Commentary: The Lie That Americans Tell Themselves About Exercise

When asked in polls why they don’t exercise, roughly half of Americans invariably state that they are “too busy” or “don’t have the time”. Whether witting or unwitting, this is a lie.

How do we know that this is a lie? Because Americans have said so. According to the 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey, the average American reported having 5.5 hours of leisure time per day. When researchers with the RAND Corporation further scrutinized the survey, breaking the data down based on age and race, they found that no group reported fewer than 4.5 hours of daily free time.

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