I'm all for young people getting fit. There's no doubt that some of them could do with it. As one commenter on this blog very unkindly put it: Tonbridge does seem to have its fair share of porkers! But then again probably no more than most towns in these over indulgant days. So it should have been a good thing to see the new outdoor gym that has just sprung up next to the basketball/football pitch and skate park where the old lawn tennis courts used to be on Tonbridge Park. So why then, as I cycled past it a couple of days ago, did I almost fall off my bike with laughter? Why did it provoke this reaction in me? I should really have a go on it to assess whether or not its possible to have outdoor, unsupervised gym equipment that's safe before I'm so quick to judge. On first glance it all seems to work with springs and tension rather than with loose weights, which could trap children's fingers, so maybe alot has been put into the design of it. However I can't help thinking that this is another example of something which was budgetted for in the days before the credit crunch and recession and I don't know whether many people will seriously use it before it gets wrecked by teenagers. It's more likely to become a hang-out area than it ever is to be used to get youngsters fit; and there are a lot cheaper ways of giving youths space to do that. Anyway couldn't they just run and skip and play football or tennis and stuff like that. Why is it always necessary to spoon feed people with these white elephants?...
7 comments:
The chest press machine uses (part of) your own bodyweight to give you some resistance.
The only piece of equipment I had hoped for was a pull up bar (to work the back and biceps). All other muscles can be worked through bodyweight exercises, but then the masses probably don't realise that.
I wonder if anyone has actually used it for a real workout yet.. All I've seen so far are a few groups of curious people trying to work out what each one does.
I actually did a blog post about it a few weeks back (with photos).
I'm going to go along and try this out
Had a good go on it all the other day. Can't see anyone seriously using it, unless its early in tmorning when the nearby skater/yoof shelter is empty of it's empty headed morons. I see they've also put a load of what looks to be useless play equipment in the play area.
These thing get a lot of use in a place like California with its all year round sunshine but I can't see too many people stripping off to the waist to use them in Tonbridge.
I walked through the park the other day and saw these contraptions and the only people on them were kids working out how best to use them as benches.
If TMBC really want to combat the weight issues of the population they should make the Angel Centre gym free to use.
It seems that some people agree that this probably sounded like a good idea in a TMBC council leisure services meeting on a Friday afternoon but will it get very much proper use? It was possibly a good way to spend that extra pot of money at the end of the financial year. But was it value for money for the community charge/tax payer? Unlikely I'd say....
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Well, a friend and I tried out this outdoor gym. We are on the lower side of our 40's. The chest press was brilliant but we both thought that old people on the ski type of equipment will be fatal - lots of broken bones and hips I should think. To be honest it is a waste of money and a bit of a dinosaur. When we arrived there were a couple of kids messing about on it only too eager to show us what to do. I can't see how it is going to attract the older members of the public, who would be better off with a free gym pass where they can be looked after and advised on using the equipment correctly. I believe the National Health will be picking up the bill for the extra broken bones, slipped discs and pulled ligaments. I believe that this venture really isn't money well spent.
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