Riverside Park - Traveling Rings

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/63949861

The Traveling Rings or Swinging Rings are New York City's most unique and unconventional outdoor workout equipment. The facility located at the bottom most tier of Riverside Park at approximately 105th street. It is comprised of a large sandbox containing two metal arched frames. Each frame has a series of 10 rings which are spaced approximately 5-8 feet apart from one another and about 6 feet off the ground.

The goal is to be able to swing from one ring to the next using a combination of strength and technique. On any given late-Summer afternoon you will find acrobatic individuals demonstrating skilled and artistic methods for crossing the rings and back. A simple youtube.com search will provide you with numerous examples of what is possible on these rings.


The second set of rings is much smaller and lower presumably designed for children.


While the rings are not necessarily designated for conventional bodyweight strength workouts it is possible to perform pullups, front levers, hanging leg raises and other bodyweight exercises on them. Do bear in mind that you will have to use the full extent of your wingspan in order to grab both adult rings at once. Working out on the children's rings may be somewhat easier although most adults will have to bend their knees in if they wish to workout. Of course please be kind and get out of the way if the kids are practicing there.

NOTE: Using climbing chalk will greatly enhance your experience working out or swinging from these rings and I highly advise using it.

Tompkins Square Park

Tompkins Square Park in Alphabet City neighborhood near the East Village is possibly New York City's most well known body weight fitness area. The park also has quite a history of its own and bears reading about especially for those fans of social justice and NYC history.

The workout area itself can be found on the north east corner of the park off of East 10th Street and Avenue B.

Popularized by fitness personality Al Kavaldo the park is home to many of NYC's bar athletes. Many of his YouTube videos and tutorials use this park in order to demonstrate the moves. The facility itself appears to be somewhat older and bears many hallmarks of a children's playground....for adults. Do be on the look out for kids looking to commandeer the space, and please be patient  with the little humans.

The facility itself is designed in a monkey bar style  with attached pull up bars, an arched horizontal ladder and a myriad of bars and poles designed to test your imagination as much as your fitness abilities. There is also a set of parallel bars off to the side.

As you may be able to discern from the pictures, the paint is fading on some of the equipment and is in need of a paint job. The park also features rubber matting designed to soften one's landings however it also appears to be wearing and in need of repair. 

Arched horizontal ladder

Parallel Bars

 

East River Esplanade (Glick Park)

Located on the East River Esplanade on 37th street between the FDR Drive and East River lies a lonely and somewhat beat up pull up bar. Some sources refer to this spot as Glick Park. Based on random wood pieces and a low bar, this set up appears to be part of what once may have been a more comprehensive fitness center.

The survival of this pullup bar may be due to its well hidden location. To find it you must pass underneath the FDR Drive and pass the bike trail, make a right and walk all the way to the gate. You will find it hidden in the corner.

The pullup bar appears to be in rather poor condition and has grip-tape wound tightly around the bar. There is also a low bar nearby for use. A fading instructional signage lies next to the bar as well.

East River Park

East River Park is part of the beautiful riverfront promenade stretching along the southern part of Manhattan's East River waterfront. The park contains amphitheaters, athletic courts and a bike trail that runs under the historic Williamsburg Bridge.

 

Nestled East of the FDR drive between East Houston Street and East 6th Street lies the parks fitness equipment as well as a full 400 meter track which can be seen in the background of the picture above. This Alphabet City parks features a pullup bar, set of parallel bars, decline benches, monkey bars (horizontal ladder) pull up rings and set of decline parallel bars shown in the picture above.

The fitness area is covered in rubber matting designed to protect participants who fall off the bar or perhaps take a hard fall. Most of the equipment is comprised of metal bars planted on wooden stakes. While the equipment is solid but it has definitely taken a beating over the years and might benefit from a paint job. 
Given the proximity to a first class running track, this workout location is one of the most comprehensive outdoor fitness locations in New York City.

Asser Levy Playground

Riding my bicycle up Manhattan's eastern edges I stumbled upon a compact yet useful workout station in Asser Levy playground on 23rd street. Well hidden behind the handball courts and right next to the FDR drive on the north eastern side of the park lies a small yet elegant muscle-inducing device.

