In this podcast Jenny discusses troublesome aspects of therapeutic exercise, that are infrequently debated as the virtues of exercise are assumed to be obvious. In her paper "Keep fit: marginal ideas in contemporary therapeutic exercise" published in the Special Issue: Exercise is Medicine: Qualitative Contributions of Journal Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, it is argued that seeing therapeutic exercise as primarily ‘medical’ carries with it consequences – some recognised, others unseen – that are problematic and worthy of consideration. In the paper (and this podcast) Jenny explores how therapeutic exercise is being instrumentalised, normalised and constrained, arguing for much greater critical attention towards its putative ‘goodness’ and virtue as a health intervention. This is not, of course, to suggest that all therapeutic exercise is bad, only that in promoting some important uses, other effects and possibilities are marginalised, lost or remain unstated.
