Only One-Third of Americans Are Frequent Exercisers

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- There has been relatively little change over the past six years in Americans' self-reported exercise habits. Only one in three Americans claim to engage in vigorous sports or physical activity three or more times a week, although a little more than half claim to do so at least occasionally. A much higher percentage -- more than 8 in 10 Americans -- say that they engage in moderate sports or recreational activities at least occasionally, with over half saying they do it three or more times a week. Together, Gallup estimates that 35% of adult Americans engage in either vigorous or moderate physical activity five or more times a week. Such exercise is highly correlated with self-reporting excellent physical health, although it is indeterminable whether good health allows people to exercise or if exercise creates good health.

Frequent Exercisers

The prevailing expert advice today is that Americans should, for their own benefit, exercise on a daily basis. The American Heart Association, for example, suggests that moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity should be performed on most days of the week, for at least 30 minutes as part of a regular exercise routine. They also state that exercise can be accumulated from 10 or 15 minute sessions, and recommend it be done at 50% to 75% of one's maximum heart rate.

The Nov. 9-12, 2006 Gallup Poll Social Series update on health included two questions that asked respondents to report on their own exercise:

Generally, how many days per week do you participate in each of the following activities -- or do you participate less than once a week or not at all?

A. Vigorous sports or physical activities for at least 20 minutes that cause large increases in breathing or heart rate.

B. Moderate sports or recreational activities that cause slight increases in breathing or heart rate, such as walking, gardening, or other similar activities.

Full details on these two questions are presented in the following sections of this report.

Gallup combined the responses to the two questions to create an estimate of the percentage of Americans who exercise -- either vigorously or moderately -- five days a week or more.

A little more than a third of Americans meet this standard, meaning that roughly two-thirds fall short of basic health recommendations.

There is a relationship between being a frequent exerciser and personal ratings of one's physical health -- although it is impossible to determine the degree to which each of these affects the other (i.e., whether being in poor health precludes one from being able to exercise, or that exercising leads to good health).

Specifics: Vigorous Exercise

Almost half of Americans say that they never engage in vigorous exercise for at least 20 minutes. Only 12% of Americans claim to do so on at least five days of the week. The average American engages in vigorous exercise less than two days per week.

Generally, how many days per week do you participate in each of the following activities -- or do you participate less than once a week or not at all? How about -- [ROTATED]?

A. Vigorous sports or physical activities for at least 20 minutes that cause large increases in breathing or heart rate.

Specifics: Moderate Exercise

A significantly higher percentage of Americans say that they engage in moderate exercise at least occasionally.

Generally, how many days per week do you participate in each of the following activities -- or do you participate less than once a week or not at all? How about -- [ROTATED]?

B. Moderate sports or recreational activities that cause slight increases in breathing or heart rate, such as walking, gardening, or other similar activities

Eighty-four percent of Americans say they at least occasionally engage in this type of moderate exercise. The average American engages in moderate exercise three days a week, and 29% do so at least five days a week.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,004 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Nov. 9-12, 2006. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.