How Many Americans Engage in Sports & Leisure Activities — And Who Is Missing Out .

The World Health Organization recommends at least 2.5 hours of moderate exercise or 1.25 hours of vigorous activity per week. Yet roughly one in three Americans meet this mark. As of 2024, 47.2% of adults met overall aerobic activity requirements, while 26.2% were categorized as inactive. Still then, the larger picture shows a country on the move, with older adults logging the most downtime, as Americans above 75 spend 7.6 hours a day on leisure and sports activities. While those aged 35 to 44 average just 3.8 hours, the lowest of any age group. 
Americans didn’t always break a sweat for fun. Post–World War II, the “modern way of life” meant physical ease as push-button appliances replaced effort, ranch houses erased stairs, cars replaced walking, and TV became the evening ritual. Exercise for pleasure was unusual enough to seem eccentric. This eventually led to a surge in heart disease and diabetes, until a decade later when the first wave of televised fitness influencers beamed straight into living rooms insisting that movement was not only necessary but life-changing. 

Despite the couch-sack stereotype, a striking 80% of Americans are physically active, per report by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. That is about 247 million people compared with the 20% (62 million) who remain exercise averse. The report analyzed participation across 124 sports and activities between 2019 and 2024, compiling responses from 18,000 people. 
In preferred exercises, Walking leads the pack, with more than 115 million Americans choosing it as their primary form of activity. Trail hiking follows with 63 million participants. Treadmill running and free weights each draw 56 million people, while jogging pulls 51 million. The pandemic clearly played a role on the turn to physical activities; when gyms, pools, and recreation-centers shut down, Americans took on anything they could do alone, outdoors, or masked. 
ABC Fitness’s latest Wellness Watch report also found that 76% of consumers now identify as physically active, a 2% increase year-over-year and a 10% jump since 2021. In January 2025 there were 106 million gym check-ins and 1.9 million new memberships. Younger Americans are leading the shift, as 73% of Gen Z and 79% of Millennials, say they consider holistic approach to health “very or extremely important.”

Interestingly, income brackets shape who gets to be active and how. While walking or jogging is free, activities like golfing, skiing, or scuba diving are not. Among Americans that earned less than $25,000, about 63% qualified as active in 2024. Whereas for those earning between $25,000 and $49,999, that figure rose to over 73% and peaked at 87% for households making over $100,000. 
“Cost is the largest barrier to participation,” Kerman notes in the SFIA report. “The gap has narrowed in recent years, but it’s very much still there.” 
Even tracking technology is now a baseline expectation for fitness enthusiasts 53% use a wearable, 38% have used mental wellness apps, 55% use nutrition or meal-planning apps. 43% have tried virtual trainers or workout generators and 63% have used AI-based fitness tracking apps.  

Gen Z may be drinking less and swapping bars for gyms, even drawing praise as potentially the “most health-aware generation ever. ”But the trend is likely a reflection on a more atomized society and an increasingly appearance-driven digital culture. Forty percent of Gen Z say social media makes them anxious about their appearance, and nearly half list “improving their appearance” as a key reason they work out. The pressure to compete is constant and more inevitable than ever. Americans are undeniably more active and more invested in health tech, but motivations are increasingly split between wellness, identity, and the aesthetics of looking fit.