Latham, A;
(2015)
The history of a habit: jogging as a palliative to sedentariness in 1960s America.
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHIES
, 22
(1)
103 - 126.
10.1177/1474474013491927.
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Abstract
This article provides an account of the emergence of jogging as mass physical fitness practice in America in the 1960s. It explores how jogging was configured as a physical fitness activity suitable for sedentary middle-aged men and women. Jogging developed as a counter to the ill-effects of habits entrained by the increasingly sedentary lifestyles of modern industrialized urban and suburban dwellers. The paper traces the development of jogging as a defined exercise routine at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. Focusing on the moment when jogging is ‘invented’ as a recognizable fitness practice tells a great deal about the origin of contemporary regimes of physical fitness for the middle-aged population and how they have evolved. It also points to the significance of understanding how the shaping of corporeal habits play into the making of (1) individual bodies, (2) common practices of corporeal care and activity, and (3) environments of physical activity.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | The history of a habit: jogging as a palliative to sedentariness in 1960s America |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1177/1474474013491927 |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1474474013491927 |
Additional information: | This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm). |
Keywords: | America, coronary heart disease, corporeal skill, habit, jogging, physical fitness, sedentary lifestyles, urban environment, William Bowerman |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1399896 |
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