total, up 13.6 percent from 1996 after years of stagnant data — though golf equipment sales have steadily increased because of players’ search for just the right clubs. Doyle sees the trend continuing.
“I see it as a function of late family formation,” said Doyle. “At one time, people became parents in their 20s. Now it is more in the 30s. So when people turn 50, that’s about when they move back to playing golf again.”
While most fitness activities registered increases — old-fashioned calisthenics is a boom activity — step aerobics did not . Participation in step aerobics has declined by more than 15 percent since 1996; running also is off slightly at 2.5 percent.
The study also charted the participation sports preferences of each state. Golf was the most popular sport in Illinois in 1997, while calisthenics topped the list in 1995. Softball, volleyball, darts and pool/billiards rounded out the latest top five; soccer, tennis, volleyball and bicycling were tops in 1995.
Popularity rankings in other states were sometimes predictable, sometimes not. Wisconsin’s favorites were hunting with firearms, darts, tackle football, table tennis and golf. Indiana took to the water with motor boating and freshwater fishing (with table tennis, baseball and volleyball completing the top five). And though fitness trendsetters in California rated hiking, mountain biking/on road, backpacking, downhill skiing and mountain biking/off road in their top five, New Yorkers put up a less cutting-edge list with baseball, soccer, touch football, downhill skiing and mountain biking/on-road.
