Age UK reveals the nation’s most hated and loved exercises, as part of its Act Now, Age Better campaign

Age UK has uncovered how the nation truly feels about certain exercises – from the most loved and the most hated, to the most avoided at all costs – with Lifestyle GP and Personal Trainer, Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi, providing the ultimate solutions 

· The Charity has also revealed some of the weirdest and most wonderful ways Brits – including broadcasting legend, Angela Rippon – are choosing to get in their daily dosage of movement around the house instead 

· This forms part of Age UK’s Act Now, Age Better campaign, which launched earlier this year and encourages everyone to take action and age in the best way possible – starting with staying active 

The importance of regularly moving your body and increasing your heart rate to improve your chances of living a long and healthy life is well-known. Yet, some exercises fill many people with nothing but dread. 

Following the launch of Age UK’s Act Now, Age Better campaign, which encourages people to make small, proactive changes that could help improve their physical health and the quality of their later years, the Charity has revealed[ii] how the nation truly feels about certain exercises, and it’s official – push-ups are the most hated in the UK, with over one-third of Brits (20 million / 36%) feeling this way. 

This is closely followed by: 

· Brutal burpees (16 million / 29%) 

· Painful planks (13 million / 24%) 

· Challenging chin-ups (12 million / 24%) 

· Cumbersome crunches (12 million / 22%) 

What about the most loved? Well, it seems, this is a nation of squatters and lungers, with one in five people (11 million / 20%) being a sucker for a squat, and over 7.5 million (14%) loving a lunge. 

However, Age UK’s polling has also uncovered that many people haven’t ever tried to do some other exercises, with nearly half of all Brits having never done a mountain climber (25 million / 47%), and similar numbers having never attempted a box-jump (25 million / 46%) or a chin-up (24 million / 44%)

Find out how we feel