Fitness trail

A fitness trail (more recently known as outdoor exercise equipment and also known as a parcourse) consists of a path or course equipped with obstacles or stations distributed along its length for exercising the human body to promote good health. The course is designed to promote physical fitness training in the style attributed to Georges Hébert. In general, fitness trails can be natural or man-made, located in areas such as forest, transportation rights-of-way, parks, or urban settings. Equipment exists to provide specific forms of physiological exercise, and can consist of natural features including climbable rocks, trees, and river embankments, or manufactured products (stepping posts, chin-up and climbing bars) designed to provide similar physical challenges. The degree of difficulty of a course is determined by terrain slope, trail surface (dirt, grass, gravel, etc.), obstacle height (walls) or length (crawls) and other features. Urban parcourses tend to be flat, to permit participation by the elderly, and to accommodate cyclists, runners, skaters and walking. The new concept of an outdoor gym, containing traditional gym equipment specifically designed for outdoor use, is also considered to be a development of the parcourse. These outdoor exercise gyms include moving parts and often made from galvanised metal.

Fitness trail station, North Bay Park, Ypsilanti Twp., MI

History

The original parcourse was invented in 1968 by Swiss architect Erwin Weckemann with support from Swiss life insurance firm Vita. The first course was built in Zurich, Switzerland.[1] Hundreds of courses were built in Europe by 1972.[2]

Courses built in ensuing years included:

Examples

United Kingdom

Fitness Trails can include stations for the upper body, lower body, balance & coordination and climbing/jumping equipment designed to test the whole body.

Australia

Installations are found across AU.

Canada

Luxembourg

New Zealand

United States of America

Colorado

Lakewood (Bear Creek Lake Park)

California

San Francisco Bay Area

East Bay

North Bay

Peninsula

Los Angeles Area
Riverside Area
Lake Tahoe Area
San Diego Area

Waters of France Company, distributor of Perrier water. The circuit includes eighteen exercise stations spaced over a 2.5 mile path.

Georgia

Waycross

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Maryland

Michigan

Ypsilanti, MI North Bay Park.

New Jersey

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Washington

Wisconsin

See also

References

Notes

  1. "VitaParcours information" (in German, French, and Italian). Vitaparcours Foundation. Retrieved February 7, 2010. English tr.
  2. "The Jog Strip". Time Magazine. June 26, 1972. Retrieved February 2, 2007.

External links

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