Gym Bodies

In spite of the rapid increase in the number of gyms and the diversification of fitness practices within them, there has been a lack of empirically-based research that explores the embodied experiences of `gym goers' and the fitness cultures that are constructed within these spaces. This fascinating new book offers a personal, interactive, ethnographic account of the multiplicity of contemporary gym practices, spaces and cultures. It argues that gym bodies are historically constructed, social, sensual, emotional and political; that experience intersects with multiple embodied identities; and that fitness cultures are profoundly important in shaping the body in wider contemporary culture.