Body, Meanings, and Physical Exercise in Older Adults: The Qualitative Perspective of Frequent Gym-Goers

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.18.3.05

Keywords:

Older Adults, Gym, Body, Corporeality, Amsterdam, Working Out

Abstract

It is known that rates of participation in sports and physical activities among older adults decrease as they get older. This article focuses on the experience of the aging body at the gym, and it is one of the few that focuses on a little-studied group of frequent gym-goers. Based on an ethnographic work of more than two years in Amsterdam, I explain the goals of three older adults who frequently work out, what their relationships with the gym and their bodies are, and why they are interested in training in gyms. This article seeks to contribute to discourses on health, sport, and aging and, at the same time, to explain some of the advantages of qualitative studies in understanding the experience of aging and training in gyms.

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Author Biography

Alexis Sossa Rojas, CEDLA / University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Alexis Sossa is a fellow researcher at the Center for Latin American Research and Documentation (CEDLA), hosted by the University of Amsterdam. In 2021, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. His Ph.D. dissertation focuses on gym culture and embodi­ment. Alexis is a sociologist with expertise in qualitative research. His research interests concern the development of interpretive sociological/anthropological understandings of the body-self-society relationship in different fields, but are mainly in sport and physical culture.

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2022-07-31

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Sossa Rojas, A. (2022). Body, Meanings, and Physical Exercise in Older Adults: The Qualitative Perspective of Frequent Gym-Goers. Qualitative Sociology Review, 18(3), 106–124. https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.18.3.05

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