When these needs are met, perceived barriers to exercise are far less significant than operators assume. 

The research from Manchester Metropolitan University debunks the notion that barriers such as cost, physical limitations and fear of injury influence decision-making. Instead, social factors and personal beliefs about the benefits are far greater drivers of motivation to exercise. 

 More than 1,200 adults aged 60 and above were involved in the study, which explored the main barriers and motivations for older adults in undertaking power-assisted exercise.

Conducted on behalf of Innerva, the world’s leading manufacturer of power-assisted exercise equipment, the cohort included both exercisers and non-exercisers, as well as users and non-users of power-assisted exercise. The research was part-funded by a grant from Innovate UK as part of the UK Research and Innovation Healthy Ageing Challenge  – Designed for Ageing, which aimed to harness the best of UK design talent and inclusive user engagement to develop solutions that helped people thrive in later life. 

Professor Paul Smith, who led the research project, said the results were surprising. ‘We asked 28 questions about barriers to exercise and discovered that when people understand what power-assisted exercise is, these barriers have minimal impact on their decision-making, with no single barrier standing out as a major obstacle to exercise. In fact, older adults are more influenced by social factors and personal beliefs about the benefits of exercise, principally whether they believe the exercise is beneficial for their health, is an opportunity to socialise and are encouraged by what other people think of it. These factors have a far greater impact on their intentions than barriers.’