Sunday, May 8, 2011

Korea is Awesome = Outdoor Gyms

As I mentioned before, I'm trying to get fitter and healthier (when I'm not eating every weird thing on offer) and one of the awesome things about Korea is free outdoor gym equipment! 

Clockwise from far right: chest press, weird thing we once had at home in NZ, wheel thing for arm stretchiness, bouncy squat machine, machine for perfecting 'the twist',  torture device.
Low-budget elliptical trainer (l), swingy-legs thing with no exercise benefits (r)
These pictures were taken in a park in Yeoido, Seoul, but this stuff is all over the place! It crops up most frequently in parks and playgrounds but in Buan there's a few machines at the end of a trek along the rice paddies and on the top of the two big hills in town. They are usually occupied by older men and women as I think younger people are happier to splash out on a gym membership.

I've seen some amazing equipment on offer, the best park I saw was in Gunsan which had a 10kg weights machine, some gymnastic rings and a couple of bike machines amongst other machines skirting the edge of a soccer field. I know Karori Park has machines like this and I feel like it's something New Zealand should take note of. 

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