Challenging Fitness Ideology: Why an Adventurous Approach to Physical Activity is Better for Well-being

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that adventurous approaches to physical activity can contribute more to well-being than approaches that have been shaped by fitness ideology. To defend this claim, I draw on work in philosophy and psychology concerning internal goods and intrinsic motivation, respectively. This work shows that motivating ourselves intrinsically and cultivating the internal goods of physical activity can contribute significantly to well-being. Unfortunately, the discourse and images associated with fitness culture tend to undermine intrinsic motivation and the cultivation of internal goods. Consequently, approaches to physical activity shaped by fitness ideology often fail to support well-being. In contrast, I argue that an adventurous approach to physical activity better fosters intrinsic motivation and the pursuit of internal goods. To show this, I consider three examples of internal goods strongly associated with adventure – character development, enlivening kinesthetic and psychological experience, and mindfulness – and highlight their connection to well-being. I then argue that the adventure concept can also counter social biases related to fitness and support a more inclusive and diverse understanding of fitness for all.

Keywords:

• Adventure
• emotion
• fitness
• mindfulness
• motivation
• virtue

Notes

1. ‘Well-being’ here refers to subjective well-being or ‘happiness’ and eudaimonic well-being or ‘flourishing in life’. While my overall argument is aretic in nature, it is also relevant to subjective well-being. Moreover, because subjective and eudaimonic well-being are interrelated in our lives, from a practical standpoint, it seems best to consider them together.

2. Jamie Doward. Nation’s exercise levels ‘shockingly low’. 10 August 2013. The Guardian. Available at http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/10/uk-exercise-levels-low-targets-fitness; Canadians’ fitness levels plummet. 13 January 2010. CBC News. Available at http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/canadians-fitness-levels-plummet-1.866370.

3. According to Csikszentmihalyi (1990), flow is a state of mind characterized by concentration, complete absorption, awareness of a challenge, a clear goal, a sense of complete control, a loss of self-consciousness, and an overall feeling of well-being.

4. This is not to suggest that flow necessarily contributes to well-being. For example, regularly experiencing flow in an activity may in some cases lead to dependence on that activity and the problems associated with dependency (Partington, Partington, and Olivier 2009).

5. See, for example, Tsunetomo (2014) for mindfulness in the eighteenth-century Samurai tradition; for mindfulness in adventure sport see, for example, Breivik (2007), Møller (2007), and Swan (2010).