Enrollment trends in Basic Instruction Programs (BIPs) have shown a gradual decrease during the past four decades. This trend is significant because of the numerous studies that have declared Americans as unfit, inactive and leading unhealthy lifestyles. College and university BIPs are a means in which adults can be introduced to healthy lifestyle and a life of physical activity. The goal of this research was to determine the motivating factors of enrollees in a BIP at large university in the Southeast United States. An exploratory factor analysis revealed four motivating factors explaining 68.44% of the variance. The factors were labeled as a) self-worth, b) health benefit, c) gratification, and d) academic benefit. ANOVA indicated males reported significantly higher academic (p = 0.002) and self-worth (p = 0.003) motives and lower health (p = 0.004) motives than females. Since significant motive differences were found on the basis of gender, separate backward deletion regressions of participant motives on behavioral intentions were calculated to provide more specific information to marketers regarding the relevant motives for each gender. The results indicated gratification and academic motives were significant predictors of behavioral intentions for males and females while the motive of health benefits was a significant predictor of behavioral intentions for females only. (Contains 6 tables.)