Fitness Playground

During my first (and only, so far) trip to China after my sophomore year in high school, I saw something that caught my eye that I never encountered before in the States. There were exercise playgrounds. While it wasn't the only thing that was different between the two countries, it was certainly one where I was surprised that it didn't appeared in more places in America.

So what brings this topic up now? Well, I saw a similar concept at a nearby parks. On a trail in Foster Park, there are various fitness challenges every 100 yards or so. Exercises included push ups, pull ups, sit-ups and instructions were included.

While this is a great idea in getting people to get exercise in (that they wouldn't have otherwise), I'm not sure how these setups would appeal to walkers in the long term. These weren't brand new and many of them were rusting or had paint stripping; I didn't dare to use the sit-up station. Of course these were put in with the best of intentions. And I enjoyed the pull up bar and other stations that didn't look dangerous from a hygienic perspective.

And it would be great to get a run in and some strength exercise in too; all while outside in the beautiful weather.