This Girl Can chief: Sport won’t be a man’s game for much longer – Telegraph.co.uk

Some 340,000 more people got active in the last 12 months – exercising one or more a week. And 75 per cent of that increase has come from women, in particular women over 40.

That huge surge – equivalent to over 260,000 women and girls – actually means women are now as active as they were just after the London 2012 Olympic Games. 

But we don’t just report the numbers. We spend a significant amount of time getting under the skin of those figures, and working out what they’re really telling us about people’s relationships with, and feelings about, physical activity.

The insight is fascinating.

When we asked women what activities they’ve been doing, the most popular were gym sessions, swimming, fitness classes, running and cycling . More traditional sports, like netball, football and tennis, were also very popular. Running and boxing are among the fastest growing activities for women in the last 12 months. And exercise classes, like spinning and boxercise, continue to attract large numbers.