Sport is an integral part of modern society, with its benefits not only limited to physical exercise and the well-being of the human body, but also to maintaining our health, combating stress and an important way of expression and mental well-being..
The pandemic caused by the deadly COVID-19, however, changed reality as we knew it. It forced us all to stay home, trying to protect our own health and the health of those around us by imposing universal abstinence from all activities, including exercise by both athletes and the average trainee..
Going through a long period of Coronation dispersal, sedentary lifestyle and reduced exercise increased the negative effects on our health and quality of life, maximizing the risks to people with permanent or temporary suppression of their immune system, but at the same time brought the spirit of sports closer to the average person, finding ways to exercise and relax to stay active.
So exercise became an antidote to pandemics!
Individual exercise and outdoor exercise was the solution, combining the continuation of a more normal daily life for the citizen with the valuable benefits to human physical and mental health..
It’s no coincidence that personal exercise and outdoor exercise were among the first relaxation measures against COVID-19, giving the signal to restart sports activities after lifting restrictive traffic measures..
Valuable ally? The outdoor gyms of many municipalities!
Municipalities and municipal communities that have operated with respect for their citizens, having already created outdoor gyms and outdoor sports facilities, placing suitable outdoor fitness equipment in free public spaces, saw their citizens “embrace” this initiative, while the municipal authorities themselves enjoy unlimited appreciation in their face.
The free access of citizens to outdoor gyms and outdoor sports facilities and the free use of appropriate and certified fitness equipment, filled the citizens with optimism, restored the lost confidence that the pandemic brought and helped, not only in restoring the its daily life of each municipality, but also to strengthen the immune system of people with health problems..
The co-owner of the well-known Greek sports equipment company Actionplay, Mr. Socratis Sfakianakis expressed the need to create more outdoor gyms in the municipalities of Greece, gyms with equipment suitable for outdoor instruments, such as outdoor multi-instruments for group training, horizontal bars, parallel bars and climbing frames and the installation of special shock-absorbing floors or synthetic turf surfaces. The aim is the individual training of dozens of citizens, men and women, of all ages, against the adverse effects of lack of exercise on the physical and mental health of citizens, but also against the pandemic itself..
At the same time, the co-owner of the same company, Mr. Thanasis Toloudis touched on the very important issue of the suitability of the instruments, talking about the need to use certified and stainless steel instruments, such as foot extension instruments, steppers, shoulder presses and shoulder pulls, bicycles, elliptical movement of legs, parallel bars, abdominal benches, stretching instruments and air walking, etc., accompanied by information boards with detailed instructions for use and information for the trainees, so that there is no need for a trainer and the exercise is done with absolute safety.
Today more than ever, the free access of citizens to sports is a right and an obligation of every municipal authority to immediately listen to the needs and give practical solutions that strengthen the physical and mental health of citizens and give viable answers to the new reality created by COVID-19 pandemic.
Municipal authorities must today more than ever bow to the special and different needs of municipalities and their citizens, aesthetically and environmentally using every available free space, creating outdoor gyms and outdoor sports facilities and equipping the premises with appropriate external training instruments.
Today more than ever, municipalities must provide solutions and opportunities for the creative use of leisure time to all their citizens, strengthening the infrastructure of the municipality and contributing to the wider dissemination of the beneficial effects of systematic exercise and the sporting ideal!
Today more than ever, municipalities must be a true attraction for their citizens, prioritizing quality in their daily lives, creating green lungs and modern infrastructure for outdoor sports and alternative recreational activities, making sport an integral part of everyday life.
The beneficial effect of exercise on people’s mental and physical health is well known.
The creation and operation of outdoor gyms and outdoor sports facilities equipped with the appropriate, certified and stainless steel fitness equipment significantly increases the quality of life and health of citizens.
The municipalities of our country are now obliged to listen to this need, to raise awareness for the benefit of their citizens and to implement corresponding practices of free outdoor exercise, decisively strengthening the quality of life and physical and mental health of their citizens!
