On top of walking trails, playgrounds, and recreation fields, outdoor fitness communities are another feature park administrators should also add to their parks. They not only provide a place for families to get outside and burn off stress and energy from a long week, but they also help them bond and get active. Find how to create an outdoor fitness community that everyone can enjoy.
Why Is a Fitness Community Important?
Fitness is an integral part of growing up. Kids learn from an early age that playing outside not only reduces the stress hormone cortisol, but it livens up chemicals like serotonin, the happy chemical, and endorphins, the energizing compound.
Endorphins make a runner or bodybuilder feel pumped after every workout. This is the “runner’s high” many experience after working out. The reason fitness communities are essential is because they bring the wider community together and give others the chance to get out of the house and live healthier lifestyles.
The Benefits of an Outdoor Fitness Center
So, what is the benefit of an outdoor fitness center, and why should you hop on the bandwagon? One takeaway is families often use paths. Families like taking advantage of walking trails, especially if they have strollers they can push along the way.
You can benefit from having an outdoor fitness center. You really can! Here’s what else your park could be missing if you don’t have a fitness space:
- A larger variety of outdoor activities.
- More opportunities to get fresh air.
- Preventing more obese-linked diseases.
- Mental health improves.
- More ways to use up unused space.
Ways To Design an Outdoor Fitness Space
When designing a space, focus on your target audience. If you plan on building something for the entire community, it’s a good idea to only incorporate a few fitness pieces because then you’re singling out other demographics. Think about accessibility features and the age ranges of every parkgoer.
Think About Trails
Adding walking and running trails is the first step on a long journey to an innovative park. Besides walking or running, some might enjoy other fitness activities while on the trail, such as swings, stairs, and lifting equipment.
Incorporate Family Fitness Spaces
When they find the time, families like to bond over exercise. Add in a multigenerational fitness space for every family member to use. Kids and teenagers can enjoy the playground and volleyball court, while parents, young adults, and seniors can enjoy fitness equipment.
One thing to make the multigenerational space more fun is a high and low ropes course. This course challenges everyone to climb a rock wall, walk around poles, and attempt to balance on a rope to get across to the other side. This, among other fun fitness activities, is rewarding because it challenges the mind and heavily focuses on teamwork.
Consider Therapeutic Workouts
Consider accessibility. Not everyone can use the same gear, so you’ll need to think hard about what fitness equipment you use. For those with mobility issues, there should be therapeutic workout gear. Therapeutic gear helps tone muscles and enhances flexibility.
Therapeutic gear is a great asset for those needing extra help with exercise, even as they leave physical therapy or the hospital. The therapeutic space is excellent because it allows for more inclusive workouts.
How To Pick Outdoor Fitness Equipment
Do this before you pick fitness equipment: focus on inclusivity. Every person of every age and ability comes to the park. Erecting equipment that was designed for one age group will not attract the entire town. So, think about your town’s population—you have so many people of every age group. What would they like to use in the outdoor fitness space?
Residents With Mobility Issues
Residents with mobility issues struggle to find fitness equipment they can use, especially in indoor gyms. No one should be excluded from the park. Having options gives those with disabilities the chance to work out close to home without needing to travel far.
What Outdoor Fitness Equipment To Buy for Residents With Mobility Issues
You should focus on equipment like a pull machine. The pull machine lets users exercise their upper chest and back muscles. Also consider a shoulder wheel. The shoulder wheel allows wheelchair-bound guests and other residents with disabilities to move a wheel around by holding onto two handles. This helps enhance muscle and joint flexibility in the shoulders.
Teenagers
While kids own the playground, teenagers need equipment, too. The important thing to know is that teens are not always eager to go outside, but you can encourage them to leave the house by providing a space dedicated to them. Simply including a bike path, sport area, and play pieces can inspire teenagers to come out and have fun exercising.
What Outdoor Fitness Gear To Buy for Teenagers
The best outdoor fitness gear isn’t technically for fitness, but it does improve hand-eye coordination: the swings. Swapping tire swings for a full swing set can get teenagers excited to visit the park. It’s a terrific way to burn off stress from school and spend time with friends.
While building your swings and maintaining them, make sure you have the right commercial grade swingset hardware to keep the swings in good condition for everyone to use.
Families
You have the playground, but that’s mostly for the kids. What families want most is equipment they all can use. Encourage families to come workout after long days working and studying.
What To Buy for Outdoor Family Fitness Space
There are all kinds of equipment to buy, but the best ones are family-oriented, such as the pull-up bar and push-up stations. If you want more fun in your fitness space, add a multigym station, where family members can do pull-ups, climb monkey bars, and step on and off a platform.
What To Think About When Designing an Outdoor Gym
The biggest thing about outdoor gyms is who you’re serving. If you plan to open a fitness community for everyone, make sure to have your area planned and keep it inclusive. Inclusivity is just as important as the amount of space you dedicate to the fitness center. Focus on space, then add the equipment.
The equipment should be accessible for everyone and spread out, so everyone has space to move around. Also, information signs come in handy for others who want to know how to use the equipment.
One of the most difficult things to planning a fitness community in the park is inclusivity and accessibility. Sometimes there’s not enough equipment for everyone to use, and the area doesn’t fully serve its purpose. Discount Playground Supply wants to change; by providing park administrators with the right gear, the park becomes a more welcoming space for all. Let’s get to planning your fitness space in the park so that we can all play.
