Outdoor Recreation: A Roadmap to Keeping Your Community Happy
A happy, healthy community is a beautiful accomplishment that is desired worldwide. From North America to Australia and Asia to Europe, whether it be a young family that dreams of living in one or a developer that dreams of helping to establish one. Having a community that takes pride in what they call home is nothing short of a universal objective. There are many factors that can contribute to this type of community. A few that come to the top of the mind are the type of activities that are promoted, how the neighbors get along, and what type of resources there are within the community that help to support health and wellbeing. An avenue that positively contributes to each one of these is having well-kept parks that offer a variety of amenities such as playgrounds, trails, basketball courts, and outdoor fitness equipment. Let’s discuss some of the positive side effects of having outdoor fitness equipment in your parks.
Park Activities for Everyone
When most people think of a park, the first thing that pops into their heads is a playground. But what about activities for adults at the park? Having an outdoor gym is a novelty for a park that adults can use while simultaneously watching their kids grow their imagination and explore the playground. When a community park has outdoor fitness equipment, it is evident that the community cares about the well-being of its residents and wants to see them engaged in activities that will keep them healthy. This equipment can also allow you to have free community fitness classes in your park. These outdoor fitness classes that promote getting outside and exercising in the fresh air at the park are exactly the type of activity every community should offer.
Building Relationships Through Parks & Recreation
Nobody wants to live in a community of grumpy people who don’t get along, and having a park is a great way to keep people happy. A study done by researchers at the University of Vermont found that city parks provide a powerful happiness benefit throughout all seasons, months, weeks, and days, not just the weekend and summer holidays. Having outdoor fitness classes in these parks is an outstanding way to promote a sense of community and friendliness between neighbors. Exercising together improves mental health and facilitates bonds with neighbors as you work towards a similar goal of improving yourself. Humans with similar goals can live together harmoniously as it provides a common ground for them to socialize and build healthy relationships.
Outdoor Fitness Equipment Available
While still popular, equipment like regular pull-up bars and sit-up benches are no longer at the top of the line for an outdoor gym. Innovative equipment like the Apollo Multigym has exercise stations for the whole body, offers adjustable resistance, and can be used by both beginner and advanced fitness enthusiasts alike, all while taking up less than 200 square feet. Not only does the Apollo offer over 19 different exercises, but it can also support five simultaneous users and has instructional placards with simple-to-follow colored visuals and scannable QR codes to ensure workouts are executed properly. Group the Apollo with an Everest Cardio Climber and a Flex Multi-Stretch, and you have everything you could ask for to run a perfect fitness class of seven people at once that incorporates the three key pillars of a well-rounded workout in strength, cardio, and flexibility training.
Conclusion
To tie it all up, there are many important aspects of a happy and healthy community. Some factors to remember that can create this type of community are the types of activities promoted within the community and ensuring there are activities for everyone, how neighbors manage one another, and the resources the community has to offer to its residents. To engage the community, one common element that helps contribute to all of these is having parks that provide outdoor fitness opportunities, and having accessible and free outdoor fitness classes is an excellent way to bring the community together as one.