Getting Women Back Into Physical Activity

According to the latest Active Lives Adult Survey by Sport England women saw more prolonged drops in activity levels and were slower to recover after lockdown then men. 

As part of the TA6 philosophy of “meeting people where they are” this means we should understand the barriers and acknowledge where women are in their confidence and emotional readiness to start, or return to, exercise. 

It is important to consider how we encourage women back into exercise and how we support them once they make the first step. 

As part of the recognition of the importance of understanding the barriers to exercise for women and creating confidence and opportunities for them, This Girl Can and ukactive have joined forces to create a practical guide for operators. You can download this here. 

Here are some recommendations from the team at TA6 for supporting women to increase activity:

  • Use targeted, content–led marketing focusing on real women and messages of confidence to exercise and benefits to positive mental and physical wellbeing

  • Consider linking into wider campaigns such as “This Girl Can” to speak directly to women in a way that feels inclusive 

  • Promote how you can support them back into activity in a safe environment with home workouts, online advice and training programmes

  • Train your teams to understand the drivers and barriers to exercise and how best to support and offer solutions

  • Build in a focus on weekly activity plans, not just gym programmes, to meet women where they are and allow them to access exercise throughout the week in whatever format they are comfortable with

  • Once it is identified that someone might need to support to build confidence and exercise habits, create prompts for weekly touchpoints in the first few weeks. These could be a simple tracking diary or ideally utilising your digital systems to automatically flag a contact point as well as sending supportive content via apps, email and SMS

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At TA6 we are passionate about supporting your success so for more advice and support in any of these areas, get in touch with the team.

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