Building a healthy community is one of the most common goals of community leaders, but it’s easier said than done. In order to ensure everyone in your community is healthy, you have to provide the necessary resources. In recent years, public park gyms have become a common way to provide access to fitness for an entire community.
There are countless park fitness success stories you can look at for inspiration. From smaller rural towns to large cities and even correctional facilities, outdoor fitness equipment has given people everywhere the ability to exercise and stay fit. If you’re thinking about starting an outdoor park gym, get inspired with some of these park fitness success stories and benefits.
Public Park Exercise Benefits
Exercising a few times a week offers countless benefits, but those benefits are amplified when you get your workout in a public park. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest public park exercise benefits.
Fitness and weight management
Staying physically fit is undeniably the biggest benefit of exercising, especially when you’re providing resources that allow your community to stay fit. At a minimum, everybody should be exercising for at least 150 minutes or so every week. Routine exercise helps people stay physically fit and maintain a healthy weight, which in turn leads to a stronger community.
For people who can’t afford a gym membership or don’t have access to fitness equipment, park gyms are an invaluable resource. With low-impact cardio machines like our Air Walker and Air Strider, everyone can stay active and maintain a healthy weight.
Lower risk of disease
Exercising regularly can also lower the risk of certain diseases, including diabetes. The less people in your community experience health issues, the less strain you’re putting on your medical system. Plus, community members can save money that may have otherwise been spent on costly medical bills. People who can’t afford to eat the healthiest foods or pay for expensive medical treatments can save money without sacrificing their health.
Improved mood
Building a tight-knit community can be a difficult task when everyone is focused on work and other obligations. Offering an outdoor gym at the park where people can workout for free gives everyone a chance to blow off some steam, but that’s not all. Exercising produces mood-boosting endorphins that can actually make you feel happier, which results in a more pleasant community that people are happy to get involved in.
Accessibility
One of the biggest challenges with physical health is accessibility. Some people can’t afford to buy healthy organic food or pay an expensive monthly gym membership fee. Normally, those people would have to sacrifice their health or find a way to make some room in their budget.
Public park gyms give everyone in your community a chance to exercise and stay healthy. Balancing strength training with cardio is an essential part of balanced overall health, and you can offer all the equipment your community needs to get a balanced workout — for free.
Sense of community
Finding ways to bring your community together can be difficult, but seeing a community transformation with outdoor gyms isn’t uncommon. When people have a common space where they can get together and talk while working toward a common goal, it builds a strong sense of community. People can share workout tips, meet up at the park for weekly workouts, and meet new members of the community.
Muscle Beach: The Beginning
Muscle Beach is the oldest park fitness success story, and this decades-old gym is probably the reason we have the modern outdoor fitness equipment we have today.
In 1933, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed outdoor fitness equipment south of the Santa Monica Pier. This spot would come to be known as Muscle Beach, and it was the site of various exhibitions and home to famous bodybuilders like Joe Gold and Jack LaLanne.
Muscle Beach was world-famous by the time the 1950s rolled around, and it’s still active today. Without this essential step in the right direction, outdoor fitness — and physical fitness in general — may not have caught on as strongly as they have.
San Antonio Parks and Recreation
San Antonio is a shining example of the impact public park gyms can have on communities. As a result of the high rates of obesity and disease in San Antonio, the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department teamed up with the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District to provide better resources for physical fitness.
As part of these improvements, the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department installed outdoor fitness equipment in 28 parks throughout the city. This included a variety of equipment designed to improve strength and cardiovascular health — much like you’d find at TriActive USA.
Most of this fitness equipment was installed in areas where obesity rates are higher and communities have fewer resources. Communities had such a positive reception to the addition of park fitness equipment that the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department installed equipment at 28 parks despite planning on just 14 parks.
This equipment was installed nearly a decade ago and is still in use today, making this one of the biggest park fitness success stories in recent years.
Outdoor Gyms Outside the U.S.
Outdoor fitness equipment is becoming increasingly common in public parks across the United States, but that’s not the only part of the world where this phenomenon has caught on. There are more than 600,000 outdoor gyms in China, and the country’s leaders have dedicated over 20 million square meters to outdoor gym space.
Outdoor gyms are also becoming more popular throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Denmark is home to more than 60 outdoor gyms where people can exercise free of charge. Auckland, New Zealand is home to 79 parks with outdoor fitness equipment.
While these may not be the biggest park fitness success stories, the growing popularity of outdoor fitness equipment shows how valuable it can be to communities. From small rural towns in America to bustling cities in Europe, the whole world is experiencing a community transformation with outdoor gyms.
Getting Started With Outdoor Fitness
If you’re a community leader who wants to empower your community through exercise, adding outdoor fitness equipment to public parks is an excellent place to start. Let’s take a look at what you can do to transform your public park with exercise equipment.
Assess the area
The first step is figuring out where you’re going to install your equipment and how much space you have. If you plan on installing your equipment in one large space, measure the space to figure out how many machines you can fit. Alternatively, you can install equipment along trails and walking paths to spread everything out a bit.
Choose the right equipment
When your community relies on you for access to exercise equipment, it’s your job to make sure you’re providing the right equipment. Start by choosing equipment that’s designed to withstand harsh weather and regular use.
It’s also important to choose the right machines. At TriActive USA, we offer everything from horizontal bars to leg press machines and exercise bikes. You can even poll your community to figure out what kind of equipment they want to see in public parks.
Empower Your Community With Park Fitness Equipment
It’s no surprise that public park gyms are becoming increasingly popular considering all the benefits they offer. If you want to foster a strong sense of community and give everyone in your community the resources to stay fit, a park gym is a great solution.
At TriActive USA, we have a wide selection of park fitness equipment that’s durable and easy to install. Our equipment uses a portion of your body weight for resistance, making it safer than free weights. If you want to invest in your community’s health, check out the TriActive USA catalog today.
