As part of a representative study conducted by the digital market and research institute Marketagent.com, the retail chain Hervis Sports researched the athletic habits of Austrians and wanted to know whether and what impact Covid-19 has had on their sports behavior. Hervis is one of the largest specialist sports stores in Central Europe with a total of 237 stores in Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Romania.
More than a third (37%) of the respondents said they exercise several times a week, 11 percent almost every day and only 7 percent never. Regarding the frequency, women and men are generally on the same page; however, men are ahead of women when it comes to “several times a week” (41 percent vs. 34 percent).
Whether and how the pandemic has changed the athletic behavior of the Austrian population was answered by the respondents as follows: 25 percent have become more active since the outbreak – women (28%) slightly more than men (24%). The results for the age groups are particularly interesting: 16-29-year-olds (37%) and 30-39-year-olds (30%) are more active than before Covid, followed by 40-69-year-olds (20%). More than one-fifth (22%) are less active, and more than half (53) of the population has kept the same level of activity, regardless of Covid.
Leisure athletes make up the largest share of the population (men 34%, women 32%), with priority among 30-39-year-olds (38%), followed by 40-69-year-olds (33 %) and 16-29-year-olds (29£). More than one-fifth (22%) of the population describe themselves as “athletes out of necessary evil;” women slightly more than men (27% vs. 17%). 26 percent of 16-29-year-olds count themselves among them, followed by 30-39-year-olds (22%) and 40-69-year-olds (20%). Passive sports enthusiasts (spectators) are 21 percent of men and 15 percent of women, and the proportion increases with age. Sports freaks are 15 percent of respondents, and this applies more to men than to women (20% vs. 11%). Most ”sportoholics” are between 16 and 29 years old (23%), decreasing with age (30-39: 16 percent; 40-49: 15 percent; 50-69: 11 percent). Sports deniers are 16 percent of Austrian women and 9 percent of the country’s men. The largest number is found in the 50-69 age group (15%), followed by the 40-49 (11%) and 16-39 (10 percent each) year-olds.
For more than half (51%) of respondents, outdoor activities, such as hiking and mountaineering, rank first, followed by biking/mountain biking (50%) and swimming (45%). One-third (33%) are involved in fitness, strength or weight training; three out of ten (31%) are runners. 24 percent are enthusiastic about winter sports and about a fifth about Nordic walking and gymnastics/yoga and Pilates (21 percent each). 13 percent play football and 12 percent are dancers.
As many as 57 percent of the men go biking/mountain biking, 54 percent prefer hiking/mountaineering, 42 percent swimming. 49 percent of the women are enthusiastic about swimming, followed by hiking/mountaineering (48%) and biking/mountain biking (43%).
Fitness, strength and equipment training is the favorite sport among the 16-29-year-olds (47%). Outdoor (hiking or mountaineering) ranks first among 30-39-year-olds at 55 percent, and also among 40-49-year-olds at 54 percent. The 50-69-year-olds prefer to go mountain biking (55%).
