Way back in the 50’s and the 60’s, only a few people exercise [ ]. Back then, engaging in physical fitness program was a matter for the more privileged in life. In the 70’s and 80’s, with the statistical data on the obesity epidemic [ ] in the United States, people became conscious on weight monitoring and body mass index. The latter is the ratio of bodyweight to height. Obesity levels, as reported by the Center for Disease Control, went up as high as 30% and this showed that 5% of all the peoples were extremely obese.
The Surgeon General of the United States declared that obesity was the cause of about 300,000 [ ] deaths every year, second to deaths caused by tobacco. These data sounded a loud wake-up call for many people. Exercise became more than just a fad. People started to make exercise a part of their daily regimen. Today, 20% of the United States population works out on a regular basis [ ]. Physical fitness is the ability of the body to perform its functions efficiently and effectively in all activities, resist illnesses, and meet emergency situations and contingencies [ ].
It relates to the state of health and well-being. It is the measure of the efficiencies of one’s body systems and processes and the capacities of the heart, the blood vessels, the lungs, and the muscles to withstand pressures and direct all the other parts of the body to function effectively. Physical fitness is soundness of the body that is the foundation of one’s soundness of mind and one’s total personality. There are several forms of promoting physical fitness and individual preference is dictated by time, cost, accessibility, and social norms.
More often, the choice of a particular form of exercise is a fad which is usually media-directed. Several of these types come and go and after awhile they are forgotten. But through the years, what remains consistently growing is the use of gym equipments for the purpose of developing one’s physical fitness. The purpose of this study is to identify the basic norms in a gym where individuals meet not as a group but singly on their own with different directions and visions using only the same tools and equipment available in the gym.
The statement in itself already suggests some confusion and conflict. One could just imagine how the real situation and circumstances would really be like on a day-to-day basis. The main focus of this paper is on gym etiquette and how this is manifested by all gym enthusiasts as they gather in the gym. There are written and unwritten rules in the gym. What dictates compliance to these rules and what influences violations thereof is the interest of this paper.
It is hereby argued that compliance or non-compliance to written or unwritten rules is influenced by the body built of the person. Simply stated, “Size matters. ” Interaction of individuals in a gym is dictated not by material possession, not by physical beauty, not by flashy outfit, not by expensive bags, not by the most updated mobile phones which one can flaunt around. Rather, it is hereby argued that there is preference given to one who has the bigger physical built. Size is might.