Frontal view

While I must admit that the style and colors of the equipment are quite corny indeed, the equipment has everything you need for a full upper body workout. As you can see from the pictures, there are two benches, one decline and one flat. There are also two pull up bars suspended from the sides of the unit. A yellow set of parallel bars lies to the rear of the unit.

Rear view

 At the time of my visit the park was undergoing quite a bit of construction and it appears there may be many changes in the works. Visit this link for an idea of what may be in-store for Asser Levy Playground in the future.

John Jay Park

John Jay Park on the Upper East Side features a nice yet small collection of fitness equipment that is more than sufficient for most workouts. It also features some equipment that is only really useful for folks who are either extremely out of shape or disabled. Finally there is also a notable instance of hilariously incompetent equipment assembly which leaves a set of new parallel bars completely useless.


The park itself is located between East End Avenue and the FDR Drive. The fitness area is located in the far south east corner of the park, and is hidden away behind the basketball courts.

Note: As an aside, the children's playground equipment looks really cool and I wish we had equipment of that caliber when I was much younger. I do recommend bringing your kids here if you are so privileged.

 Useful Equipment

1. Pull up bars - Two bars both of which are more than adequate for most adults. 
2. Parallel bars - About 5 feet off the ground, these bars are very similar to the gymnastics equipment except that they are solid metal and do not bend. They also require a bit of a jump to mount; unless you have incredible strength. 
3. Monkey bars - These bars are quite high above the ground and feature a portion that runs parallel to the ground as well as a portion that ascends/descends. Traveling the latter portion will most certainly challenge your back and arm strength.
   
   
   

   

   Monkey Bars

   
   

   

   Parallel Bars and Pullup Bars

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Slightly less useful Equipment
   
   Equipment designed for seniors, those out of shape or disabled include the following: A leg swinging device, a slanted board-thingie, an arm rotating/bending device (see Medieval Torture Device) and a Leg Press machine. While it is wonderful that the park is dedicating equipment for this specific population, it is my personal opinion that body weight and basic free weight exercises would be far more suitable for this population. These devices have absolutely no utility for anyone with basic levels of physical fitness and health.
   
   
   
   

   

   Leg Press

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   

   Leg swinging device

   
   

   

   Medieval Torture Device

   
    

Incompetence
Unfortunately the park also put its money into what was supposed to be two new sets of parallel bars. However whomever installed the bars apparently had never seen parallel bars before, and certainly chose not to read the label. Instead they chose to install them as follows:

Bottom Line: Its got what you need for a full upper-body workout even if some pieces of equipment are largely useless.

Marcus Garvey Park (Mt. Morris Park)

Marcus Garvey Park, sometimes known by its former name, Mount Morris Park is nestled between Madison Avenue to the east and Mount Morris Park West to the west, and between 120th Street and 124th Street to the north and south. The park is essentially a square surrounded by quaint brownstones and older apartment buildings which provide a warm and local feeling. Most of the facilities including the pool, baseball fields, amphitheater, basketball courts, playground and workout area ring the lower portion of the park which is dominated by a hill and a former fire-watch tower which still stands on top.

The hill itself contains stairs which are excellent for those who wish to add hill sprinting to their workout.

The fitness area can be found on the Madison Avenue side of the park near the basketball courts roughly parallel to 121st Street. I found it to be a relatively standard NYC workout area consisting of two pullup bars, a set of parallel bars, a monkey bar, two low bars (waist high), a diagonal bar, a vertical ladder, a metal bench, pushup bars, and a three pedestal setup surrounding a pole.

The pullup bars were of slightly offsetting heights, with the taller of the two being just high enough for me to do hanging leg raises without touching the floor with my feet. The monkey bars were slightly on the lower side which meant that most adults would have to bend their knees while swinging from them. 

I found the parallel bars to be slightly on the short side of the height spectrum and would've preferred them to be a tad taller. The paint was wearing off the edges of this equipment as well (which you cannot see in this picture).

I am still in the process of discerning the utility of certain pieces of equipment such as the diagonal bar (seen on the left side of the first picture). From what I can tell it is meant for either testing ones vertical leap, or allowing for one to travel up and down the bar while hanging by only their hands.  This particular bar had numbers tagged on which may have originally stood for the height of the bar at that point. I must confess that these labels did not appear accurate to me.

