24 years in the British Army has given StreetGym® founder John Allison a unique outlook on using the urban environment as a gym. StreetGym® was born out of a desire to inspire people to make the best of what they’ve already got: an open access gym in the streets that never closes. Bike racks, steps and street furniture become an obstacle course for a one hour urban circuit around streets, squares and canals.
People pay attention when StreetGym® turns up. I’ve completed three circuits in two cities now but this time I took a backseat position. It is a great spectator sport, though usually no-one is expecting it to arrive. Today I gained a new perspective on how people react to it and how unlike anything else it is.
David Johnson and Yus from the Ladywood based Sport4Life have selected ten young men from their books for today’s StreetGym® circuit around the towpaths, waterways and public spaces around Brindleyplace. It is the ideal location: nothing dropped on the floor stays there for long and unlike other areas of the city, it is free of debris and shattered glass. Over the next hour, the Sport4Life representatives under the leadership of StreetGym® founder John Allison will learn how to creatively rethink public spaces for the purpose of exercise. At its simplest, this is about improvising available street furniture as gym equipment but StreetGym® is also about being creative rather than just about saving on a gym fee. It’s a win-win for StreetGym® participants.
We (or rather they) begin in the rather literally named Open Space park opposite the Roundhouse. While warming up with jogging circuits and partner work, the locals are already intrigued. Kids emerge from the mini market with crisps and ice pops, trying to work out what’s going on and putting themselves in the picture.