According to a new nationwide survey published on January 31, 2022, U.S. adults find that abdominal and “core” muscle training are more difficult than any other body part-specific fitness training. These findings hold true across demographic groups, including men and women of all ages, and also across geographical regions.
Key Takeaways
- Plurality of U.S. adults (36.5%) claim that “abs and core” training is more challenging than other body parts
- Women have more difficulty training legs, glutes, and arms than men
- Men have more difficulty training chest than women
- Respondents aged 55 and over report much greater difficulty training their back than younger adults
- Gender-based stereotypes and beauty standards seem to have a large effect size on perceived training difficulties between men and women
- No significant geographical variations to training challenges exist within the U.S.
According to a new nationwide survey published on January 31, 2022, U.S. adults find that abdominal and “core” muscle training are more difficult than any other body part-specific fitness training. These findings hold true across demographic groups, including men and women of all ages, and also across geographical regions.
More interesting, however, are the age-based variations in survey responses. Among those aged 45 and older, back training difficulties are reported at significantly higher rates. This likely reflects the fact that as many as 65 million Americans report a recent back pain experience. Worse yet, approximately 16 million Americans (8% of all adults) suffer from debilitating chronic back pain.
Although geographical differences in self-reported training difficulties were found to be non-existent, gender-based variations emerged in the data. In general, women were more likely to cite difficulties with leg and glute training, whereas men cited chest training difficulties in higher numbers.
January 2022 Survey: 29.8% of Adults Aged 55+ Cite Back Training Difficulties
Analysts at Gymless, a free educational resource dedicated to bodyweight fitness, recently launched a nationwide survey that found that nearly one-third of U.S. adults aged 55 or older experience significant difficulty with back (upper-body posterior) training. The question put forward was written as follows:
“Which part of your body do you find the most challenging to work out?”
Data was collected between January 21 and January 23, 2022, and included 1,413 survey participants after weighting for demographic representation. The results found that abdominal and core training are, across all groups, the most likely exercise types to cause difficulties.
However, back training issues are particularly prominent among older respondents. The chart below (Fig. 2) demonstrates that close to 30 percent of participants aged 55 or older cite that back training is more difficult than training any other part of the body.
These findings are statistically significant, and raise questions about the nature of aging on fitness. For instance, compare the responses of those aged 55 and older (Fig. 2) with those aged 18-34 in the graph below (Fig. 3). Only 22.6% of the latter group claim that back training is the most difficult.
Methodology
The survey recruited 1,516 participants using convenience sampling. However, 87 respondents were automatically excluded from the final results by Google Surveys in order to fairly weigh the responses across demographic categories, resulting in 1,413 final responses.
All survey respondents were sourced by Google Surveys and consisted of users on the AdMob Network. Users had the option of participating in the survey in exchange for in-app rewards. The population pool spanned every U.S. state and region, including Hawaii and Alaska.
After weighting adjustments, among those who participated in the survey, 727 identified as female whereas 744 identified as male. Survey responses were collected over a 48-hour period commencing on January 21, 2022, and were submitted via an online portal hosted by Google Surveys.
Some limitations did find their way into the survey. For instance, calf muscles (consisting of the gastrocnemius and the soleus in the lower rear portion of the leg) were omitted from inclusion in the survey as their own response category. This may well have biased some of the results, as calves are seen as notoriously difficult to train by many athletes. Notably, “shoulders” (i.e., deltoids) were omitted as their own response category as well.
Study Details and RMSE Score
- Audience: Users of the Google Surveys Publisher Network
- Method: Representative
- Age: 18+
- Gender: All genders
- Location: United States
- Language: English
- Frequency: Once
Source: Google Surveys
Root mean square error (RMSE) is a weighted average of the difference between the predicted population sample (CPS) and the actual sample (Google). The lower the number, the smaller the overall sample bias.
View Full Survey Results and Breakdown: https://www.gymless.org/new-u-s-survey-finds-nearly-30-of-americans-55-find-back-training-to-be-most-difficult-in-the-gym-chronic-back-pain-to-blame/
About Gymless
Gymless.org dubs itself as the calisthenics headquarters of the internet. The coaches and trainers at Gymless help people of all backgrounds and fitness levels learn to practice calisthenics exercises and movements to achieve optimum fitness levels. Gymless’ mission is to help people learn how to exercise anywhere anytime with minimal or no equipment. Calisthenics is about using your own bodyweight and your environment to come up with effective exercises routines that target every muscle group in the body.