This post is all about exactly what the title says. Well its mainly about ethnography which is:
"A research approach based upon the observation of the customs, habits and differences, between people in everyday situations."
(Malhotra, 2017)
I had a lot of fun observing a routine behaviour carried out by my partner and I which was a leisure/sport activity and in this case - the gym.
Source: WIX
I have used the ethnographic techniques in order to organise and correctly observe the routine behavior. This consisted of:
writing detailed field notes that describe the settings, actions and interactions mainly the 4 Ws: Who, what, where, why and 1 H: how
taking photos, videos and notes with your mobile phone
collecting objects that form part of this routine behaviour.
Who
My partner and I. The ethnography observation included myself which did at the beginning feel unusual however this is a routine that we had been doing a while now and everything felt very much natural. My partner is also someone who I spend most of my time with so nothing I was doing made him feel uncomfortable.
Source: WIX
What
My first observation of our gym routine, was the end of the week - Friday. My body was a bit tired after a whole week of training nevertheless when the time cam round I got up along with my partner and began the coffee drinking and clothes packing/changing routine that is done before each gym session.
The second observation took place on a Monday after a weekend rest. The same coffee and clothing routine had been done before the session. Only this time our bodies felt more energised as well as our mindsets. We were ready to tackle the gym for the beginning of the week to start it off well.
Where
This took place at our home and the local gym. The gym routine first starts at home as this is where we prepare ourselves beforehand.
Why
My partner is the one who has been going to the gym religiously over the past 10 years. I however had gotten hooked on the fitness journey about 4 years ago. The gym is to keep us healthy both physically and mentally. It learns discipline but also that hard work pays off. Ever since covid hit we were unable to lift weights or workout like we had used to and could find no motivation to do so at home. Once the gyms opened in April we were set to get back on track. I guess this is also considered a hobby as we loose and gain weight and muscle according to our fitness goal we have set. We exchange weight lifting achieved goals afterward on the way to the car and chat about how our workout went. The first workout on Friday was a more quieter one on our way to the gym and out of it. This perhaps was our bodies reacting to the end of a hard week and we had no desire to enthusiastically chat. Monday however was full of energy, we blasted music on our way to the gym and had a goal setting chat on our way back as well as some funny stories we had seen during our time there (some personalities just stand out at every gym). We also exchanged opinions on how good our training went opposed to Friday where we had no energy left and the workout was rather sluggish.
How
Since going to the gym had been nothing new to us before, this time around we had developed some routine behaviours. We were eager to get back on track. I had observed that each heavy lifting gym day started with a high carbohydrate breakfast. This gives more energy which we had observed for lifting weights during the gym. Breakfast had now become a more important meal than it was before. Choosing clothing was also important, so that we have fresh and clean clothing to workout in.
We have never been coffee drinkers. However we have developed a routine where we drink coffee just before we set off to get the blood flow pumping and gain some more energy. Caffeine helps during our workouts, we sweat more and have more energy therefore we religiously prepare two mugs (ME: flat white strong, PARTNER: double espresso with milk)
Another routine observed however was our entrance into the gym and journey to the changing rooms. I change at the gym whilst my partner does beforehand. Both Friday and Monday and every day that we go, we always chat on our way to the changing room. The walkway there is through the centre of the gym all the way to the back which is an unusual design for a gym (the changing rooms are usually somewhere near the entrance). This makes the walk there feel like a catwalk as you feel all eyes are on you (literally walking straight through the centre of the gym). The behaviour observed was that we would always talk about something on our way there and joke at the end (very strange) but this could be a way to not feel so awkward whilst walking there. I had never noticed that before but we had developed a whole routine not only around working out but the entire journey before, at and after.
Our whole routine before and after had been together however during our time at the gym we had only exchanged two sentences on both occasions. This may be due to the fact that both our goals are different as well as our workouts, more importantly we take this time to focus on ourselves.
References:.
Malhotra, N., Nunan, D., Birks, D. F. (2017). Marketing research: an applied approach. 5th edition.Harlow: Pearson Education.