Fitnesskultur mellem lyst og pligt

Abstract

Artiklen omhandler fitnesskundernes motiver til at være medlem af et fitnesscenter, hvor det viser sig at det handler både om lyst og pligt. An increasing number of physical active people are apparently choosing exercise characterized by duty rather than sports characterized by desire.This article discusses the development based on the creation of duty and desire as contradictory perceptions and extreme opposites, although they both result in restrictions and limited freedom. The intention of this article is to develop and qualify these dualistic ‘models’ of explanation. This is done through a discussion of motives and motivation and through new empirical data concerning fitness-practitioners’ own views on their exercise. Finally the concept ‘urge’ is presented as an attempt to dissolve the relation between the duty and the desire as contradictions. This can contribute to a more qualified explanation and understanding of the practitioners’ choice of fitness as a sport activity characterized by obligation.

Long-term members’ use of fitness centers: a qualitative study

“…Some of the participants said that they did not visit the fitness center as often as they wanted. A Danish report also found that most members of fitness centers would have liked to work out more frequently than they did [25]. An interesting finding in our study was that having committed to exercise through actions like pre-booking an activity, making a binding agreement with others, or making a payment was said to be the pressure they needed to visit the fitness center.…”

“…Thus, fitness centers are an important arena for physical activity. However, it has been found that members would like to exercise more regularly than they do [25].…”

“…Former studies among fitness center members have focused on reasons to become and remain a member [25, 26] and have highlighted motivational differences between fitness center and sports club members, e.g., sports club members are reported to be more motivated by competition, pleasure, and social factors and less concerned with appearance than fitness center members [21, 27, 28]. It has also been found that women report a slightly higher desire for wellness, a well-trained body, and weight loss than men do, while men report a desire for improved physical fitness [22, 25, 27, 29, 30].…”