Outdoor Fitness in London, England

by Daniel on January 16th, 2012

Recently I was fortunate enough to fly back to my homeland for Christmas. London is one of Europe’s more populated cities, it’s fast paced, cosmopolitan, and a complete and utter maze to any tourist. Though London may seem like a concrete jungle there are options for those who seek the outdoors, with plenty of public parks and designated areas for sport and exercise. London also has small pockets of wooded areas for hiking and dog walking, if you know where to find them. Though for all these outdoor options I was left wondering if there were any public spaces with focus on outdoor fitness? So with my camera in hand I set out to see what London had to offer.

The first thing I noticed when walking the streets of London is how everything is strategically placed to fit within its surroundings. Open space in central London can be hard to come by and school play grounds are usually small and fenced in from oncoming traffic. The best a kid can hope for is a rubber-like flooring that helps to prevent injuries if they fall. Pictured is a school close to where I was staying. Surrounded by apartments and walkways this little school still found enough room for a football pitch, how English.

As my walk continued I stumbled upon one of the smartest and safest playgrounds for children or adults that I’ve seen in some time. At first sight it looks like some sort of large storage cage, not something for people. What it was exactly is a caged court for football or basketball, or any ball sport. The cage prevents balls from making its way out on to the street and therefore eliminating any chance a child could get injured from traffic. I think any Canadian parent would fully support a playground like this one on the streets of Toronto. The perfect addition for street hockey? I think so.

As I continued my walk through Swiss Cottage I came across something so unique that it’s yet to even be seen in Toronto, at least to my knowledge. This free public gym was located outside a local library near a very busy intersection. There were several pieces of equipment such as an eliptilcal machine, chest press, and even a seated row. Using body weight, a cleverly designed set of leavers and pulleys create a relatively light resistance but still enough to burn a few calories during the work day. I was thoroughly impressed with this concept and would love to see something like this in Toronto.

So far I was fairly pleased with my findings in London, I couldn’t believe how wrong I was. I thought for sure Toronto provided more options for those who prefer to exercise outside but the truth is Toronto is a little behind on the times when it comes to free fitness. As I walked towards Camden Town I came across a rather large hill, which I knew had to be Primrose Hill. It’s odd but London can be like that. One minute you’re walking through concrete flats, the next you’re entering a large green space. Primrose Hill seemed like the typical dog walking park, plus a hill. I was a little disappointed so I walked to the bottom the hill and to my delight I found exactly what I was hoping for, an outdoor circuit training area designed specifically for fitness. I have to admit when I first saw Primrose Exercise Area I was pretty excited. I think this is the first time I’ve seen a specially made outdoor fitness circuit designed to help people stay active in the park – free of charge. Each station is set up in a particular order to maximize results and to keep the body guessing. Every station has a plaque which briefly explains how to perform the exercise, which muscle group is targeted, and an interesting fact as to why the exercise is beneficial to maintain good health. In total I counted well over 10 stations and was later informed that there were other circuits like this one in other parks around London.

I was so pleased that something like this exists and I can only pray that more is done to help people exercise freely in public, away from a gym or studio. I love what I do and would gladly provide my services to anyway who is interested in learning about their body and how to achieve their goals. However, if financially that isn’t an option then I hope that more areas like the one at Primrose Hill are put in place to help those interested in fitness.

Follow @NatureFitnessTO

This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 11:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Outdoor Fitness in London, England

by Daniel on January 16th, 2012

Leave a Reply

Photostream

Social Media

Tweets

Promotions

Past Articles