Working Out until it Hurts. Cultural Meanings Associated with Pain and Fatigue at the Gym

Abstract

This article discusses which values and meanings are generated by gym goers related to working out constantly. Based on a portion of my master’s thesis, I present the results of an ethnographic work about how they understand and value effects such as pain, sweating, and tiredness, caused by work out. I will also explain how some of the features of the gym culture involve notions of prestige, knowledge, and identity, thereby achieving an incarnate morality.