Get trim for the summer at an outdoor gym!

By LiseS | Monday, May 31, 2010, 11:24

I was recently taking a jog around the neighbourhood in a bid to get in shape for the summer when I noticed one of the new outdoor gyms at Elthorne Park on Hornsey Road. Now Haringey Council are set to install 14 pieces of outdoor equipment in Finsbury Park.

Elthorne Park outdoor gym - a similar gym will be coming to Finsbury park soon.

These sturdy, brightly coloured fitness centres have been popping up

all over London lately - friends have told me about a similar outdoor

gym at Whittington Park up the road, and there are 8 already in locations around neighbouring Camden.

The gyms are completely free of charge, and feature weatherproof versions of equipment commonly found in indoor gyms - cross trainers, exercise bikes, benches for leg presses and lateral pull-downs. In Elthorne Park the ten-piece outdoor gym complements an older-style "trim trail" with wooden balance benches and pull-up bars.

Haringey Council hopes the new outdoor gym will encourage local people to get fit at no cost, and the colourful gym is designed to be an attractive as well as a functional addition to the park landscape. Exercising in the fresh air and green surroundings of Finsbury Park should be a far more appealing way to get fit than working out in a stuffy gym, and I lok forward to trying out the new equipment when it arrives.

Will you be working off your picnic with a quick circuit or two this summer? Let us know what you think of the new gym plans below!