Multidimensional Bodily Senses in the Digital Age: An Online Ethnography of Chinese Digital Fitness Participants

This study examines the bodily awareness and embodied experiences of digital fitness participants in technologically mediated fitness environments. Drawing on nine months of participant observation in China’s oldest and most popular virtual fitness community and interviews with 22 active users who had been members of the community for more than six months, the study identifies three interrelated dimensions of digital fitness experience: bodily sensory experiences, encompassing kinesthetic, tactile, respiratory, and circulatory sense; technology‐embodied experiences, encompassing human–machine integration, self‐understanding, and self‐actualization; and emotional experiences, encompassing serenity, equanimity, enjoyment, and anxiety. These findings demonstrate that digital fitness reshapes how individuals sense, interpret, and experience their bodies through the interplay of embodied practice, technological mediation, and social interaction. By addressing the limited attention given to the sensory and embodied dimensions of everyday digital fitness participation, this study extends existing research beyond technological functionality, behavioral outcomes, and platform use.