Survey shows which countries exercise the most

The Star Tuesday, 31/12/2013 Survey shows which countries exercise the most Losing weight and looking good among biggest motivators. A NEW survey of 8,000 people living in Europe and the US – 1,000 from each country, also including Sweden, Germany, Italy, and Holland – found that an average of 72% of people set fitness goals. While nearly a third (29%) claims to hit their target most of the time, 5% always fail. Across the board, 11% plan to do less exercise in the future. The survey, released on Dec 30, was commissioned by TomTom, maker of navigation products and GPS sportwatches. Results showed that Americans lead the fitness league, exercising 135 days a year compared with a global average of 112, while Britons exercise an average of just 108 days a year. Italians exercise just 96 days a year, while the Dutch exercise 93 days a year. Losing weight, a sense of accomplishment and how much fun an activity is were the biggest motivators to keep exercising for 75% of people across the study – while improving their looks and making sure they had the right equipment to train effectively also ranked highly. Weight loss is the biggest motivator for women to exercise, spurring on 41% – but just 28% of men. Twice as many women (33%) worried about how they looked in certain clothes compared with men (16%). – AFP Relaxnews