Staying fit this summer just got a whole lot easier, because a new outdoor fitness area just opened up inside Chinguacousy Park.

The fitness equipment, which combines body weight exercises (a sub-set of weight training or resistance training) and aerobic exercises, sits on the west side of the park, alongside Central Park Drive.

The new fitness area has a bunch of different pieces of equipment including a staggered ring ladder, a horizontal press, a walking glider, exercise stairs, dip bars, pull up bars, pull up rings, a rope ladder and more.

This is the city’s second outdoor fitness area. Loafer’s Lake also has equipment, which was built a few years ago, next to its lakeside trail.

Many municipalities are installing outdoor fitness structures, which comes as no surprise when you consider that in 2013, only around 2 in 10 adults and 1 in 10 children and youth met the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines.

The ideal is for adults aged 18-64 to get a minimum of 150 minutes per week of exercise in bouts of ten minutes or more, and the guidelines also add that muscle and bone strengthening activities (such as body weight resistance training) should be part of an exercise routine twice per week or more.

This is good news if you plan to make use of the Ching Park equipment because the majority of the pieces will fall under the muscle and bone strengthening exercises using body weight for resistance.

The Chinguacousy outdoor exercise area is easily accessible by bus, bicycle and car. Parking is available just steps away at the lot next to the fire house on the corner of Central Park Drive and Queen Street.

If you go try the exercise equipment, be sure to read the instructional signs posted on each piece so you can get your outdoor workout in safely.

Comments

comments