The Workout: The Phenomenology of Training Article Review

The Workout: The Phenomenology of Training, by Heather Devine

The Question(s)

As the title suggests, the article raises the question of the phenomenology of training.  However, within the 14 pages, the author poses many questions that flow from this question and eventually the question “What is the essence of intentional physical training” becomes apparent. Some other questions that are raised during the discussion include:

·         What does it mean to be fit?

·         Can a child derive any spiritual benefit from sport when she is made to feel that her body functions inadequately?

·         Why are there individuals who engage in regular physical training not for the purposes of competition, but for themselves?

The Anecdote

The author starts out with an in-depth anecdote of a swimmer training.  The anecdote is mimetic and resonated with me. The first person viewpoint was very powerful in its ability to provide me with an experiential example of the phenomenology being studied.   Many parts of the anecdote resonated with me and I felt that there were parts of it that could have been my experience. 

The Discussion

By the end of the article, I was completely engaged in Heather Devine’s discussion.  The article starts with five quotes and all five of the quotes could have come from me:

“I train three times a week.”

“I work out regularly.”

“I’m taking fitness classes.”

“I get a lot of exercise.”

“I practice for an hour a day.”

This instant “drawing in” not only connected me personally but also opened me up to the discussion and questions she raises throughout the article. Using a series of questions, Heather assembles the pieces to support the need for further study into the lived experiences of people who train for themselves, not for competition. “The experiential descriptions of these individuals will reveal commonalities of experience and hopefully a consensus of sorts upon the lived-world of intentional physical exercise; a consensus not clouded by concerns about competition or ‘goals’ but based on the act of training-complete in itself’” (para. 31).  Devine identifies that “much of the spiritual aspects of sport has yet to be explored, particularly that which is inherent in the more mundane aspects of sport such as physical conditioning.”

Although a person may start training to “get fit” what keeps them going?  Those of us who are not competing to win, who are not the elite athlete, what keeps us going?  She talks about transcendence and the “experiences of mind/body oneness”; surrender not only of the body but of the soul” and that it is the “lasting residue of these transcendent training moments” that spurs on people who train.

One paragraph from Heather’s article was particularly powerful for me:

Why do people train?  They train to gain a sense of the universe, a sense of the limitlessness of their own potential, that sense of power and freedom and ecstasy one feels when there is the realization that there are no boundaries, that one can do anything that one can lose oneself in experience, can surrender one’s rational being-in-the-world and come back, renewed and stronger than before.

The Workout: the Phenomenology of Training raises some very pertinent and powerful questions regarding fitness training and the essence of training.  Heather Devine has been able to highlight the importance of examining the essence of intentional physical exercise.

Personal experience:

I recently completed my first ½ marathon (thanksgiving weekend) and am still dwelling in the experience.  What kept me going during my training?  Although I found myself doing much of my training by myself, I was never alone in the sense that I was always sharing my victories with myself.  It was during those times that I was able to connect with the "power" within myself that I would persevere pushing myself.  Enjoying the experience. This is what kept me going in the dark, in the rain, through the pain!  I had no hope of finishing first! However, I did come in somewhere around 2600^th and felt indescribably happy!

What we run for we shall never reach, and that is the heart and glory of it.  In the end, running is its own reward.  It can never be justified.  We run for the sake of running, nothing more (Leonard, 1974 in Devine).