Gym Bodies (PDF)

James Brighton is Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport and Exercise at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. His theoretical and empirical research interests lie in the social and cultural analysis of sport and fitness, the sociology of the body and disability studies. Methodologically, he is interested in interpretive forms of qualitative inquiry including ethnography, life history and narrative analyses. He is also a qualified fitness instructor and personal trainer.

Ian Wellard is an independent writer based in Cornwall, UK. His main research interests relate to embodied practices, physical activity, gender and sport. Much of this research has been generated through ethnographic studies, which draw upon qualitative and reflexive approaches to the ways in which embodied identities are constructed and negotiated. Ian is also a qualified Level 2 CrossFit coach.

Amy Clark is an independent scholar based in Kent, UK. Her doctoral research employed a feminist phenomenological framework to help reveal the embodied experiences of women within fitness cultures. Methodologically, she is interested in how sensuous forms of ethnography can be used to explore lived, fleshy corporeality of others who experience multiple forms of oppression as a result of their embodiment. She is also a qualified personal trainer and Spinning instructor.