BOOMING HEALTH CLUBS, SLIPPING FITNESS PARTICIPATION AND HEALTHIER DIETS ALL COEXIST IN THE OVERWEIGHT SOCIETY

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New Study Tracks History of the American Fitness Revolution — A Maze of Contradictions

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HARTSDALE, N.Y. — True or False? "One of the most profound changes in American lifestyle and culture over the past 30 years has been the emergence of a fitness revolution." Answer: True, but not lately, according to American Sports Data, Inc. which has tracked U.S. fitness trends since 1987. The fitness phenomenon peaked in 1990, and has remained on a plateau ever since, becoming an increasingly complex tangle of sub-trends which have obscured the overall direction and intensity of our collective physical fitness behavior.

According to ASD, the present-day fitness movement is a direct descendant of the 1960's counter-culture. Many of the embryonic attitudes and lifestyles conceived in that turbulent era and embraced by only a small minority of the population were to become mainstream American values in the 1970's. One of the most important trends to emerge from this period was a new focus on self-fulfillment and a heightened interest in self-improvement — an outgrowth of which was a budding awareness of personal health and physical fitness.

This nascent fitness consciousness grew slowly but steadily throughout the 1970's, achieving critical mass toward the end of that decade as the Running Boom — spearhead of the revolution. This "original" fitness activity, forerunner of a wider fitness movement, peaked during the early 1980's, but not before giving rise to a second generation of other strenuous activities, such as High-Impact Aerobics, Fitness Biking and Triathlons.

The late 1980's ushered in a third generation of potentially easier, less stressful low-impact exercise opportunities such as Fitness Walking, Soft Aerobics, Stationary Cycling and Treadmill exercise. These activities were less threatening and more user-friendly to a large, sedentary element of the population which may have been intimidated by earlier "hard-core" fitness trends. Consequently, this third wave of the fitness boom — represented by the overweight, unathletic, (and, in many cases, older) segments of the population — was the real revolution, because it made fitness available to everyone.

By 1990, 51.5 million Americans over the age of six, or 23.2% of the population participated in at least one individual physical fitness activity on 100 or more occasions. But by 1997, the incidence of frequent exercise in the U.S. had declined to 21.8%. In 1999, there were still 50.4 million frequent exercise participants, although an ever-expanding population pushed the participation rate down even further to 20.5%. By contrast, membership at health clubs jumped from 20.7 million in 1990 to 30.6 million in 1999, an increase of 48%. Even more ironically, the number of people who worked out frequently at clubs (100+ days) per year, soared by 84% during the same period. This was just one paradox found in a Tracking Study of Physical Fitness Behavior in the U.S. (1987 - 1999) released in July 2000 by ASD.

Other health and lifestyle indicators offer little illumination. Against the backdrop of a thriving health club business, robust sales of home exercise equipment, and a general (albeit declining) enthusiasm for exercise, looms the incongruous portrait of a seriously overweight nation.

A 1998 consumer study by ASD found that 59% of all adults 18+ considered themselves overweight. The 1998 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System conducted by the Centers for Disease Control pegged a more objective estimate at 54% — based on calculated body mass index. Even more disturbing was the CDC finding that 18% of all American adults are not only overweight, but obese — up from 11% in 1991. In the ASD study, 14% perceived themselves as "considerably overweight".

But in the face of this obesity epidemic, Americans are making some effort to improve their eating habits. The average percentage of our calories derived from fat has declined, vitamin consumption is ascendant, and we enjoy an unprecedented smorgasbord of low-calorie, fat-free, "light", sodium-free foods, not to mention liquid diets, high-fiber products and special health foods. On the other hand, our total caloric consumption is on the rise, nullifying many of these potential benefits.

There is however, one reconciling explanation: overweight people can be quite active. Quite simply, the overweight population — barring those classified as obese — boasts a surprisingly high percentage of sports/fitness participants. Whereas 59% of the population perceives itself to be "a little" or "considerably" overweight, the overweight percentage for very active people reaches 51%. But those who deem themselves "considerably" overweight have a much lower participation rate than their slightly overweight or "normal" counterparts.

The paradox of a fitness-conscious society that doesn't look the part is best explained by the great gulf between consumer attitudes and actual behavior. According to ASD president Harvey Lauer, "The Master Trend of physical fitness in the 1990's was bound to be misinterpreted because it was both complicated and counterintuitive. But most of the contradictions can be resolved in just two phrases: good intentions and good marketing. One of our cardinal statistics is that 62% of the U.S. population acknowledges the benefits of exercise, knows it should exercise more, but never does. Health clubs and equipment manufacturers have been phenomenally successful because American attitudes have already changed. But permanent behavior is another story. Annual health club turnover rates hover around 30% - 40%, and we all know the industry joke about how long it takes for a piece of exercise equipment to become a clotheshorse! Let's not forget what we're up against here. We're trying to persuade people to defy the Pleasure Principle — to do something painful, inconvenient, time-consuming, or all three. The big prize will go to the product, system or concept that unlocks this motivational secret."

The last giant step of the fitness movement occurred during 1987 - 1990. In a very real sense, 1990 was a landmark year; it marked not only the end of overall growth in frequent fitness participation, but the beginning of slower growth for all fitness sub-trends, with the notable exception of Strength-Training. Nonetheless, Cardio Equipment exercise continued to gain adherents during the period 1990 - 1997, as the retail market soared to new heights. But 1997 may have been another watershed. Since that time, only Strength-Training has flourished, and with most of its growth deriving from an ever-increasing population of older exercisers, the category is poised for even further expansion.

From 1987 - 1990, the fitness boom enjoyed across-the-board growth in all 3 exercise venues: Outdoors participation, Health Club usage and Home Exercise. From 1990 onward however, participation in Outdoor Cardiovascular exercise subsided, as the number of Americans who exercised indoors continued to grow. Frequent Home Exercise advanced from 14.9 million participants in 1990 to 18.5 million in 1997 — but began to relinquish some of these gains in the two years that followed. A 33% jump in frequent Health Club attendance in just two years fuels speculation that clubs may be eroding exercise participation in other venues, namely, In-Home and Outdoors.

"Health clubs — undoubtedly aided by a strong economy and their own marketing ingenuity — are benefiting from a failure of self-motivation among many fitness participants," said Lauer.

What in turn could threaten health clubs? "Either a revolutionary breakthrough in exercise motivation or a passive weight-loss product," he added. "Something that doesn't defy the Pleasure Principle, by causing pain or inconvenience. If they could take a 'magic pill' that would prevent them from gaining weight, 43% of the population says it would be less likely to exercise. Since the industrial revolution, technology has been the natural enemy of physical activity, and that's what we need to worry about."

A Tracking Study of Physical Fitness Behavior in the U.S. (1987 - 1999) is based on a nationally representative sample of 14,891 people over the age of 6, who were among 25,000 respondents targeted in a sample drawn from the consumer mail panel of NFO Research, Inc. This annual tracking study is derived from the SUPERSTUDY® of Sports Participation, conducted by ASD every year since 1987, and sponsored by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association of North Palm Beach, Florida. For more information, call (914)328-8877, or log onto www.americansportsdata.com.

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