Beauty has long moved on from just superficial good looks and encompasses wellness, exercise and good nutrition. Australians have always cherished their sporty image – at home and overseas – and every major city is full of men and women dressed in athleisure wear. But how true is the stereotype?
One of the latest surveys from Roy Morgan reveals that Australians are determined to stay vigorous and healthy. Walking is the nation’s favourite exercise, with 53.9 per cent of adults aged 14+ (11.55 million) frequently setting out for a brisk stroll. Going to the gym/weight training is Australia’s second most popular sporting activity with nearly 4 million participants. Jogging comes in at number 3 with almost 2.3 million pounding the pavement, followed by swimming (almost 1.7 million), yoga ( over 1.3 million), hiking/bushwalking (almost 1.2 million) and cycling on 1.15 million.
The lockdowns and restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic have spurred many people to get out and about. Fewer than half of Australian adults (48.5%) regularly walked for exercise four years ago and numbers are up by 1.6 million by contrast to 2019. Going to the gym/weight training has also seen a 20 per cent rise with the number of participants surging by 730,00 since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
The two closely related healthy exercise routines – pilates and yoga – have also enjoyed significant growth in popularity during the pandemic years as online classes allowed people to continue their fitness journeys despite being stuck at home, said Michelle Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan. “Regular participation in pilates increased by over 230,000 to 894,000 and participation in yoga was up over 180,000 to over 1.3 million)
With the FIFA Women’s World Cup happening, soccer is the favourite sport of 570,000 Aussies, followed by aerobics (536,000), tennis (502,000), basketball (469,000), fishing (460,000) and dancing (459,000).
Australia ranks among the top five countries in the world for the most golf courses per capita and 456,000 Aussies regularly swing the clubs. Combative sports (406,000), cricket (342,000), netball (312,000), running/marathons (299,000) and Australian football (284,000) round out the list of Australia’s favourite ways to get the blood pumping.
Cosmetics and skincare have a great role to play in women’s exercise routines, of course. Many women wear a little lip balm and a good sunscreen, but beauty brands have a host of products to keep women looking glam during and after their workouts from waterproof mascara and eye liner through multi-tasking concealers, sweat-proof BB creams and foundations and transparent lip glosses.
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