"Doing for Group Exercise What McDonald's Did for Hamburgers": Les Mills, and the Fitness Professional as Global Traveller

Autor/inn/en	Andreasson, Jesper; Johansson, Thomas
Titel	"Doing for Group Exercise What McDonald's Did for Hamburgers": Les Mills, and the Fitness Professional as Global Traveller
Quelle	In: Sport, Education and Society, 21 (2016) 2, S.148-165 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1357-3322
DOI	10.1080/13573322.2014.885432
Schlagwörter	Physical Fitness; Trainers; Professional Training; Professional Education; Interviews; Teacher Attitudes; Printed Materials; Observation; Cultural Influences; Social Influences; Global Approach; Dining Facilities; Ethnography; Foreign Countries; Recreational Facilities; Sweden + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Leistungsfähigkeit; Ausbildungslehrer; Trainer; Berufliche Fachbildung; Berufliche Fortbildung; Berufsausbildung; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Lehrerverhalten; Beobachtung; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss; Sozialer Einfluss; Globales Denken; Mensa; Ethnografie; Ausland; Freizeiteinrichtung; Schweden
Abstract	This article analyses fitness professionals' perceptions and understanding of their occupational education and pedagogical pursuance, framed within the emergence of a global fitness industry. The empirical material consists of interviews with personal trainers and group fitness instructors, as well as observations in their working environment. In addition, printed material from different occupational organisations and educational companies has been included. The narratives of the fitness professionals and a case study of Les Mills are presented and analysed through the concept of the McDonaldisation of society, or more specifically of fitness culture. The results show that, even though gym and fitness franchises differ from hamburger restaurant chains, there are crucial similarities, but also differences. One can, for example, discern a tendency towards the construction of predesigned and highly monitored programmes, such as the one developed by Les Mills. Homogenisation is also apparent when looking at the body ideals produced, as fitness professionals work on their own or clients' bodies, which makes it possible to anticipate a global body ideal. The social and cultural patterns of self-regulation and self-government found in gym and fitness culture can be understood and analysed in a global context. What we find is an intriguing and complex mixture of regulation, control and standardisation, on the one hand, and a struggle to express the body, to be "free" and to transgress the boundaries set by the commercial global fitness industry, on the other. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01