Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Physical inactivity is estimated to account for 9% of all premature deaths in Canada and cost the Canadian health care system approximately $6.8 billion per year. If more Canadians engaged in regular physical activity, the benefits to Canadian society would be enormous. Yet, increasing participation in physical activity requires more than a one-size-fits-all solution: Canadian men are more active than women, more likely to be moderately active in their leisure time, and fare better than women in all categories of fitness, except flexibility. When women and men pursue leisure-time physical activities, types of activity differ by gender. Understanding the unique barriers to physical activity faced by women and men is essential for developing effective strategies to promote and support all Canadians in being more active. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between gendered factors and physical activity in a common, everyday exercise context: the gym. While gyms present opportunities for exercise, they can also reinforce gender differences and stereotypes. Routine training areas, namely free-weight and cardiovascular rooms, are known to be respectively perceived as masculine and feminine spaces for their seeming correspondence with types of workouts required to produce idealized muscular and thin physiques. This study uses in-depth qualitative techniques, including observation, interviews, and focus groups, to examine gym environments and the experiences of gym users. Findings will support the identification of gender-sensitive ways to support regular physical activity engagement.