For Daily Exercise, a Park Bench Is Enough—More So Than a Gym

N. Raghuraman Management Guru

If a family man just wants to maintain his weight, remain agile, healthy and active throughout the day while performing better in daily household work and office, then he does not need a gym for his daily workout, because the nearby park can provide him with all the equipment he needs. Not I, but fitness experts are saying this. You might be wondering how they know about the equipment present in parks around the world? So the answer is that the one equipment that is necessary for anyone is a park bench, which is available in every park near the house.

Experts say that excellent workouts can be done with the same bench. Many parks across the country have free-to-use outdoor gyms and equipment like air walkers, cross trainers, chest and leg presses that can help you reduce your hip size. But most parks only have seating benches and experts say those can be used as workout machines.

If you look at social sites like Instagram, you will find thousands of reels in which people are using park benches for workout. A study of middle-aged people found that outdoor sessions twice a week led to significant improvements in body composition and overall physical health after eight weeks. A review of 11 studies found that outdoor park sessions increase cardio fitness and strength.

Mental health and cholesterol level also improves. For warm-up exercise, a five-minute jog or brisk walk in the park is the most beneficial, which no gym can provide. For most of us, the height of a park bench is just right for doing step-ups.

The only request is to do the exercises with your shoes off, because after you leave, people sit on the same bench. You can do push-ups by standing a few feet back from the bench and placing your hands on its top surface. Seated squats can be done to improve balance, stability and coordination, which strengthens the glutes and hamstrings. People who know the benefits of bench also do bench side planks, which exercise the waist and oblique muscles. Apart from this, the park gives you many benefits which the gym cannot provide.

1. Here you can meet people from diverse walks of life with different backgrounds and energies, which makes it socially and magically inspiring in itself. Once I went to Pakistan to cover the India-Pakistan cricket match, I went for a brisk walk in Shalimar Garden, Lahore. There I met a man who had recently been released from jail and wanted to get his life back on track. Believe me, if I had exercised in the hotel gym, I would never have got such an experience. I can never forget that experience.

2. If you exercise or walk without headphones, the chirping of birds and rustling of leaves will reduce your stress.

3. The biggest advantage of outdoor garden is that your mind does not compete with anyone there. If you see them every day, they know you, yet there is no personal acquaintance with them.

4. When you walk, run or do light exercise in the park, the green trees and blue sky create such a unique scene in the mind, which the gym environment can never do.

The bottom line is that The workout spaces at all parks have an equitable and welcoming environment for all. It combines the natural environment and the basic desire to be healthy, without just proving whose six pack looks better.

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