Happy Friday!
It’s always a great feeling when Friday afternoon rolls around- marking the beginning of the week’s long-awaited weekend.
F is for Friday. F is for fun. F is for food, because I’m eating a snack now while typing this.
… And F is also for fitness.
No, I’m not a fitness fanatic currently. I used to be more into fitness and specifically aerial arts back in 2016-2019. Aerial arts, as defined by tantrafitness.com, is “a type of practice or performance in which one or more artists perform aerial dance and acrobatics while hanging from a fabric.” It’s a lot of upper body strength that is required, and calisthenics is a great way to train for it- think pull-ups, dips, any type of body weight exercises.
During those 3 years, I wanted a place where I could practice calisthenics- some sort of place with pull-up bars and so forth. I also didn’t want to be stuck inside of a building to do that- being outdoors was more appealing. I had searched Google for hours trying to find where those outdoor gyms were. It was a fruitless search. However, as I started exploring playgrounds and parks for Google Maps as a local guide- as an added benefit, I was able to find those outdoor gyms and compiled them into a public list on Google Maps. I also created a video library of the places in my list too here in Youtube.
I had finished adding to my Google Maps outdoor gym’s list around late 2021. The creation of the list also coincided with the pandemic, during which people were starting to shift more towards exercising outside as well. I believe my list could showcase the options of where to go to get the strength-training in safely outdoors. Additionally, for those that are into calisthenics or gymnastics, it can give them options of places to train.
Out of my list, I have narrowed it down to the top 3.
You can see they are in 3 different cities in Maricopa County; this way you can pick the one closest to you for convenience.
(Also called: Rittenhouse District Park)
You can take a stroll or jog around the lake- it takes about 10 minutes to walk around, and there are plenty of benches and picnic tables to rest at. For strength training, you can stay cool under the canopy with equipment that resembles a Ninja Warrior course! You will have so much fun too while at it. They have an overhang wall, climbing ropes and nets, swinging wheels, and so much more!
Park along the Layton Lakes Blvd, located in an upscale neighborhood in Chandler… and get ready to sweat and build your muscles and courage. Challenge yourself on the variety of monkey bars. Dare to climb up the rope, nets, and poles. Run up the steep angled wall. A mini-adventure awaits you!
Around a big fishing lake with ducks and geese, there is a sidewalk with workout equipment spaced out on it. Enjoy views of the lake while getting your pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and more in. Also, your body stays warmed up as you walk on the sidewalk lap in between all the machines. When done, you can rest on a picnic table or under one of the many trees for shade.
I hope you enjoyed my list. What about you fellow guides? Have you found any other outdoor workout gyms in your area?
Signed,
Exploreaholic