CHAPTER TWO • DEMOGRAPHICS & TRENDS NAPERVILLE PARK DISTRICT INDOOR RECREATION SPACE NEEDS ASSESSMENT
NATIONAL TRENDS IN GENERAL FITNESS PARTICIPATION LEVELS
Overall, national participatory trends in fitness have experienced growth in recent years (Figure 14). Many of these activities have become popular due to an increased interest among Americans to improve their health and enhance quality of life by engaging in an active lifestyle. The most popular general fitness activities in 2023 were those that could be done in multiple environments such as at home, in a gym or in a virtual class setting. The activities with the most participation were walking for fitness (114.0 million), treadmill (54.8 million), free weights (53.9 million), running/jogging (48.3 million), and yoga (34.2 million).
FIVE-YEAR TREND Over the last five years (2018-2023), the activities growing at the highest rate were trail running (48.7%), Pilates training (30.6%), barre (21.6%) and yoga (19.1%). Over the same period, the activities that have undergone the biggest decline in participation include group stationary cycling (-34%), cross-training style workout (-29.5%) and traditional/road triathlons (-19.8%). ONE-YEAR TREND In the last year, fitness activities with the largest gains in participation were group-related, slow, intentional movement activities: Tai Chi (16.3%), Pilates training (15.0%), and barre (12.9%). This one-year trend is another indicator that participants feel safe returning to group-related activities. Trail running (12.3%) also saw a moderate increase indicating trail connectivity continues to be important for communities to provide. In the same span, fitness activities that had the largest decline in participation were boxing/MMA for fitness (-14.4%), traditional/road triathlons (-2.4%) and weight/resistant machines (-1.9%).
23
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator