Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine what motivates physically active women to maintain their active lifestyle through exercise.

Design: Cross sectional study.

Methods: Physically active women (N=70) between the age of 19 and 84 were recruited at fitness centers and they completed the survey regarding their motives to maintain an active life style. The survey contained questions with several response options, and an open ended question where the women were asked to share their experiences and encouraging words for physically inactive women. The total number of distributed surveys was 90, of which 70 were complete.

Results: The findings showed an association between a physically active life and good health. The majority of the participants claimed positive health benefits from training. The women who had a high exercise frequency also graded the exercise to be fun more often than women who were not training as frequently. The women also shared their own experiences of being active, and claimed that the physical, psychological and social benefits were great motivational factors to keep being active.

Conclusions: The positive health benefits constituted the greatest motivation for maintaining a physically active life style.  The physically active women in this study showed that exercise has benefits; physical benefits such as pain relief or psychological benefits such as feeling good and happy, but also the social benefits of meeting new people.