ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Ian explores personal training as an increasingly ever-present fixture of contemporary gyms and the subsequent embodied relationships that occur within the context of fitness training based upon one-to-one interaction between two people. Discussion is informed by wider literature, in particular the notion of relationships of trust and the recognition of the complex dynamics of one-to-one encounters (between trainer and trained). These are interpreted through Ian’s concept of body reflexive pleasures as well as Foucault’s description of relationships of power. The chapter also draws upon auto-ethnographic research, exploring the embodied aspects of ‘being personally trained’ through a social encounter that is negotiated within the cultural space of the gym and is informed by complex relationships of power, directed by body knowledge, bodily capital, economic capital and social etiquette. While the subjective context for the training was to meet the qualifying criteria for entry into the 2016 CrossFit Games, participation also allowed opportunities to explore the broader dynamics of personal training as well as embodied experiences of shared pain, internal struggles and negotiating others.
