Some Surprising Statistics on Fitness
Just like most people I have started and quit different workout plans many times. So why is it so hard to keep up with our fitness goals.
I started doing some digging and found a few articles surrounding why people quit and some statistics about them.
According to Body Building.com in a circa 2012 study on resolutions ~ 70% of people who start a new program tend to quit! Their article was summed up by this sweet visual (below) and one of the interesting statistics here is that people tend to quit on their resolutions in 6 weeks or less! This is part of the reason why time-based programs (i.e. 6 weeks, 4 weeks, etc.) also tend to have low commitment rates.
The other important statistics in that article also address how challenging it is to adhere to the diet or routine (42%), how hard it is to start once you stop (38%) and that it’s too challenging to find the time to get a workout in with busy schedules (36%).
To dive into this, let’s look at the top reasons for quitting fitness goals:
- Too challenging to adhere to the diet or routine:
- “Typical American diets exceed the recommended intake levels or limits in four categories: calories from solid fats and added sugars, refined grains, sodium and saturated fat.”(from the US Department of Health and Human Services)
- Please take a look at this post that I wrote on healthy diets for more information on how to eat a healthier diet.
- There’s a reason why they say “abs are made in the kitchen.” The majority of people who have a fit physique eat healthily! This also plays into how much energy you have during work out. But that doesn’t mean you have to exclude the things you love from your diet. Just work on your portion control.
- Too hard to start once a break has been taken:
- This is kind of vague, but I’m wondering if it has a lot to do with not seeing results. If you get discouraged because you aren’t seeing results of course you won’t want to start again! It’s important to remember that weight loss (though a good goal) is not the most important goal. There are TONS of benefits of exercise. Increased mood, healthier immune system, better heart health, the list goes on forever. If you’re just starting out the best goal to have is to achieve a better functioning level in your day-to-day activities.
- I can speak to this enormously, prior to working out I would feel large bouts of depression, and it was impossible to do anything without coffee or soda or sugar. Your body will do amazing things for you once you start working out and eating healthy regularly.
- Too challenging to find the time to workout:
- Did you know that “less than 5% of adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day? And only one in three adults receives the recommended amount of physical activity each week!” (from the US Department of Health and Human Services)
- Making the time for a workout, even if it’s just a walk around the block to get some fresh air, is really important. Most working adults sit and stare at a computer screen their entire day. If we don’t get our blood and joints moving we can cause irreparable damage to our bodies!
- The key with this is to make the most of your time! If the gym bums you out, go hiking or biking with the fam. If you love the gym, but leg day takes like 3 hours, then try to find the best exercises for the time that you have.
- I work out 6 days a week and every time I go in I try to take note of those who are in there with me for my own personal statistics. Did you guys know that most people only work out two days a week? I did verify that this was a legitimate statistic here. But that is like mind-boggling to me because habits and progress are not made twice a week.
Here’s another link to a more recent (2017) Huffington Post article about resolutions that has fairly similar statistics, this also is a great summary of this post!
