Power and fitness practice : process of body management

Abstract

Prime objectives of this qualitative study are to understand contents and refined strategies utilized by each fitness club to encourage lots of people to enroll in a process of fitness club, to clarify the process of body management and body discipline instilled in fitness members within the fitness clubs, and to clarify and compare the relationship between each special context of the three fitness clubs and social distinction. Three different fitness clubs in the suburb area of Bangkok were purposively selected in order to illustrate the vivid picture of different techniques used by different clubs to persuade several people to apply for fitness club membership, and contrasting images of fitness clubs that signified social distinction. Participation observation technique was used to acquire information regarding process of body discipline within the club. The results show that various refined strategies were utilized by the for-profit fitness clubs in order to entice a large number of people into enrolling in the fitness club. For example, special promotion package of 50% discount, or a duo package, was offered within the opening ceremony period. By contrast, no promotion campaign was created and launched by the non-profit fitness place because inexpensive annual payment itself could draw a glut of customers to apply for fitness membership. Since the three fitness clubs were purposively selected to portray different social position of the members, fitness club's image and ambiance, as well as exercise instruments and facilities offered by different fitness clubs could signify the specific taste and social distinction of each member group. Even though the three fitness clubs offered different ambiance and services, process of body discipline was encouraged through similar ways. For instance, personal guidelines for routine workout were recommended by each fitness instructor to encourage clients to follow the protocol strictly and regularly. In addition, all indicators that appear on the monitor of each cardiovascular device could reproduce and intensify the process of calculability and body discipline of each member effectively. In this study, calculability was utilized as the effective tool to lure individuals into reckoning that they were "the great subject" who had absolute power to choose and control everything while they were actually transformed into an object of discourse on the ideal fit and slender body and body discipline.