Outdoor Fitness Equipment

Outdoor fitness units are standalone, weather-resistant machines left free to use in parks and green areas. The catalogue holds 16 of them. They differ from gym equipment on two counts: they work against the user's own body weight rather than weight stacks, and they contain no electrical or hydraulic mechanism. Together those two things are what make it possible to leave them open and unsupervised.

The units fall into four functional groups. Cardio covers the bicycle, double bicycle, step-bicycle, single walker and double walker; strength covers body building, leg strengthening, leg press, pull-up bar and sit-up bench; stretching covers body stretch, waist stretch and leg abduction; and balance and coordination cover step-twist, double swing and the arm and wrist trainer.

The most common mistake in building a fitness area is buying several units of the same type. Five bicycle units do not make a fitness area: users at different levels cannot train at the same time and some machines stand permanently idle. A balanced area holds at least one unit from each of the four groups. When settling on numbers, the count of simultaneous users you expect matters as much as the size of the site.

User profile narrows the choice sharply. In neighbourhoods with an older population, stretching units and low-intensity cardio are busy all day; where the population is younger, strength units such as pull-up bars and sit-up benches lead. Specifying the same list for a university campus and for a park serving mostly retired residents produces two half-used spaces.

Two rules help with layout. First, arrange the units parallel to the walking route rather than across it, so that a person exercising does not end up face to face with a passer-by. Second, leave enough distance between units for users not to collide mid-movement — on swing and walker type units the working envelope is wider than the machine itself. Factor in shade too; an area in full sun gets used only early and late in summer.

Fitness equipment and children's play areas belong in separate zones. The units are built to adult proportions and are not suitable for unsupervised use by young children; where the two zones run into each other, children treat the machines as climbing frames. Separating them — while keeping a layout that lets a parent see their child — raises the usage of both.

The surfacing requirement is modest compared with a play area, because fall heights are low and no thick impact-absorbing layer is needed. A non-rigid, well-draining surface is still preferable, both for comfort and for the life of the units' ground fixings. On ground that holds water, corrosion starts at the base of the legs.

Each unit is anchored into a concrete foundation. The maintenance load is light: lubricate moving parts, check fixings periodically for tightness, and review the paint finish annually — corrosion begins at scratches and impact points if they are not repaired early. Dimensions for this group are not tabulated on the catalogue pages; we send them in writing at the survey and quotation stage. Share your area and the user profile you expect and we will work out the right combination.