For residents of Aiken, South Carolina, a gym-quality workout is as accessible and affordable as a walk in the park. Virginia Acres Park is now home to a next-generation outdoor fitness center, complete with 10 adjustable-resistance exercise units.
Outdoor fitness equipment has enjoyed growing popularity at parks, schools and military bases in recent years, but the fitness zone at Virginia Acres Park boasts the most advanced equipment yet — not only do to the machines incorporate adjustable resistance, but many of the units give resistance on both pushing and pulling actions, doubling the impact of each repetition and increasing the number of muscle groups worked with each exercise.
Situated next to a 1-mile trail, the equipment allows users to add strength training to their cardio workouts. The exercise zone consists of 10 units, including a chest press, squat, sit-up bench, leg press, butterfly, bench press and more, all of which allow for a full-body workout. Clustering the equipment together instead of spacing it out along the trail makes for a social atmosphere in which friends and family can enjoy fitness in a relaxed, unintimidating outdoor atmosphere.
The fitness zone sees a variety of users at all times of day, ranging from mothers visiting the park with their children, to people on their way to and from work, to seniors wanting to maintain their active lifestyles. Each unit offers eight levels of resistance so that individuals can customize the workout to their unique needs and abilities. In this way, the fitness center caters to a wide variety of ages and fitness levels and offers activities for demographics that often don’t use traditional park amenities.
Constrained budgets have put a tight squeeze on the recreation agencies of cities and other government entities, but outdoor gyms have provided a way for these agencies to bring fitness to their communities without expensive overhead. An added benefit is that the outdoor gyms can be used at all hours of the day without the need for supervision by a staff person.
The safety aspect of the units’ design is second to none, as the resistance mechanism serves to prevent recoil. The units also incorporate a SafeStop feature for added user protection.
Many municipalities working toward improving the health of their communities have seen the tremendous potential that outdoor gyms hold to advance their goal. In the case of Virginia Acres Park, an outdoor fitness center with units that are technologically advanced, ensure safety for all users and serve the widest variety of participants possible has drastically enhanced the value of the park to the surrounding area and has helped the city to further advance its goal of building a better quality of life for the community.