77 percent of millennials want interaction in their fitness, study says

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- A recent survey of over 5,000 millennials, those 14 to 34 years old, found their needs are specific when it comes to exercise.

The study by Technogym found that like most people, millennials said they're just too busy to exercise.

But the survey also found that 77 percent of millennials want interaction in their fitness such as apps, games, music and more.

Alex Barrett and Jennifer Greene fall into the millennial category and said they utilize apps and mobile technology to help with their fitness goals.

"I use MapMyRun, I have it to give me feedback every quarter of a mile so I know what pace I'm running," explained Greene.

"You can download workouts on your phone, you're there, you're at your home and it's easier," said Barrett.

Fitness expert Mike Donavanik, a millennial himself, discovered how tough it was to get people his own age to exercise.

"Everything is literally on demand for us. The need for us to actually go out and be active or just run daily tasks, the urgency is no longer there," Donavanik said.

He was once a producer of popular fitness DVDs, but his last one fell flat. So he changed direction.

"The DVD market just died," said Donavanik. "I just focused on building a YouTube presence because I knew that's where millennials and that's where new upcoming baby boomers were going to be."

Breakthru Fitness owner Phil Dozois said millennial habits are changing the gym industry.

"They need to do something more fun, more engaging because attention spans are now shorter and shorter," Dozois explained. "We've had to change our marketing and our offerings. We feel like the new generation wants: Number one, they want to be able to sign up for classes or even for memberships through the internet."

But keeping the attention of millennials is proving to be difficult for trainers.

"Squatting, they're bench pressing, they get one set done and they take a five to 10 minute rest because they're on Facebook, they're on Twitter, they're on Instagramming and they're taking a selfie," said Donavanik.