Os motivos que levam as mulheres abandonarem a academia de ginástica: um estudo de caso

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the reasons that lead women to leave the fitness gym and verify the influence of age and financial satisfaction related to the motives of abandonment. Study participants were 100 women over 18 who have attended one particular Fitness Gym in the west region in Belo Horizonte city for at least a month and did not return. A structured interview was conducted via telephone with questions regarding the different dimensions: personal data; motivation and withdrawal; goals of enrollment; perception of quality of care; knowledge of the instructor; knowledge of the fitness gym structure; current habits related to physical activity; and daily hours of work and/or study. From the results of the study were checked that the main reasons that led the participants of the study to abandon the practice of physical exercises were "lack of time" for younger women financially and satisfied; "personal problem" for the oldest ones and "financial problems" for dissatisfied financially. From these results it was possible to detect that reasons like lack of time and financial difficulties can be minimized if the fitness gym propose strategies to promote development of new activities and/or new times slots, as well as economic packages. As for "personal problems" the fitness gym has no influence on the resolution.