I also noticed a three pedestal setup surrounding a pole towards the back of the fitness area. While I do not know what the designated purpose of this equipment is, I suspect that it was designed for stepping up. This would also explain the varying heights of the pedestals. If anyone can explain the purpose I'd love to hear from you.

Overall most of the equipment appeared sturdy enough, the area was fairly clean, and safely covered by rubber mats.

The park has a lovely neighborhood feeling to it, and certainly has a lot to offer in the realm of body weight fitness. However the equipment has a particularly bland feeling to it and I would not recommend traveling half-way across the city for a workout ..... unless you were going to see or participate in a Street Workout competition.

Chelsea Park

Chelsea Park lies on 28th street between 9th and 10th Avenue the park contains a rectangular multi-use AstroTurf field that I've witnessed hosting soccer, softball, flag football and ultimate Frisbee matches. There is a narrow running track lining the perimeter of the field as well. The park has two full basketball courts along with handball courts as well. This outdoor fitness center certainly has all the accessories for a good workout.

Of particular relevance is the adult jungle gym and the attached pull-up bars; one higher and one lower attached to a horizontal ladder.  Detached from the jungle gym is a pair of parallel bars as well as three decline benches of varying angles. While the ground beneath the equipment is all padded with soft rubber cushioning I would still recommend landing softly when descending from the bar.

While I am a huge fan of parallel bars in general, the ones in this park are of exceedingly low height as well as inconveniently narrow. If I had designed this piece of equipment i wouldn't been optimally placed at least 6 inches higher and at least an extra foot of width between the bars.

The declines benches are made of wood with metal handles at the top. They're normally used for abdominal exercises such as leg raises and sit ups.

I found the park to be a bit on the dirty side with pigeon droppings covering the rubber mats under the equipment. There was a rancid stench coming from the sewer as well as a seemingly homeless gentleman sleeping in the corner. While I'm happy to contend with whatever the environment can throw at me, I figured this information ought to be shared in the best interest of my readers.

While I wouldn't travel half-way across the world for these particular pullup bars it is certainly a convenient spot to knock out a few reps while in the neighborhood.

Van Cortlandt Park

Slow and Steady Wins: Tortoise vs Hare

What and Where

Somewhat hidden away in the far northern reaches of the city lies its third largest park, Van Cortlandt Park. As with many of the city's parks on the weekends, this one often hosts numerous immigrant sportsmen and women  playing a particular sport with other folks of similar origins. You will find South Asian family's camped out for a day long cricket match as well as Latin Americans competing in weekend leagues.

Included in the premises along with an assortment of tennis courts, baseball diamonds, cricket pitches(?) soccer fields and basketball courts is a track, golf course, hiking trail,  fitness para-course, and renown cross-country trail. A general map of the park can be found here.

Facility

The track and fitness equipment are unfortunately on opposite sides of the park. The track can be found inside the stadium located on Broadway between 240th and 242nd street. Aside from the full 400 meter track there exists a stadium setup with stairs available to compliment all of your sprinting desires.

 At the northern tip of the parade ground, which is the large relatively flat field spanning from 242nd Street until the Henry Hudson Parkway, you will find the fitness equipment. Much of the equipment is spread along a para-course that runs the perimeter of the parade ground. Most of the useful relevant and useful equipment can be found towards the northern end of the oval.

The fitness equipment is part of a larger para-course that runs on the eastern side of the parade ground oval. The pull-up bars and decline bench are found at the northern tip. There are two pull-up bars of differing heights adjacent to one another. The bench has a bar at the end which can be used to hang on or two place one's feet in order to to situps. A bit to the southeast of the pull up station are parallel bars which are hidden under some trees on the side of the path. Further along the path you will also spot two benches for situps/core exercises. The park used to have chain linked gymnastics rings but these were removed circa 2005. 

The parade ground running path happens to also be part of a renown cross-country running track that often hosts high school and collegiate running events. The running surface varies in parts but is generally easy on the feet and consists of hard packed dirt or finely crushed gravel.You can follow the trail into the woods where it winds its way up and down through this urban oasis, or you can simply run laps around the oval.


