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Working out: aesthetic labour, affect and the fitness industry personal trainer

Geriant Harvey, Sheena Vachhani, Karen Williams

Leisure Studies, Volume: 33, Issue: 5, Pages: 454 - 470

Swansea University Authors: Geriant Harvey, Sheena Vachhani, Karen Williams

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Abstract

In this article, we identify the importance of aesthetic labour to the self-employed fitness industry personal trainer (PT), detailing the ways in which the PT trades on their own physical capital. We examine how these discussions relate to the aesthetic and material dimensions of body work (that is...

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Published in: Leisure Studies
ISSN: 0261-4367 1466-4496
Published: 2014
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa44642
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Abstract: In this article, we identify the importance of aesthetic labour to the self-employed fitness industry personal trainer (PT), detailing the ways in which the PT trades on their own physical capital. We examine how these discussions relate to the aesthetic and material dimensions of body work (that is to say, enacted on and through bodies) and the ways in which affective labour, inherent to this type of service work, intersects or delimits physical capital and the embodied competencies of the PT. We argue that the work of PTs helps to deepen emerging discussions and provides a more nuanced and contextualised understanding of affective and aesthetic labour. We assert that the confluences and contradictions between the affective and aesthetic dimensions of work in a fitness industry setting demonstrate that excessive physical capital is perceived as negative for the professional identity of PTs. In conclusion, implications for further research and management are discussed.
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issue: 5
Start Page: 454
End Page: 470