The goal of recreational spaces is to serve the community, so how can you make sure your amenities actually get used by the community? One important thing to consider after selecting the types of amenities to include is how you position them. 

For the arrangement of outdoor fitness equipment, there tend to be two main routes commonly selected: trails and clusters. At Greenfields Outdoor Fitness, we recommend arranging equipment in central clusters instead of spacing individual units out along trails. Why? 

• Clusters more closely resemble the typical gym experience; it’s rare that people run short distances between strength-building exercises, so many likely prefer having all of their equipment in the same area.
• Wheelchair accessible routes tend to be easier to maintain when an outdoor gym is positioned in a cluster instead of spread out across a trail. 
• Having more units together promotes better social interaction as people are able to work out next to their loved ones with less concern about there being enough equipment for each person.

Still, fitness equipment can add great value to trails, so if project planners still wish to have fitness equipment along a trail, we recommend placing several units together at each stop. With this design, if multiple people are using the circuit at a time, they don’t have to wait for others to finish their exercise before getting the chance to work out at that stop.

Interested in learning more about ways you can add fitness equipment to trails? Check out our trails page, or contact Greenfields Outdoor Fitness today to get a custom, complimentary mockup of what outdoor fitness equipment could look like in your open space!