Who Is Using Outdoor Fitness Equipment and How? The Case of Xihu Park

Chow, Hsueh-Wen; Mowen, Andrew J.; Wu, Guan Lin

doi:10.3390/ijerph14040448

Cited by 39 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The participants exercised on four OFE stations, namely the air walker, ski machine, waist twister, and double arm stretch, in a random order to control for the order effect. The four types of OFE were selected as they are the most popular among OFE users [ 38 ]. For the air walker and ski machine, the participants performed PA at three tempos, namely 80, 100, and 120 bpm.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the use of outdoor fitness equipment by older adults qualify as moderate to vigorous physical activity?

Chow

2018

PLoS ONE

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Despite the rapid worldwide expansion of parks with outdoor fitness equipment (OFE), no objective data regarding the intensity of activity associated with using OFE are available. Hence, this study quantified the energy expenditure and intensity of physical activity by examining four outdoor fitness devices widely used by older adults and provides objective evidence-based intensity references for the Compendium of Physical Activities. Sixteen older adults (mean age: 70.7 ± 5.6 yr) equipped with a portable metabolic system for measuring energy expenditure and activity intensity completed tasks while walking or using four types of OFE. Descriptive statistics and repeated-measures ANOVA with the Bonferroni post hoc test were employed. The energy expenditure and activity intensity for using an air walker at tempos of 80, 100, and 120 bpm were 50.78 ± 14.76 (2.81 ± 0.85), 59.62 ± 14.23 (3.26 ± 0.82), and 65.62 ± 18.27 (3.55 ± 1.02) cal/kg/min (METs), respectively. The induced energy and intensity output values for a ski machine were 54.00 ± 14.31 (3.02 ± 0.87), 68.87 ± 22.74 (3.82 ± 1.35), and 74.55 ± 23.39 (4.05 ± 1.35) cal/kg/min (METs), at 80, 100, and 120 bpm, respectively. The energy output for a waist twister at 60 bpm was 38.43 ± 20.16 cal/kg/min (2.05 ± 1.15 METs), and that for a double arm stretch at 80 bpm was 31.05 ± 12.58 cal/kg/min (1.63 ± 0.70 METs). These findings indicate that activity on the ski machine and air walker could be considered to have moderate intensity, whereas the intensity of activity on the waist twister and double arm stretch was significantly lower than that for walking at either 3.2 km/h or 4 km/h and could be considered only light intensity. The MET values for the OFE were lower than those for similar indoor fitness equipment. The results of this study provide crucial implications for public health practices concerning the development of active living environments.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the use of outdoor fitness equipment by older adults qualify as moderate to vigorous physical activity?

Chow

2018

PLoS ONE

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“…[21][22][23][24][25][26][27] In fact, there are established approaches that can be used to track PA patterns amongst public park users. 28 Current evidence in this area demonstrates some promise as well as keen interest in using public parks to increase PA levels although there is not a clear model that should be emulated for optimal efficacy.…”

Section: Public Parks and Healthy Living -State Of Current Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…24 Recently, outdoor fitness equipment spaces have emerged in public parks to promote active options, although there currently is mixed evidence with respect to the impact of the recreational environment model on increasing PA patterns. 22,[31][32][33] The efficacy of community gardens in promoting healthier food choices has also gained recent and growing interest. [34][35][36][37] Studies have shown promise in using a community garden to improve an individual's perception of food and dietary habits.…”

Section: Public Parks and Healthy Living -State Of Current Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Public Park Spaces as a Platform to Promote Healthy Living: Introducing a HealthPark Concept

Arena

Bond

O’Neill³

et al. 2017

Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases

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The concept of Healthy Living (HL) as a primary medical intervention continues to gain traction, and rightfully so. Being physically active, consuming a nutritious diet, not smoking and maintaining an appropriate body weight constitute the HL polypill, the foundation of HL medicine (HLM). Daily use of the HL polypill, working toward optimal dosages, portends profound health benefits, substantially reducing the risk of chronic disease [i.e., cardiovascular disease (CVD), pulmonary disease, metabolic syndromes, certain cancers, etc.] and associated adverse health consequences. To be effective and proactive, our healthcare system must rethink where its primary intervention, HLM, is delivered. Waiting for individuals to come to the traditional outpatient setting is an ineffective approach as poor lifestyle habits are typically well established by the time care is initiated. Ideally, HLM should be delivered where individuals live, work and go to school, promoting immersion in a culture of health and wellness. To this end, there is a growing interest in the use of public parks as a platform to promote the adoption of HL behaviors. The current perspectives paper provides a brief literature review on the use of public parks for HL interventions and introduces a new HealthPark model being developed in Chicago.

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“…Only four OGs [ 11 , 13 , 17 , 30 ] had some sort of instructional support for users. The finding of inadequate instructional support may provide a reason for current OG research demonstrating that users did not interact with the equipment with an adequate amount and intensity to achieve health benefits, although the usage rate of equipment was high [ 12 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An OG is environmental infrastructure in an open space or an area in a park that consists of a cluster of weather-resistant exercise machines or exercise stations that assist individuals to perform physical activity [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Some OGs were built to serve older adults [ 14 , 15 ]; some were designed to serve diverse population groups [ 10 , 16 ]; and some were built along with other recreation infrastructures (footpaths) to add diversity and intensity to users’ physical activity practice [ 17 , 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Outdoor Gyms in Public Open Spaces: A Systematic Review and Integrative Synthesis of Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence

Lee

2018

IJERPH

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(1) Background: An outdoor gym (OG) is environmental infrastructure built in a public open space to promote structured physical activity. The provision of OGs is increasingly seen as an important strategy to realize public health agendas promoting habitual physical activity. A systematic review was conducted to synthesize characteristics of OG and OG users’ experiences and perceptions in different cultural contexts; (2) Methods: Online searches of multidisciplinary databases were conducted in health, sport and recreation, and urban planning disciplines. Characteristics of OGs were synthesized by integrating evidence from quantitative, qualitative, and mix-methods studies. The experiences and perceptions of OG users from both qualitative data and survey responses were synthesized through framework analysis; (3) Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria (three quantitative studies, four mixed-methods studies, and two pure qualitative studies). None were excluded on the basis of quality. OGs mainly serve adult and older adult population groups. Their size, design, and instructional support vary across studies. The inclusion of functional types of equipment did not have a unified standard. Regarding experiences and perceptions of OGs, five major themes emerged: “health”, “social connectedness”, “affordable”, “support”, and “design and promotion”; (4) Conclusions: The OG characteristics synthesis guides the direction in further studies regarding exploration of design parameters. The qualitative and quantitative synthesis revealed that health was a central theme of users’ experiences. OGs are also spaces where community-dwellers can find social connectedness while participating in structured physical activity at no cost. Findings from this review create knowledge support for OG as environmental infrastructure for further research and facilitate the understanding of users’ experiences and perceptions of OGs in different cultural contexts.

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Who Is Using Outdoor Fitness Equipment and How? The Case of Xihu Park

Cited by 39 publications

References 44 publications

Does the use of outdoor fitness equipment by older adults qualify as moderate to vigorous physical activity?

Does the use of outdoor fitness equipment by older adults qualify as moderate to vigorous physical activity?

Public Park Spaces as a Platform to Promote Healthy Living: Introducing a HealthPark Concept

Understanding Outdoor Gyms in Public Open Spaces: A Systematic Review and Integrative Synthesis of Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence

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