ABSTRACT
In this chapter we outline the theoretical architecture through which we have come to an embodied understanding of gym bodies and fitness cultures. We first acknowledge how the enfleshed, experiencing, emotional, situated gym body is integral in perception and meaning making through drawing on multiple conceptual approaches including existential, sociological and feminist phenomenology. Subsequently, as one way of acknowledging the grounded, raw, visceral here-and-now of human corporeality, we elucidate how embracing sensual scholarship offers a rich, powerful and textured approach to exploring the materiality of gym bodies. Drawing on current empirical research into fitness cultures, we reinforce the potential of the senses in helping derive an embodied understanding of the lived experiences of gym goers. The conceptual grounding offered above provides the backdrop for our own investigations into gym cultures and acts as a useful resource for other researchers employing embodied theory in exploring fitness cultures.
