According to the National Sporting Goods Association, exercise walking remained the most popular sport in 2007 in terms of participation as it grew 2.7%, a position it has held since 1990.
Data contained in NSGAs annual “Sports Participation Series I and II” reports, which will be available in May, shows 89.8 million Americans walked for exercise in 2007. Exercising with equipment increased 0.8% to 52.8 million participants. Swimmings 7.3% decrease to 52.3 million participants dropped it to the third position.
Other fitness activities were generally strong in 2007. Workout at a club, which was the fastest growing fitness activity in 2006, declined 3.0% to 33.8 million participants and slipped from the No. 7 to the No. 8 slot. Weight lifting, with 33.2 million participants, rose 0.9% and rose to the No. 9 position.
Running/jogging, 14th last year, rose to the No. 11 spot on the strength of a 5.5% growth to 30.4 million runners/joggers.
Among fitness activities, aerobic exercising fell 9.9% to 30.3 million to slip to the 12th sport from ninth in 2009. Some of the decline may have come from the inclusion of yoga in the survey for the first time. Yoga attracted 10.7 million participants in 2007. Other activities newly surveyed for the 2007 report include lacrosse, kayaking, mountain/rock climbing and scuba.
Despite a 2.2% decline in participation (47.5 million), camping continued to hold the fourth position. Bowling retained the No. 5 position with 43.5 million participants (-2.9%). Moving ahead of fishing and workout at club, bicycle riding took the No. 6 position with a 5% increase to 37.4 million cyclists. Fishing attracted 35.3 million participants (-13%) and slipped to the No. 7 position. Tennis participation rose almost 20% to 12.3 million participants. Among team sports, only volleyball showed an increase. Participation grew 8.7% to 12.0 million.