Regardless of your sport of choice this park has something for just about every type of athlete and it certainly warrants my highest praise.

Columbus Park

 

Hidden at the southern edge of Chinatown near the location of the infamous Five Points neighborhood lies Columbus Park. While the newbies and natives made famous by the film, Gangs of New York have long since left this world, the area is now home to the city's many courthouses and municipal buildings. This park itself stretches from Bayard street down to Worth street and features many amenities including children's playgrounds, basketball courts, soccer fields and of course an adult jungle gym.

This park is often used by workers from the surrounding buildings and institutions looking to get in shape during their lunch break. (see article)

Equipment

The equipment is all attached to one centralized piece, the horizontal ladder aka monkey bar.

Monkey Bar - Roughly 6-7 feet above the ground and spans about 10 feet in length.

Pull up bars - Two bars for doing pull ups. 

Vertical ladder- Great for human flags and hanging leg raises.

Parallel bars - There are two one of which is much lower than the other and may be useful for pushups. Only the higher parallel bar will be useful for dips.

Pole - In absence of a climbing rope this is great for climbing up.

Low Bar- There are also low bars along with the parallel bar which are useful for doing body weight rows.



Ps. I took the above graphic from another website but I can't seem to find the appropriate link. If anyone recognizes where that picture comes from please feel free to post it in the comments so that I may give credit.

Arthur Ross Pinetum - Central Park

What and Where

Nestled exactly in the middle of Central Park adjacent to 85th Street is the Arthur Ross Pinetum which contains the only dedicated adult workout space in the park. Actually this is a bit of an overstatement as the facility literally consists of just two pullup bars in the middle of a well-shaded area filled with wood chips. Frankly it is a bit odd that the most publicized park in the city has merely one area for which adults may workout. While to be fair the park certainly caters to runners, cyclists, tennis players and other athletes, it is unfortunate that it lacks adequate equipment for body weight athletes.

 Source: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/54433953

Equipment

The equipment consists of two pullup bars, one of which is approximately 6-7 feet above ground which will allow most adult males to do pullups and hanging leg raises without bending their knees.The other is roughly 5.5 feet high. The equipment is made of steel and appears sturdy and is well suited for even the most vigorous and heaviest of athletes.

There are a number of A-frame picnic tables in the area which folks tend to use for pushups, crunches and dips. I recommend bringing two picnic tables close together and performing dips while resting your hands on the edges of each table. You can also raise the table on one end and perform military presses, just be careful to protect your back when doing so. The swing set nearby can be utilized for body weight rows as long as you don't have to scare away any toddlers.

You will find this equipment well utilized during the spring and summer months when most outdoor athletes are out and about, and you may have to wait patiently for your turn to use the bar.

 With that said this is still a lovely place to workout and I highly recommend you give it a few pulls from the high bar.

Pros

• The regulars are quite friendly and are often willing to share their advice and wisdom with the newbies.
• Sturdy construction.
• Tall enough for most adult males to use without bending the knees. 
• Well shaded for your hot summer workout.

Cons

• Small facility and minimal equipment relative to the stature of this park. 
• The area can become quite muddy after a good rain storm. 

Closing remark

According to Google a "pinetum" is defined as "an arboretum of pine trees or other conifers for scientific or ornamental purposes". It is a composite of a Latin and English word, and apparently was used relatively frequently in the 1850s and early 1900s. Based on the Google graph usage of this word has declined significantly since.

Bloomingdale Playground

What and Where

Well-hidden and stuck between the Grosvenor Neighborhood House YMCA and the West Preparatory Academy on 105th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue is the Bloomingdale Playground fitness equipment. This relatively small but useful site is on the grounds of a children's playground and can be relatively difficult to find especially if you choose to enter through the Broadway side of the park. If you do enter from Broadway do make a left at the children's jungle gym and head up the small set of stairs to the fitness equipment. The 105th Street-side entrance to the park is often locked especially on weekends.

The the fitness equipment available to adults at this playground is not at all mentioned on the Parks Department webpage. The equipment is all at adult height and men from the neighborhood  usually workout there on weekends and in the evenings after work.

