Why Adults Quit Sports (And How to Get Back In)

I started sports embarrassingly late. While most athletes trace their origin story to childhood, I did not pick up my first serious physical hobby until I was 19. Mountain biking, then snowboarding, then trampolining, then wall running. Each one arrived later than anyone would advise, and each one changed my life more than the last.

But here is the thing I have noticed after years of coaching adults: almost everyone I meet has a version of the same story. They played something as a kid. Football. Basketball. Gymnastics. Swimming. Then at some point in their late teens or early twenties, they stopped. And they never went back.

The Dropout Problem Is Bigger Than You Think

Research confirms what most of us feel intuitively. A 2023 systematic review published in Systematic Reviews found that sports participation has a measurable positive effect on mental wellbeing and reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety. The flip side is just as clear: when adults leave sport behind, they lose more than fitness. They lose community, structure, and a core piece of their identity.

So why do people quit? From what I have seen, it comes down to three forces working together.

First, it stops being socially acceptable. At some point, organized sport becomes something you watch, not something you do. Adults feel self-conscious walking into a class or gym. They worry they will be the oldest person there, or the least skilled, or surrounded by children. When the environment around you signals that sport is for kids, it takes real courage to keep showing up.

Second, your mates stop doing it. In my snowboarding days in Russia, the community was everything. We trained together, traveled together, pushed each other. But as people paired off, started careers, and had families, the group shrank. You cannot sustain a sport alone. When your community disappears, your motivation goes with it.

Third, there is nowhere to go. Most adult fitness options boil down to a commercial gym membership or running. Neither offers the skill progression, social bonding, or sense of play that sport provides. Research by Brymer and Schweitzer (2013) in the Journal of Health Psychology found that even activities perceived as extreme can be profoundly beneficial for health when they are pursued with intention. The problem is not that adults cannot handle challenging movement. The problem is that nobody is offering it to them.

What the Research Says About Getting Back

If you are reading this and recognizing yourself, there is genuinely good news. The research on exercise adherence tells us exactly what makes adults stick with a physical activity, and it is not willpower.

A 2016 study in BMJ Open by Hawley-Hague and colleagues found that the strongest predictors of long-term exercise adherence in adults were social support, professional instruction, and enjoyment. Not intensity. Not cost. Not convenience. People stay when they feel connected, guided, and engaged.

Rivera-Torres and colleagues (2019) reached similar conclusions in their review published in Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine: supervised and group-based programs consistently outperform solo exercise for long-term adherence.

Brymer and Oades (2009), writing in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, went further. They found that engaging in physically challenging activities can produce lasting positive transformations in courage and humility, qualities that carry over into every other area of life.

How to Actually Start Again

If you have been out of sport for years, or even decades, here is what I would suggest based on my own experience and what I have seen work for hundreds of adults at RunTheWall.

• Choose something with built-in community. A solo gym routine will not fill the void that sport left behind. Look for coached classes where you will see the same faces each week.
• Find an environment designed for adults. You should not have to share space with children's birthday parties to pursue a serious physical practice. Seek out spaces that respect your time and goals.
• Accept being a beginner. I was 21 when I first stepped onto a trampoline with any intention. It was humbling. It was also the start of everything that followed.
• Do not wait for the perfect moment. Your life is very short and there is no tomorrow. If you feel like you are missing something, you might as well just go and try.

I remember a period during my training in Moscow when I noticed something strange. I would be running down the metro stairs, weaving through the crowd, and I felt like I had superpowers. My body could do things it could not do six months earlier. That feeling, that sense of physical capability and confidence, is available to every adult who decides to start again. The only requirement is showing up.

Ready to find your way back into sport? RunTheWall offers guided, adults-only trampolining and wall running sessions in Brookvale, Sydney. No experience needed. Book your first session here.

References

1. Eather, N. et al. (2023). “The Impact of Sports Participation on Mental Health and Social Outcomes in Adults: A Systematic Review.” Systematic Reviews. View study
2. Brymer, E. & Schweitzer, R. (2013). “Extreme Sports Are Good for Your Health: A Phenomenological Understanding of Fear and Anxiety in Extreme Sport.” Journal of Health Psychology. View study
3. Brymer, E. & Oades, L. (2009). “Extreme Sports: A Positive Transformation in Courage and Humility.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology. View study
4. Hawley-Hague, H. et al. (2016). “Review of How We Should Define (and Measure) Adherence in Studies Examining Older Adults’ Participation in Exercise Classes.” BMJ Open. View study
5. Rivera-Torres, S. et al. (2019). “Adherence to Exercise Programs in Older Adults.” Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine. View study