New survey finds returning to work created exercise boom for the least active

A new survey released by athletic apparel website, RunRepeat, shows that returning to work full time increased the exercise frequency of the least active remote workers during the COVID pandemic by 125.93%.

RunRepeat wanted to understand how the exercise habits of people who were forced to work remotely during the pandemic were impacted by returning to the office full-time.

They surveyed nearly 20,000 people, - looking specifically for those who had worked remotely during the COVID pandemic and have returned to working in the office full time. 2,494 of those people met that criteria.

Respondents came from 82 different countries with the top five countries making up the majority of this sample being:

• United States (50.51%)

• Great Britain (22.45%)

• Australia (15.49%)

• Canada (6.09%)

• Malaysia + Indonesia + Philippines (13.63%)

Key findings:

Returning to work in the office full-time, after being forced to work remotely during the pandemic has resulted in:

•  59.52% of non-exercisers are actively exercising an average of 2.64 times per week since returning to work

•  People who exercised 1-2 times/week have increased exercise frequency by 125.93%

•  People who exercised up to 3 times/week have increased exercise frequency by 38.57%

•  People who exercised 4+ times/week have decreased exercise frequency by 14.16%

Respondents who have returned to work full-time reported on how this pandemic-related event has impacted their exercise frequency.

For this study, RunRepeat defined multiple groups depending on their weekly frequency of exercise:

• Low frequency: 1-2 times / week

• Moderate frequency: up to 3 times / week

• High frequency: 4+ times / week

This event of “returning to work” has created a boom in exercise for those who exercised the least. Those that exercised up to twice a week increased their exercise frequency by 125.93%, going from 0.98 times / week to 2.22 times per week.

The moderate frequency group increased their exercise frequency 38.57%, going from 1.86 times to 2.58 times per week.

Those who maintained a high frequency of exercising while working remotely during the pandemic were the only ones negatively impacted by the “return to work”. They experienced a decrease of 14.16%, going from exercising 5.23 times to 4.49 times per week since returning to the office full-time.

Out of the respondents that were not actively exercising while working remotely, 59.52% said they are actively exercising now. This group of respondents who have begun exercising since returning to work in the office full time are now exercising 2.64 times per week on average.

While 3.91% of those that were exercising prior to returning to work, have now stopped exercising altogether.

Changes in exercise habits of runners

Running has been a major fitness trend during the pandemic, given it was one of the easiest ways to be active when other options like gyms or team sports were no longer feasible during the pandemic. When looking at the exercise frequency of runners, RunRepeat found that they follow many of the same trends. Runners in the low frequency group saw an increase in exercise frequency of 150.88% while those in the moderate frequency group saw an increase of 40.74%.

Again, the only group to experience a decline in exercise was the high frequency group, dropping by 8.71% since returning to the office full-time.

Conclusion

The pandemic related event of returning to work in the office full-time signals a return to normalcy. It brings a familiar structure, routine, and lifestyle for many.

All of which, has seemed to create a significant growth in exercise rates for the remote workers who were the least active during the pandemic.

To access the study click here. 

For more information on RunRepeat go to runrepeat.com/about