ProSport Fitness Survey Results

Wednesday March 24 2004

Prosport have released all the figures from their highly-popular Fitness Survey, which was run on Planet Rugby.

ProSport is the Number One range of sports support in the UK - helping people relieve, prevent and protect them from the risk of high-impact and potential injuries.

Age:
18% were Under 18
28% were 18-24
36% were 25-35
18% were 35+

Gender:
5% of people surveyed were women
95% of people surveyed were men

Exercise in hours:
7% exercise 1 hour or less
12% exercise 2 hours a week
29% exercise 3-5 hrs a week
52% exercise 5 hours or more

Type of sport:
70% play impact sports
19% play non-impact sports
5% play impact sports as part of a team
6% play individual sport

Favourite sport:
4% like football most
1% like cricket best
2% like golf the best
9% like the gym
4% like running
10% like other sports
70% like rugby best

Expenditure:
32% spend most on gym membership
16% events
39% sporting goods and equipment
13% sporting trips

Most common injury:
3% suffered Head injury in last year
8% suffered Neck injury
22% suffered Shoulder injury
11% suffered Back injury
4% suffered Arm injury
38% suffered Leg Injuries
10% suffered Ankle Injuries
4% suffered Foot injuries

Time out injured (playing):
2% Had no time out of the game
8% Had 1-2 days out of the game
15% Had a week out of the game
75% Had more than a week off

Time off work:
15% Had more than a week off work due to injury
8% Had a week off work
19% Had 1-2 days off
58% Had no time off of work

Who treated your injury?
2% Did not get their injury treated
30% Treated it themselves
2% Consulted their pharmacist
24% Consulted a doctor
42% Went to a physiotherapist

What treatment did you receive?
14% Over the Counter Medication
14% Used Prescribed medication
28% Used Natural Remedies
44% Received no treatment/Rest

Do you wear strapping or support?
14% Wear Strapping
18% Wear a Support
14% Wear Both
54% Wear Neither

Do you wear either whilst playing?
51% Wear one or the other
49% Wear Neither

How knowledgeable are you about injury and injury prevention?
10% Do no know enough
61% Are reasonably informed
29% Are very well informed
20% Do not wish to know more about injury prevention
80% Wish they knew more

Notes:

The Fitness Survey conducted by ProSport has been a resounding success with over 100 entrants a day kindly providing their time to fill in the short questionnaire. As expected the results have provided some useful information. In total there were over 1,000 entrants during a two-week period.

The average respondent is 25-35 years old, male who trains more than five hours a week, and enjoys playing impact sports especially rugby. Of the 10% female entrants many of them trained just as hard as the men with the only difference being that they preferred non impact training to contact (i.e. gym sessions).

Most Planet Rugby readers spend the majority of their money on sports equipment (39%) and gym membership (32%) It would appear that those that train the hardest do not spend as much money on actual sporting trips and events, presumably because they are playing whereas those that train only a couple of hours a week or less have more time, and spend more money on sporting trips i.e. they are sports fans rather than players.

The most common injuries were leg injuries (38%) and shoulder injuries, which probably reflects the type of sport being played. A staggering 75% of readers had to take over a week out of training or playing sport last year because of injury, however, it would appear Planet Rugby readers are a conscientious bunch and this was not reflected in the amount of time taken off work with 58% of readers struggling through the pain-barrier and not taking any time off work. 42% of readers did, however; take time off work because of sports-related injuries last year! There was also a direct correlation between the numbers of hours spent training a week and the frequency and duration of an injury. The more you train - the more likely you are to get injured which suggests that people may need to do more forms of warming up and down and possibly wear protection during games.

It is often believed that men "suffer in silence" however the results from the ProSport survey would suggest otherwise with only 2% not getting their injuries treated (all of them under the age of 18!) Three in ten chose to treat it themselves which would indicate recurrences of injuries whilst a quarter saw their GP and 42% went to a physiotherapist.

Over half of all injuries were treated naturally either by applying natural remedies or good old-fashioned rest. One in eight, however, took prescription medication to alleviate pain.

As suspected there was a positive correlation between those that wear strapping and supports and injury. Our survey found that of the 46% that wore either a support or strapping (or both) were 20% less likely to have long-term injuries (over a week.) than those that didn't.

Half of the respondents wore strapping or a support during a game (51%), 60% were reasonably well informed about injury and injury prevention, but 80% wished they knew more and with 75% of all entrants suffering injuries last year you can understand why!

ProSport is available from National Sports Retailers, UK Pharmacies or direct via www.sweatband.com.