More reasons your company needs a fitness program

Carlsbad, CA (PRWEB via PRWeb) October 31, 2006 -- A large majority of people believe that companies and organizations should be more involved in helping increase the physical activity levels of their employees, according to a new survey conducted by morefocus, an online research organization.

Seventy-seven percent of respondents who participated in the wide-ranging survey said that physical fitness is something that employers should more actively encourage with their employees. A majority, 64 percent, also believe children do not get sufficient exercise at school.

"It's very interesting to see how people feel about mixing a personal thing like physical fitness with work and school," said Dr. Regan Carey, morefocus Research Director. "There are more and more companies that offer gym membership discounts or even have a gym on-site, but clearly most people don't think it's enough."

The research also revealed that a majority of people, 73 percent, have regular exercise habits that include exercising at least once a week, but only 20 percent believe they get enough exercise.

When asked why they don't exercise more often, 39 percent said it was because they don't have time, while almost as many, 37 percent, say the reason they don't exercise more often is because they don't have the motivation.

The survey also explored people's attitudes towards alternative exercise. Only 32 percent of those surveyed said they've practiced a form of alternative exercise such as yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, and the like. When asked why they haven't tried such forms of exercise, 29 percent said it was because they haven't had the opportunity, but they would like to. Fifteen percent think alternative exercises don't work as well as traditional exercises, while nine percent found it boring. Money came into play for 11 percent of respondents who said they didn't think they could afford an alternative exercise program.

"Yoga especially has become more present in the mainstream in the past few years as a sort of trendy way to exercise," said Dr. Carey. "But our research indicates that alternative exercises like yoga and Pilates are still not the exercise of choice for most people."