Equipment 

Most of the equipment is made of metal and appears to be somewhat older. As the paint is wearing off, I do hope those responsible for the maintenance of this equipment give it a good paint job soon. With that said everything appears sturdy and I had no complaints as to the apparent structural integrity of the facility.

In the middle of this site you can a relatively high set of parallel bars that rest over 5 feet off the ground. Most people will have to jump just to mount the bars. The bars are approximately 7-8 feet long. They are ringed on the northern side by a horizontal ladder/monkey bars as well as two pullup bars. To the east side of the parallel bars are another set of horizontal bars that are perched at least 7 feet off the ground. They are great for doing hanging leg raises without having to bend your knees. The beginning part of this ladder is at a decline angle. At the southern end of the horizontal ladder is a pole that you can shimmy across to a large jungle gym. This jungle gym contains all sorts of bars that can be used for pullups as well as lower bars for rows. There is also a 15-20 foot pole that one can use for the purposes of climbing. It did shake quite a bit when I climbed it.

Pros

• Sturdy fitness equipment including pullup bars, parallel bars, a pole and low hanging bars. 

Cons

• During the summer neighborhood children may commandeer some of the equipment for their own fun and games. 
• The equipment is aging and could use a bit of maintenance.

Thomas Jefferson Park

 Located at 114th Street and 1st Avenue in East Harlem, Thomas Jefferson Park provides the full package as an outdoor workout facility. The park contains an outdoor public pool, soccer field, baseball field, basketball courts, children's playground, running track and adult fitness equipment.

The adult fitness equipment is generally in good condition and did not appear to worn or unsafe. There is adequate shade near and around the site leaving it quite pleasant to use during the hot summer months.

The adult fitness center consisted of two pullup bars  of differing heights, a set of parallel bars, a vertical ladder, a horizontal ladder (monkey bars), a metal bench with a bar along the top for situps, two horizontal bars about waist high, and a diagonal climbing bar. There were also a number of A-frame picnic tables in the area that could serve as platforms for box jumps, or as a clean spot to do situps/pushups.The fitness area is also served by relatively soft rubber mats that do help lessen the impact of jumps and possibly falls.

One limiting factor was the relatively low-height of the horizontal ladder and the pullup bars. Tall folks be advised; you will have to bend your knees while doing pullups and hanging leg raises on these bars.

As mentioned above, the facility also offers an outdoor track constructed out of some sort of relatively soft carpeting material. While the Parks Department website claims that the track is a regulation sized .25 miles (400 meters), a Google Earth measurement indicated that this track is actually closer to 315 meters. Running the track is quite pleasant and rather forgiving on the feet.

One of the few qualms I have with this location is that children from the playground often migrate to the adult fitness equipment and may attempt to commandeer  the equipment or climb on the ladder. A dose of patience is advised; my experience as been that the children are normally cordial if you ask them to share the equipment.

My somewhat larger beef is with children and adults who sit on the running track while watching the numerous soccer games transpiring on the pitch. The main danger is sprinters colliding with children or adults attempting to retrieve soccer balls that were kicked out of bounds. Do be careful.

My relatively slight peeves aside, this is a wonderful location for all of your outdoor workout needs and I highly recommend it.

About the ParkFit Project

About two summers ago, as I became interested in body-weight/calisthenic fitness I found that New York City lacks an accurate list of its park-based fitness inventory. Performing cursory web searches in the hope of finding a new pull up bar or set of parallel bars may bring you an article here or there about a particular spot, but as of the present moment there is no place to find a comprehensive source compilation of locations.

Through my readings, wanderings and conversations I have begun to find a number of these sites throughout the city and will be documenting them through this blog. My goal is to primarily document park-based workout spots and fitness equipment. All locations will be added as pins to the Google Map contained on the site. I will also add my knowledge of running tracks and other outdoor workout spots that I deem relevant. Information garnered from assorted websites may be used to further provide information to my readers.

While I hope that at some point this site will host a comprehensive review of all outdoor fitness equipment in the city, at the present time the information contained herein will be limited to my personal knowledge which admittedly contains a strict geographic bias to Manhattan. I most certainly welcome all emails and will happily post new verifiable information as it is provided to me.

To health, fitness and pushing limits,

- The Skyhopper