Leisure Media HCM March 2010 - TourismInsights

outdoor
fi tness
UNDER
THE
RADAR?
SHOULD OUTDOOR GYMS BE SUPERVISED?
LUKE TUCHSCHERER ASKS THE EXPERTS
The Great Outdoor Gym
Company’s equipment is compliant
with the same European safety
standard as children’s playgrounds
People throughout the UK
will have pledged to get
more active as part of their
New Year’s resolutions.
However, with the recession
only just beginning to lift, the cost of
gym membership has the potential to
put many otherwise determined folk off.
But what of the growing number of
outdoor gyms that provide the public
with free-to-use equipment?
Said to be as safe as the
equipment in children’s
playgrounds, could this
be the way to help people
stick to their fi tness goals?
The catch for
many people
seems to
be the lack
of guidance
offered – so
should these gyms
be supervised? We
ask the experts.
Stalker: Should
we encourage
non-exercisers
to jump on the
kit on their way
to the shops?
MATT DELANEY
managing director, the great outdoor gym company
W
e want our gyms
to increase
participation in
physical activity, especially
among under-represented
groups; we want to make
our gyms free at point of use, as well
as highly accessible; and we want to
make our gyms as safe as possible.
In terms of non-supervision,
perhaps the most important element
to consider is safety. We’ve designed
our equipment so each piece is fully
compliant with the European safety
standard EN1176. This is the same
standard that’s applied to children’s
playgrounds. It effectively means that
all entrapment points, crush points,
swinging pendulums and sharp edges
have been removed. In addition to
this, we have very clear instructional
signage on our equipment, with
easy-to-understand start and fi nish
diagrams and instructional text.
We’ve also designed our equipment
so that it uses resistance created
by bodyweight, rather than the
traditional ‘stack’ weight
systems you often fi nd in
indoor gyms, where users can
easily lift far too much weight;
on our equipment, the user
cannot over-exert themselves
as they’re only ever pushing against a
percentage of their own bodyweight.
Many of those who use our gyms
want to do so in their own time, fi tting
a workout into their busy lifestyles. It
would just not be practical to supervise
the gyms 24/7, and if supervision
were compulsory, it might reduce the
number of people able to use them.
I think it’s also fair to say that many
indoor gyms are unsupervised. There
may well be someone on duty at the
front desk, but often inside the gym
there’s little to no supervision.
We do, however, encourage local
authorities to use the gyms and run
sessions with their own trainers. An
element of encouragement in some
cases could be a good motivational
tool, but we think it should remain an
optional extra, not a requirement.
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march 2010 © cybertrek 2010