Pandemic Health and Fitness

Sabina M. Perrino is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at Binghamton University. She is author of Narrating Migration: Intimacies of Exclusion in Northern Italy (Routledge), Research Methods in Linguistic Anthropology (with Sonya Pritzker; Bloomsbury), and Storytelling in the Digital World (with Anna De Fina; John Benjamins). She is the co-editor of the series Bloomsbury Studies in Linguistic Anthropology.Joshua O. Reno is Professor of Anthropology at Binghamton University. He is the author of Waste Away (2016), Military Waste (2019), and, with Britt Halvorson, Imagining the Heartland (2022), all from University of California Press. He has a forthcoming book, Home Signs, which examines the strangeness and importance of non-verbal communication from an autoethnographic perspective.

• Acknowledgments PrefaceBrief Description of our Participants1 Introduction: Pandemic Health and Fitness1.1 Introduction1.2 Gym Experiences Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic1.3 Phenomenology and Semiotics: A Theoretical Orientation1.3.1 Phenomenology and Semiotics: Gyms as Habit Forming1.3.2 Good Habits and Bad: Gyms as Deadly1.4 Research Methods and Ethical Considerations1.5 Book Structure2 Workout Choreography2.1 Introduction2.2 A Walk through the Riverwalk2.3 Belonging to a Gym Space2.4 Pandemic Choreography2.5 Conclusions: New Choreographies during the COVID-19 Pandemic3 Reflections and Refractions3.1 Introduction3.2 Reflecting and Refractive Mirrors in Gyms: Fitness Ideologies3.3 Boundless Mirrors3.4 Conclusions: “The Most Narcissistic Exercise Equipment Ever”4 Training4.1 Introduction4.2 Backstage Passes4.2.1. Training in Practice: Modeling and Imitation4.3 Two Fitness Trainers/Instructors: Morgan and Sophia4.3.1 Morgan4.3.2 Sophia4.4 Competitive Stances in Fitness Practices4.5 Conclusions: Transformative Training Experiences5 Dangers5.1 Introduction5.2 Narrating Fitness: Everyday Dangers5.3 “You are Overdoing it!”: Training and Exercising (Off) Limits5.4 (Re-)Gendered Refractions in Gym Spaces5.5 “Food is Poison!”: Dangerous Nutritional Advice by Fitness Instructors/Trainers5.6 Conclusions: Dangerous Balances6 Exercising Groups6.1 Introduction6.2 Exercising in Groups at the Riverwalk6.3 Undergoing a Bootcamp Class with Sophia6.4 Intimate Group Workouts with Sophia6.5 Zoom Group Exercising during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond6.6 Conclusions: “We are Still Together!”Conclusion: American Fitness Histories and Possible Futures7.1 Introduction7.2 The “Americanness” of Gym Culture?7.3 The Future of Global Gym Culture?ReferencesAppendix: Transcription and Abbreviation ConventionsIndex