Outdoor Gyms

In order to stay healthy, fit and strong, it’s always good to switch up your workouts now and then. It’s also good to workout outdoors in fresh air in a nice, aesthetically pleasing environment. And it’s important to have an audience when you flex your muscles. Wait whaaat? Okay, what I meant with my last comment is this: are outdoor gyms for fitness freaks or for people wanting to show off, so called posers? Or both? I will hereby offer a scientifically based (not), slightly (read very) biased review of three outdoor gyms I have workout at in the past year. Two in Sweden: one in Skummeslövsstrand (a gym in a wooded area in a small seaside town next to Laholm, my place of birth), one located in Pildammsparken (a park in my new hometown Malmö), and one gym in the US, right off Ocean Drive in Miami, Florida.

The gym in Skummeslövsstrand is awesome! Clear pictures of instructions of how to use the equipment are displayed. Fun things to do such as throwing tires in the air, ropes to hit up and down, free weights made of wood, and  tires laid out so you can jump in and out of them army style. For some reason I got totally hooked on turning over a tractor tire over and over. And over. And over. Who knew that was a thing a city girl like me would love?! The equipment, except for the rubber in the various tires, are all made of wood and it fits right in with the environment. You can get a great workout here for sure. Audience part? Almost none. It’s in a secluded area, but yeah there were some tennis courts next to the gym. So no need to dress up for this one. You can easily roll out of bed looking like a troll and workout here. Chances are you will fit in with the other trolls living in the woods nearby.

Next up, the gym at Pildammsparken (I keep calling it PilGRIMSparken, a Danish jewelry company, making my family having to correct me all the time). It’s located in a park with a fabulous view of a lake. A lake with swans. The equipment is made of mostly metal and the “floor” of the gym is soft.  So this is more of a real gym feeling. You are very focused on the task at hand. This gym is definitely frequented by a lot of people. People who wish to be seen…guys without their shirts on….but also by people just walking in the park. Tourists posing for pictures with the equipment. My sister and I got obsessed with conquering the rope. Yes a rope to climb straight up a few meters. However, our technique sucked and we ended up swinging for a bit before sliding down causing the guys without the shirts on to giggle. Well, mission accomplished to have an audience. Although we were not impressing anyone. Our plan was to go home and YouTube it and come back and knock the socks off of everyone. But later a guy climbed up the rope easily and his technique was clear and we think we can do it now. We will try it some other day. Hehehe…

Ocean Drive, Miami, Florida. Right by the ocean. The possibility of being surrounded by tanned people working out here is good, very good. And yes they are tanned and ripped. But okay, let me try to focus on the equipment. It’s pretty cool as there are actual machines there such as Stairmasters and ones you can do chest press with. You would think with all the sand around the machines that would make them stall but they work great. The scenery is amazing. You can see the street, Ocean Drive and all the fabulous cars and people, and you can see the ocean or at least a glimpse of it. Audience factor? Huge audience. You come there to be seen. And yes, I worked out dressed in a bikini. Does that make me a poser? Probably…

So do I recommend outdoor gyms? Absolutely. Being outdoors and trying new things is right up the alley for a Viking Princess. So what about the audience factor? That people only frequent such places to show off? Honestly, I feel that whatever makes people move and make sure their muscles are strong is a good thing. I will support that any day. And these gyms are free. Free is good and so is being in shape.