IF HURTS IT IS BECAUSE YOUR ARE TRAINING WELL. THE PARADOXICAL MEANING OF BODILY PAIN AT FITNESS GYMS IN CIUDAD AUTÓNOMA DE BUENOS AIRES

Abstract

 In this article I look into the meaning of bodily pain for a group of people that train in fitness gyms in Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. From an ethnographic approach, I show how a specific sense of pain builds up as people work out their experiences at the gym. In the first part of the text I present some ethnographic scenes where there is bodily pain. In the second part I carry out the theoretical analysis. To common sense, pain is pure negativity: nothing positive can arise from a feeling that implies the suffering of the body. The case presented here shows exactly the opposite: pain turns a negative element into a positive one and stands as an element able to improve people.