Money, Time, Fatigue and Commitments Leading Barriers
Preventing Canadians from Going to the Gym

Toronto, ON - Money, time, fatigue and commitments are most likely to prevent Canadians from going to the gym on a regular basis, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of GoodLife Fitness.

While 18% of Canadians report going to the gym on a regular basis, for the 82% of Canadians who do not, the primary barriers to going to the gym regularly appear to be financial considerations (30%), a lack of time (27%), fatigue (20%) and other commitments such as work, family and volunteering (20%). Other barriers include feeling intimidated (14%), the lack of training partner or friend to go with (13%), or having a home gym (13%). Interestingly, three in ten (30%) don't cite any of these as barriers, and yet they still don't go to the gym on a regular basis.

Thinking about what might motivate them to start going to the gym on a regular basis, a personal goal or life choice (25%), a reliable training partner or friend to go with (20%), a health scare or doctor's recommendation (18%) and convenient location of the gym (18%) are most likely to inspire Canadians to go to the gym more often. Other motivating factors include access to a personal trainer (13%) or an upcoming milestone such as a wedding, birthday, or anniversary (4%). However, 44% say that none of these things would motivate them to start going to the gym on a regular basis.

Women are more likely than men to cite financial concerns (35% women vs. 25% men), fatigue (26% women vs. 14% men), intimidation (19% women vs. 9% men) and lack of a training buddy (15% women vs. 11% men) as barriers while men are more likely than women to maintain that they have no barriers (35% men vs. 25% women). Young adults under 35 are most likely to claim that time (49%), fatigue (27%), commitments (25%), intimidation (25%) and lack of a training friend (25%) are stopping them from going to the gym.

In every case, young adults are most motivated by every factor: personal goal or life choice (36%), a reliable training partner/friend (35%), convenient gym location (26%), a health scare/doctor's recommendations (24%), a personal trainer (18%), and an upcoming milestone (11%).

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between July 30 and August 5, 2015, on behalf of GoodLife Fitness. For this survey, a sample of 1,507 Canadians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online, including 1,221 who do not currently go to a gym on a regular basis. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled, and +/- 3.2 percentage points for the sample of non-gym goers. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

About Ipsos in Canada

Ipsos is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos' marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 86 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,669.5 ($2,218.4 million) in 2014.

Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos' offerings and capabilities.