Seniors prefer to exercise alone or with others their age rather than in a typical class of young, toned people, researchers say.

Standard exercise classes are three times as likely to be taken by people in their teens or early 20s as by those in their 60s, a study by the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute suggests.

While exercising with younger people may be a turnoff for seniors, there is a theory that people of all ages prefer to be with those their own age.

Prof. Mark Beauchamp of the University of British Columbia's School of Human Kinetics and his team surveyed 947 people ranging in age from 30 to 82 in the northern English city of Leeds, and the results backed the theory.

People in their 30s and 40s responded positively to exercising with twentysomethings and disliked the idea of working out with those much older than themselves.

People in their 60s and 70s also said they prefer exercising with people their age, but not with those much younger, the researchers reported in the April issue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Group benefits

The age context of a class is important, Beauchamp said, given that research shows people are much more likely to stick with exercise in a group setting, thanks to social support.

"This highlights that groups can be a very positive vehicle, provided that thought is given to the type of setting," Beauchamp told CBC News Online on Friday.

Programs to promote exercise among seniors have focused on helping them to work out alone.

The researchers are not advocating only group exercise classes for seniors, but the idea should not be dismissed, Beauchamp said. He encouraged governments to provide opportunities and funding to allow people to exercise with others of a similar age.

Governments could promote physical activity by providing community centres and walking trails, suggested Prof. Barbara Resnick, an expert in geriatric exercise and motivation at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

Future research could look at the best ways to design programs, such as comparing exercising in groups at a scheduled class or outside for a game of soccer, as well as alone at home versus at a gym, the study's authors said.

With files from the Associated Press