Training a Journalist from ‘The Times’

Enjoying the Great Outdoors – on a treadmill

We were interviewed for this morning’s edition of The Times, on a feature article about the effectiveness of outdoor gyms.

I was asked by ‘The Times’ journalist, Francesca Steele, about my own approach to outdoor fitness – and whether I’d train her using the outdoor gym equipment, springing up on council ground across London. These sites are designed by Georgie Tarrant of the Great Outdoor Gym Company, who has reinvented familiar gym machinery (eg: treadmill, exercise bike, seated press) for the outdoor environment.

A different approach

At Muddy Plimsolls, our definition of an Outdoor Gym is little different – like the Trim Trail in Primrose Hill, or the Jungle Gym in Regent’s Park. Also, we operate using minimal equipment, which is all portable, like having a gym in a rucksack. However, Francesca the journalist, considered it fortuitous that I came from a different approach.

Training a sceptical journalist

So we met at the outdoor gym in Cantelowes Gardens in Camden, to test the effectiveness of the equipment.

Her final article weighs the pros and cons as I ‘put her through her paces‘. Having only ever experienced indoor gym training, Francesca was sceptical about exercising outdoors. Yet, by the end of our session, she seemed to forget her ‘concerns about appearing a bit sweaty in public’ and appreciate the alternative outdoor experience.