Inspiring patterns in self-described exercise and use of wearable tech among a group of relatively healthy older American travelers
I had read about the relatively low percentage of American seniors who meet exercise guidelines (Elgaddal and Kramarow 2024), and about relatively low adoption of wearable tech by this group (Chandrasekavan, Sadiq, and Moustakas 2025), so I thought that interviewing 22 fellow travelers ages 63+ (average age 70) would mostly yield insights about why this group did not exercise as much as they wanted, and maybe just a few would use wearables to track their steps.
Instead, a majority of these travelers (n=11) exercised at least 5 days/week, and more than half (n=12) used a wearable technology or cell phone app to track their activity. It doesn’t prove but is consistent with near-daily exercise supporting good health into older age. This group was still very active—walking many flights of steps during our trip, and just as important, they were mentally sharp, and seemed to be having fun.
1. A weekly routine with more than one type of exercise appears key. Most individuals who were satisfied with the amount they exercised had settled into weekly routines including multiple types of exercise (n= 7). For example, one each:
Attends water aerobics classes 3X/week, and walks on a “wonderful” bike path in her neighborhood
Runs, plays pickleball, and walks; is proud of having reached 10,000 steps/day daily for 8 ½ years!
Goes to the gym three times per week, walks, and does yoga sometimes in person but often online. She added the gym with weight-bearing exercise at her doctor’s recommendation.
Attends classes at the gym every day of the week, that together cover cardio, Pilates, and yoga
Likes to change it up, commenting: “Five times a week, I exercise at least half an hour, or the equivalent of 200 calories…the important thing is simply to do a variety of things and to have the discipline of doing it and I've been doing that for 26 years.”
It’s striking that so many of the exercise activities that these participants rely on to keep them healthy cost significant amounts of money, and are convenient for them because of where the gyms and bike paths are located relative to where these folks live. This is an affluent group. To support more Americans’ health, we need to make it safe and fun for everyone to find exercises that fit with their location and budget.
2. Wearable tech may have made a small difference on the margin. People who chose to use wearable tech or a smart phone app to monitor their exercise (“wearable tech users”) liked the devices, but it didn’t make a big difference in what they did or how satisfied they were with the amount of exercise they got. More specifically, just over half were wearable tech users in both the group that was satisfied with how much they exercised (7 of 12) and the group that did not exercise as much as they wanted to (5 of 9).
Half of the 12 wearable tech users said they sometimes exercised a little more because of seeing their numbers, but only slightly more (n=6)
A majority of the wearable tech users tracked number of steps or steps and distance covered only (n=7)
Less frequent uses included sleep data, not sitting too long, and heart rate during workout
Those who had an Apple Watch (n=6) would have had much more capability that they were not using. The others had a Fitbit or used a phone app for exercise tracking.
Although use of wearable tech was wasn’t contributing much to overall fitness or health in this group, it could play a larger role for younger wearers. For easier presentation, I didn’t include the input here from the two younger people that I interviewed on the trip (in their 30s), but both were wearable tech users, and one, who wore an Oura ring, was a very enthusiastic user.
3. Gender differences in this sample were striking, but we shouldn’t leap to conclusions because, for example, we didn’t measure the quantity of actual exercise. Interviewed women were more likely than the men to be satisfied with the amount of exercise they engaged in and also more likely to use wearable tech.
However, even though the men were more likely to say they did not exercise as much as they wanted to, most exercised a fair amount. For example, of the seven men who did not exercise as much as they wanted, one or two do each of the following:
Cycle classes twice/week and tennis once to twice/week
Bike an hour per day and resistance training once/week (he feels that should be twice/week)
Varied exercise at home, 15-20 minutes/day using videos
4. The reasons why some had not exercised as much as they wanted to (n=9) provide examples from lived experience of some of the barriers to optimal exercise levels also identified in the literature (note some gave multiple reasons):
Old routines were interrupted and not replaced (5)
No longer had a walking partner
Dog he used to walk passed away
The YMCA he used to visit closed since COVID
Pilates studio closed
Town volleyball group disbanded
Moved from the south with outdoor swimming to the north with indoor pools that she doesn’t like as well
Time required or scheduling challenges (4)
Two were not retired so had more challenge scheduling
For one who was retired, time for exercising competed with other, sedentary hobbies he also enjoys
One fits in exercise at home but isn’t making it to the gym for resistance training as he feels he should
Lack of self-discipline (4)
Two noted it is harder to muster the motivation without an exercise partner
One explained his chosen exercise type is sit-ups and pushups, and when he gets out of the habit, it’s hard to force himself to start again
These examples highlight the vulnerability of people’s once-stronger exercise habits to changes in social and community situations.
Are there community-level ways to intervene to support people experiencing these changes? For example:
When a health-focused site (Pilates studio, YMCA site) or established community activity (volleyball team) closes, could the local health department run a small campaign to encourage affected residents to use close-by substitutes, maybe offer some coupons?
Are there ways that have worked to connect people with potential exercise partners in their neighborhoods, safely?
I found this group’s comments on exercise quite inspiring, my steps and distance are up considerably compared to pre-trip, in hopes I can still be having as much fun as they are in 10-15 years!
This is the third post based on the Healthcare For the People by the People project, self-funded by Bluemont Health Consulting LLC. For more details about the sample and method, scroll to the end of the first post in this series here.