Jeanne-Maud Jarthon, lecturer at Gustave Eiffel University, specialist in sports practices
« Several surveys show this: in the year, there are two temporalities where we return to sport and where we observe peaks in attendance in the gyms – after the holidays and before summer. Good resolutions correspond to the first. It’s a healthy reflex, quite simply because physical activity is essential for health. As long as this getting back into shape is reasoned and controlled, there is no reason for it to be dangerous.
First of all, we must start by distinguishing physical activity and sport: sport refers to performance, while physical activity is anchored more in a logic of well-being and body maintenance. In this way, it is undoubtedly more accessible, less discriminating. Taking the stairs rather than the elevator at work or at home, for example, is a fairly easy reflex to adopt. Likewise, calling while walking rather than sitting helps to break the sedentary rhythmswhich the World Health Organization or the High Authority for Health consider to be a real scourge. In short, physical activity is not just about doing sport, it is about changing your daily habits.
The question is above all why we engage in a good resolution, and by extension in physical activity. If it is to have an influencer’s body, it will require time and possibly unattainable goals. On the other hand, if it is to feel better in your own body, it can be done without harm. We can even make it a source of social connection, as many women have told me about group sessions with their friends in gyms. The question of pleasure is essential here and, from this point of view, the “good resolution” trigger will inevitably bring about a change. But there is a balance to find, because the change must not be too constrained either. If there is no pleasure and if it is only constraint, there can be no maintenance of commitment. »
Senegal
