Older Adults Prefer to Exercise With Peers

Most adults prefer to exercise with others in their own age group and say group exercise is highly motivating, Canadian researchers have found.

The findings provide useful insight into the preferences of older exercisers, which in turn have important implications for exercise-promotion initiatives in communities worldwide, according to the study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Lead researcher Mark Beauchamp of the School of Human Kinetics at the University of British Columbia studied 947 adults ages 30 to 91 living in northern England.

The participants were considered regularly active if they exercised for at least 20 minutes three times a week and underactive if they did not.

Previous research suggested older adults prefer to exercise alone rather than in groups. But Beauchamp and colleagues found that although older adults may report a lack of appeal for exercising with younger partners, they exhibit a positive response for exercising with those of their own age.