[Fitness symbols: the physical exercise programmes for health and beauty by famous actresses]

In recent years we have seen the proliferation of books on some kinds of physical exercise whose supposed belief is that staying healthy is directly related to a socially acceptable physique. Health and beauty go hand in hand in these books, and they are presented as being a result of practising a technique which is advocted by some successful figure in society such as a film actress. Four different models are analysed, each one of which corresponds to a value set by western society--beauty, competitiveness ...--or other values such as --serenity and harmony--the perceived lack of which is both sought and taken from other cultures.