The study aimed at investigating the motivation to practicing physical activities (PA) among non-atlhetes in the city of Natal/RN. 309 practitioners of PA participated in the survey, aging between 16 and 74 years of age, equally distributed by gender. They answered the Revised Motivation for Physical Activity Measure (MPAM-R) that has five factors: Enjoyment, Health, Appearance, Competence and Social, and socio-demographic questions. In general, the main motive presented by the participants to practice PA was Health. It was verified yet, that women and the elderly had a higher average for the Health factor; among the exercise practitioners, a higher average in the Appearance factor was found; and a higher average in the Social factor was found among those that practice PA with accompaniment. It is concluded that the objectives of this study were achieved; these findings enable a better understanding of what motivates people to perform physical activity. However, further studies are suggested considering other variables.
Motivation; Physical activity; Practitiones no atletics
