It’s quite common for someone who is flabby to look at someone else with great muscle tone hogging out on high-calorie foods and exclaim something like, “I wish there were a magic pill I could take so that I could eat anything I wanted without getting fat!” But while some scientists have recently claimed that they may have conjured up said pill, everyone ought to remain quite skeptical about that.
Meanwhile, the best way that anyone knows to maintain a healthy weight and have a healthy physique in the real world is to get sufficient physical movement, better known as “exercise”. Yet, as a recent ReportLinker survey including 503 online American respondents uncovered, the majority of Americans don’t like the way they look or feel. While 37% of respondents said that they’re fit, 42% said they’re fat, including 48% of older Americans. 87% of those who say that they’re fat also say they desire to make a change for the better.
In fact, more than three-fourths of respondents say that looking great is important to them and 75% admit to comparing their looks to other people’s. More than half of respondents (56%) worry that they aren’t muscular enough or are lacking strength.
Americans are aware of the health and fitness benefits that come from exercise, including looking great and feeling strong, and as a result 55% say that they’re active participants in sports. But tellingly, 59% of those who say they’re fat and 59% of women don’t participate at all.
Americans, especially men, prefer working out in the outdoors instead of slogging it out in a smelly gym. However, 28% of those with such a preference said that they won’t get outdoors in “bad” weather (but might workout indoors instead). Of the 35% who say that they prefer working out indoors, slightly more than half (18%) prefer their home to a gym.
Nevertheless, training at a fitness center is the most popular way to do sports (40%). The most popular way to exercise outdoors for men is to shoot hoops (46%).
The biggest obstacle to working out for Americans is staying motivated. Only 31% of respondents who engage in physical exercise said that working out or training has become part of their daily way of life and, thus, motivation isn’t a question. Motivation is maintained by 31% of respondents by getting together with friends, such as by playing team sports. Another 30% stay motivated by setting goals such as a faster running time or training for some kind of competition (which may explain the rising popularity of sports like the half-marathon and spartan racing as this new report from RunRepeat suggests).
When it comes to monitoring performance for those who have goals, modern devices are all-important, used by 56% of respondents. Among these, 40% make use of smartphone apps, while another 15% utilise wearable devices such as smartwatches.
In the end, while Americans know that they need exercise, many still have quite a long way to go to achieve the lifestyle and fitness level that they desire. Setting serious goals and being accountable to someone for performance appear to be the biggest motivators to getting fit.
