Numbers add up for Minneapolis as 'fittest large city'

Article by: ERIC ROPER , Star Tribune
Updated: January 14, 2012 - 8:22 PM

hide

A pair of bicyclists cruised along the Midtown Greenway.

Photo: David Joles, Star Tribune

Camera Star Tribune photo galleries

Camera view larger

0
comments
resize text
print
buy reprints

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

Congrats, Minneapolis. You've been working out.

A new study from a company that creates fitness logging tools says Minneapolis is the "fittest large city" based on the workouts residents have recorded.

MapMyFitness makes smartphone apps and other tools that runners, bikers and hikers can use to track their workouts.

The apps use GPS data to inform users about pace time, calories burned and the route traveled.

Only users who filled out their body mass index, height, weight and other data were counted in the study. In Minneapolis, that was about 4,900. The city's total distance logged over time is 550,000 miles.

That gave the city a 17.43 "activity index," a full point ahead of Denver.

Also notable: Out of all the large cities listed, Minneapolis ranked highest for the percentage of its residents using the workout tracking apps. In total, about 15,000 Minneapolitans are tracking their workouts with the company -- 3.9 percent of the city.

New York City has the most residents using MapMyFitness, about 41,000 people. But it amounts to about 0.5 percent of the city.