When you were a kid, being at a park was one of the best times of your day. Going up and down slides, running around the grass, going on the swings and doing all kinds of crazy stuff. When I was little living in Santa Cruz, there was this one park called Branciforte Park and it had this really long slide that was probably about 15 ft or so going down that was close to a wooded area. Kids today wouldn't understand what it meant to be on a huge slide.
I always enjoyed going to a park and sometimes just sitting on the grass and let the world go by. See kids play, see a ball game on the other side of the fence, skateboarders doing tricks or seeing families play little games. It can be a beautiful place to go to especially in the sunshine. These days, most adults don't enjoy a park so much and because of so many changes to playgrounds even from 20-30 years ago, it's become a thing where being careful and overly cautious becomes the norm.
I do understand that we don't have the same energy we did as kids and our bodies aren't as durable as they used to be when we were used to running, climbing, swinging and falling off of places. I know I've slid off swings and slides the wrong way a time or two but got back up, today it's almost like if you go down a slide or go on a swing and you move ever so slightly, you can hurt yourself. We may not have the same strength or endurance to go for hours at a playground, but we sure as hell can do something to help maintain our joint health and still enjoy doing things.
I was out for a walk yesterday and went to this park that I haven't been to in a long time and had the urge to go hang on the monkey bars from different angles. Just to hang there and feel the stretch from the torso down while maintaining my grip strength, it felt great. Hanging is a great Isometric Exercise that many don't realize the true benefits. Yes not many people can hang for very long if at all but with practice and working different grips, you can gain some incredible strength and endurance (not to mention flexibility and posture). Going on the swings was just as fun and engaging the core to stabilize you is also a great isometric.
There are so many different ways to do Isometrics at a playground it's almost unreal. Other than hanging, you can do pulls for arm wrestling, hold yourself up on the dip bars, do pushup holds on the Jungle Jim, do pikes holds on the swings (those are tough as hell to do), L-Sits on the Monkey Bars, Chest Presses on poles, if you're really ambitious and strong you can do the human flag, there's so much we don't realize is possible. Strengthening the body doesn't have to be boring and if kids see you doing Isometrics, they may imitate you and see that there's cool stuff to do. Kids absorb like sponges and when they see some positive and encouraging things as they play, it teaches them to see that exercise is fun and interesting.
If you live near a park and its got a playground, find a time where there's no kids around and really tackle some exercise and enjoy yourself, if there are kids around, maintain distance as much as possible because these days parents and guardians can freak out and nobody will be able to have fun. We all need some joy in our lives especially now and it is important we find a balance in how we do things. Train while having fun and have fun while training.
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