The Gym vs The Playground

The Playgrounds have their advantages I do the workout there because Im doing the work with my own body instead of the machine making my body move for me

I prefer a swing set over the treadmill to work my legs

The playground doesnt cost money for the rental and use of equipment

The Gym here runs into the 10s of thousands of dollars a year

You dont need to wear certain clothing to work out in the playground like you do in the gym

The monkey bars are built high so that even a full grown adult can go across and even do flips and turns without touching the ground

playgrounds and other improvised "outdoor gyms" are awesome when available (I try to avoid them when kids are there, as it is their place and not mine).

I like to mix up my workouts as much as possible. Sometimes I work in the gym, and other times I hit the parks. Both have benefits the other doesn't

The kids are used to seeing me around the playgrounds because they know Im checking for anything that could be broken or damaged by vandals

Coolness; I use the play ground too! Usually what I do is try to come up with an obstacle course that works my dexterity, endurance and stamina, i.e run up the net, vault the bridge, jump to the over pass, walk across the monkey bars, jump to the zipline, launch towards the swings, climb to the top, make my way across, dash across the field, climb to the top of the tree and back down then run back across the park and hit the metal piano thing and finish. I do this as fast and hard as I can, and once was running across the monkey bars. You learn a lot about your body and how to balance and different tips for moving long distances quickly.


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the crimson fist wrote:

(I try to avoid them when kids are there, as it is their place and not mine).

let the kids see you workout on the playgrounds, kids are easily entertained/impressed and when they see something cool like a guy doing parkour or training on bars they will want to do the same.

some guy told me his son was waiting for me to walk down the street again on my hands because he thought it was cool. You need to give kids something to set their minds on.

and monkey bars are a great workout, i wish they were a mile long or made in a big circle cause id be on them all day long. Ropes are great for balance. But i dont know where swings come into play.

If I'm not disturbing their ability to play, then perhaps. But I am of the opinion that kids get the right of way when it comes to playgrounds, and I can easily find other outdoor areas to work out. The city is a great jungle gym.

I'm just trying to imagine some of us in full gear out on the jungle gym, doing pull-ups on the monkey bars and hopping through the tire obstacle.

Let's make things interesting, shall we?

Attach 200 lb weights to the swings and have the kids wing them at you while running across the swing pit. Then, pour gasoline in the sandbox and light it on fire, and jump across (10 feet isn't that far, is it?)


I'll stick to my weights, crunches and weighted run&jumps in the back yard.

Leviathan wrote:

I'm just trying to imagine some of us in full gear out on the jungle gym, doing pull-ups on the monkey bars and hopping through the tire obstacle.

Let's make things interesting, shall we?

Attach 200 lb weights to the swings and have the kids wing them at you while running across the swing pit. Then, pour gasoline in the sandbox and light it on fire, and jump across (10 feet isn't that far, is it?)

im down.

XD Use the playground and nothing else with it if you do...no gasoline or 200lbs weights, lol.



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I had to construct my own monkey bars in the garden lol the park near me doesn't have any, really I have my own playground in my backyard lol. My nephew loves it...

you really dont even need weights to get fit and strong. i cant do 10 proper pullsups but if you look at me you would say im pretty "built" .monkey bars are great, you can do pullups, pushups, upside down planche rows (i just made that name up) those air crunch things, human flag on the support beam. great upper bodytorso strength.

google, "people are awesome or humans are awesome" there are some nice clips of people doing monkeybar workouts. I think "bar brothers" is one of them and "hannible for king" is pretty much stright working out on bars.

I tried something called "weightless lifting" where I would exert a certain amount of force down on one arm with the other, and then try to push upwards with the other arm.

But just like the other kind of masturbation, it was ineffective and didn't really yield the results I wanted, so I stuck with the real thing.

1 handed pushups, 1 legged squats, 1 armed pullups. i wasnt even thinking about 1 handed exercises, it doubles the weight and uses alot of other muscles for balance that you dont get when using gym machines.

I like the playgrounds because Its away from traffic Great for games of tag when looking after other kids They almost never catch me not because Im running but when it comes to my climbing skills

plus I used to bring my pet rats Puppy and Lemming to the playground to play too

hide and seek >> Tag. IMO. In My Opinion for all you acronym illiterates

There's a park and playground right next to my house, conveniently. Never thought about using it for a workout, but in theory that could work. Though lately I've been trying to get into patrolling the nearby creek and keeping track of the wildlife conditions over there, and that's proven to be pretty good exercise as well just because of all the obstacles Ihave to work around.

Leviathan wrote:

I tried something called "weightless lifting" where I would exert a certain amount of force down on one arm with the other, and then try to push upwards with the other arm.

But just like the other kind of masturbation, it was ineffective and didn't really yield the results I wanted, so I stuck with the real thing.

If it's ineffective and doesn't yield the result you want, you might be doing it wrong.

As for the weightless lifting thing, it works okay if you have partners. The army used to do that (partner-resisted exercises).

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mohr103.htm (for example)

Without a partner I think what you're talking about is sort of like "dynamic tension" -- that whole "In 7 days Charles Atlas can make you a He-Man" thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_tension

http://www.dynamictension.com/

E0N wrote:

Without a partner I think what you're talking about is sort of like "dynamic tension" -- that whole "In 7 days Charles Atlas can make you a He-Man" thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_tension

http://www.dynamictension.com/

Sonufabitch! That's it right there!

I knew there had to be a name for it somewhere!

i think its best like a few people have stated already to diversify your workout. i workout everyday in some way shape or form. always 1 day on and 1 day off, meaning 1 day of resistance (lifting weights or yourself, i do both) and 1 day of cardio ( i do jumping jacks, jumprope, and/or running)
the main thing i guess is to not let yourself get lazy (me 10 years ago ha!) keep active somehow, i also run with my dog to keep his heart healthy (somedays i even wear him out!)

Personally I use playgrounds and building alot for me and my clients routines (I'm a personal trainer in my spare time if that makes any sense). But this is mostly because of the hobbies I pursue, buildering, urban exploration, and i'm a training bar athlete (and of course I get owner permission first, it's pretty easy, just ask). So I like to utilize what I have available to do my workouts. And since all of hobbies revolve around moving effectively in an urban environment that's what I use.

in my town they have signs keeping us off of the playground equipment, is there other alternatives for these awesome workouts?