The Sentient, Skilled and Situated of Sustaining a Physical Activity Career: Pleasurable Interpretations of Corporeal Ambiguity

Abstract

In comparison to the natural sciences, there is a lack of empirically grounded social scientific research which addresses how people arrive at forming pleasurable interpretations of physical activity participation. Both social and natural conceptualisations of the bodily sensations evoked via physical activity involvement have also been restricted to pain and pleasure and pleasure-displeasure dualisms. Nevertheless, there is general agreement across these disciplines that pleasurable interpretations of physical activity participation encourage regular and sustained future involvement. We draw on carnal sociology to explain life history interview data from 30 varied physical activity careers to argue that corporeal experiences of being physically active are more ambiguous than existing pleasure-pain dualisms suggest. Furthermore, interpreting these ambiguous corporeal senses as pleasurable was of central importance to sustaining a prolonged physical activity career, which we argue is a carnal skill that can be learned. This skill, possessed by those interviewees with the most prolonged physical activity careers, had been acquired through becoming accustomed to the unique situated sensual ambiguities of particular physical activities, as a type of existential connoisseurship. Future research might pay more attention to the ambiguity of physical activity involvement, the carnal interpretation of which carries important consequences for the likelihood of long-term participation.

Bodily maps of exercise-induced sensations

“…While coping with extreme sensations of pain is essential for elite athletes, learning to adapt to uncomfortable bodily sensations is crucial also for novice exercisers adopting new training routines [53]. As a consequence, bodily sensations like pain, fatigue and arousal may eventually contribute to the "hurt so good" effect of exercise [2,36], potentially due to endogenous opioid release [14,54]. However, subjective experience of exercise-induced sensations varies across individuals.…”

“…Exercise is a strong physiological and mechanical stimulus that elicits changes throughout the biological circuits in the body. Being subjectively aware in physiological and biomechanical state of the body not only help to regulate exercise performance but also shape the affective experience of exercise [1][2][3]. Exercise is an effective behavioural strategy for self-regulation of mood and emotions [4][5][6][7][8], and consequently it is also beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress [9].…”

“…For example the Borg's 15-point rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale [34], the most commonly used psycho-physical measure for evaluating the subjective perception of whole-body exertion during exercise, yields a net index of several integrated physiological mechanisms, including cardiopulmonary variables, cerebral and peripheral metabolism, neural drive from motor cortex area, core and skin temperature and mechanical strain [35]. Thus, by altering the physiological processes which may subsequently be forwarded to consciousness via interoceptive pathways, exercise results in various embodied sensations such as sweating, cramping muscles, pounding heart, feeling "the buzz", "the pump", and pain, which shape affective experience of exercise [2,36]. Based on subjective interpretation of these sensations, even negative emotions such as pain may ultimately trigger positive feelings that promote future exercise engagement [2,36].…”

“…Thus, by altering the physiological processes which may subsequently be forwarded to consciousness via interoceptive pathways, exercise results in various embodied sensations such as sweating, cramping muscles, pounding heart, feeling "the buzz", "the pump", and pain, which shape affective experience of exercise [2,36]. Based on subjective interpretation of these sensations, even negative emotions such as pain may ultimately trigger positive feelings that promote future exercise engagement [2,36]. Despite the i) centrality of interoception and somatosensation in generating subjective sensations and ii) the capacity for physical exercise in altering the bodily states, there is a paucity of data on bodily experiences and sensations evoked by physical exercise.…”