“I hope I still have many more years of useful life left”. Physical exercise, body and emotions of those who age

Abstract

This article reflects on the relationship between physical exercise and older people, focusing on the body/emotions approach as the axis to guide the discussion. The objective is to understand, through the bodily experiences of older people, how they experience the ageing process within the framework of sports and physical exercise. This article is based on an ethnographic study where I worked with 40 people (10 men and 30 women, including two instructors for classes for seniors) who exercise constantly in Santiago, Chile. Here, I present results that make visible a set of practices, emotions and corporalities associated with physical exercise and the ageing process through three dimensions. The idea of a useful body, a healthy body, and an old body. The implications of these results show both the heterogeneity and those meanings, practices and corporalities that unite older people in their ageing processes and in their relationships with physical exercise. These contributions are qualitative material relevant to studies on body/emotions, physical activity, older people and well-being.