Open Gym in Lucknow Parks
These are the 16 exercise equipment or swings as I call them in an open gym in a park in Lucknow. I can swing on all of them, including the back massager! Children and grown-ups alike use these machines in prescribed and new ways. It is amazing to have these! The open gym has changed a lot of people! Kids aged 2 and above find ways to play with them! Elderly men and women exercise on them as prescribed. Parents of kids have a good time catching up with each other as they exercise and keep a watch over their kids who play on these swings and other games like football, badminton, cricket of cycling.
I love the air-walker, and came to find out that so do most people who visit this open gym. Both kids and grown-ups line up to say, ‘you have been swinging for a long time, it is my turn now!’
The sit-up board is tempting for kids and women who have not been to a regular gym, but over-doing or doing more than your capacity on day 1 can give aches and pains and sure enough the next day you can hear some complains of body-ache as the women who did more than their capacity the previous day warn one and all about it! This is how we learnt to use all the equipment, learning from each other’s experience and instructions. Eyes wide open as kids find amazing ways of moving the equipment for individual and team sport. The board or air swing is used like a regular rope swing on a tree by 2 year olds!
The triple standing twister is awesome. While 40 years plus use it to get a shapely waist, kids aged 5 or so, sit cross-legged on it and balance themselves while swinging clockwise and anti-clockwise. Not one kid has fallen or hurt themselves!
I like the pull-chair and chest press. Both are similar looking but move differently!
The stationery cycle is kept busy a lot in our open gym! Kids love it, even if their feet don’t reach the pedals. They place their feet on the beams the pedal is attached to! Women love it as it reminds them of their childhood bike rides.
The leg-press double is a comfy way to sit and chat and exercise at the same time!
The shoulder-builder and Tai Chi Spinner are similar looking but great fun in a way unique to each of them! I like both.
The elliptical cross-trainer is great for grown-ups, while kids team up to help each other swing better on it.
The rowing machine is really good!
The double-cross walker is great if you are alone, but better if two people pedal on opposite sides!
The chin-up and dipping equipment looks daunting, but i found a way of using it. I hold on to the bars and lift myself up using the shoulders and swing the body back and forth before getting down. Love it! This is what I do with the back-massager too! Using these in a way I can, comes from the inspiration one gets from kids learning to use the swings almost all on their own!
The horse-rider is the another fun equipment in here. This completes the list of 16 swings in our open gym. Feeling grateful and happy for this thoughtful inclusion in our neighbourly park! Do try out one if you happen to find it in the vicinity!
Breathe long and easy and carry a water-bottle with you! Find a time slot that suits you! It is open 24x7! Ours has flood-lights, so a lot of people use it at night and early mornings too! The afternoon when hot winds are blowing and sun is up high, the open gym is almost empty? No. Kids find their way here, whenever they can!
