60% Indians spend over 4 hours a week on fitness; running most popular activity, says survey

New Delhi: Fitness is a word that people around the world reckon with because it certainly has become a sort of trend.

Today, fitness is no more a requirement, but a lifestyle, especially among the youth and this has come to the fore by way of a survey which shows that 60 percent of India's population spends more than 4 hours a week on fitness.

"9 out of 10 respondents felt that fitness is extremely important and over 80 per cent were motivated to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

"With over 1500 men (54 percent) and women (46 percent) surveyed across top 8 cities, all were between 20-35 years of age and engaged in at least one fitness activity per week," the Fit India survey conducted by Reebok, said.

The findings of the city-wise survey were based on he Fitscore that was determined by combining the number of hours devoted to fitness each week, frequency of working out, number of fitness activities participated in and how fit people in the city feel.

Many cities were surveyed, but Pune scored the highest with a FitScore of 7.65, followed by Chandigarh that scored a close 7.35 on the fitness meter.

Cities in southern India like Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai scored the lowest on the FitScore index.

"India is a nation that has historically been more passionate about food than fitness. It is however interesting to note that the younger generation of our country is moving towards leading a healthier and fitter lifestyle. If you see, the average human lifespan is 71 years. That's 25,915 days.

"25,915 opportunities to make the most of our time, honouring the body we've been given through a commitment to fitness. At Reebok, we are taking every opportunity to push our consumers to adopt our 'Fitness is Life' philosophy and help them become better version of themselves," Silvia Tallon, Senior Marketing Director, Reebok India said.

As per the survey, the most popular fitness activity across Indian cities is running, due to its limited investment in equipment, and the convenience of combining it easily with other activities.

56 per cent of the respondents claimed to have participated in one marathon every two years.

Yoga is the next favourite work out activity with nearly 70 percent respondents from each city practicing it to reduce stress or anxiety.

Apart from conventional fitness activities, people are also trying newer forms of training like cross fit, mixed martial arts, kickboxing and combat training, the survey stated.

(With PTI inputs)