Couch Potatoes? The average Arizonan is doing 29% less exercise than before the pandemic began, reveals survey.
- Arizonans have watched an average of 394 hours of TV during lockdown.
- 1 in 3 left unemployed have spent their time binge watching TV.
- 57% say they have enjoyed being lazy during lockdown.
- Half of those working from home admit watching TV during work hours.
For anyone who secretly dreads exercise – including trips to the gym and those friends who organize social gatherings in the form of outdoor hikes – the lockdown surely came as a bit of a gift (pandemic notwithstanding). Americans were forced to remain at home and many took this as an opportunity to kick back and relieve the boredom by resorting to good old television. However, because a majority of gyms and places of workout were closed, people have also had fewer options to get in their daily exercise, leading to many simply omitting it from their daily routines. Has the pandemic led to us becoming a nation of couch potatoes?
Ezvid Wiki, a video wiki, software and media company, polled nearly 4,000 Americans to find out how their exercise habits had changed during the pandemic. It transpires that Arizonans have been doing 29% less exercise than before the pandemic began. The survey found the USA’s laziest state is Vermont; they are doing 67% less exercise compared to Minnesotans, who are only doing 16% less than before the start of the pandemic. Despite having the option of home workouts, it appears many people used lockdown to let their fitness slide.
It is, therefore, no coincidence that the survey also found that Arizonans have watched, on average, 394 hours of TV during lockdown (roughly 36 hours per week). This compares to 262 hours over a comparable pre-lockdown period.
It was found that the state with the squarest eyes is Nevada; its residents watched the most TV of all, clocking up 519 hours, or 47 per week. In fact, that’s nearly 7 hours a day, which is almost like doing it as a full time job. Arkansans clearly had better things to do (though we’re not sure exactly what), as they watched the least; only 336 hours during lockdown.
View these results across America with this interactive map
It’s hardly surprising that almost 1 in 5 of us (17%) admit to having become addicted to the TV since lockdown. And with so much good stuff to watch – Tiger King, Selling Sunset, Unsolved Mysteries, Down to Earth – over half of respondents (57%) say they’re going to continue their lifestyle of watching TV most nights, even when things get more back to normal.
And normally strict parents have let their children watch more than they were allowed to before; over half (59%) have decided it’s probably easier than trying to stop them fighting with each other / destroying the kitchen / doing their homework… And nearly half of adults (46%) even confess they’ve watched TV during work hours!