Outdated Practice - Healthy Environment Design

Michaels Avenue Reserve in Ellerslie, Auckland, is a good example of the efforts of the previous Auckland City Council body, as they attempted to create a 'Fitness Trail' around the Michaels Ave. Reserve. In my opinion, although the equipment is outdated and not very inviting to use, it was a good initiative to help people get in tune with their health at the time, however, it has not been maintained or upgraded in any way whatsoever. I wonder if they even remember if this 'Fitness Trail' exists anymore.

Michaels Ave. Fitness Trail (Source: Parekh, 2011)

There are some pro's of the development, however, which should be recognised. These include:

• The Fitness Trail was constructed around the entire reserve building an element of cardio vascular exercise into basic strength training using your own body weight;
• There are a range of different exercises that can help to build and maintain different muscles;



Push Up Bars (Source: Parekh, 2011).

Map of Fitness Trail around the reserve with the range of different exercises outlined (Source: Parekh, 2011).

• In an open space, which is relatively visible during a nice sunny day; and
• Signs encourage users to START SLOW and also how to do they exercises.

Leg and Ab Stretch Sign indicating a beginners and advanced level workout (Source: Parekh, 2011).

These are some very important pro's of the Michaels Ave Reserve Fitness Trail, however, there are also many con's as well. These include:

• No maintenance of the equipment;
• Some equipment is dangerous (like a balance beam which was just a plank of wood);
• Signs have faded and have been damaged;
• The information on the signs only asks a person to do ONE set of exercises per 'fitness stop,' which may not even be enough to warm up a major muscle group; and
• To some extent, many people may not even see it because it is not visible from the main entry near the Ellerslie YMCA.

Plank of Wood as a 'Balance Beam' (Source: Parekh, 2011).

Beginning of the Trail (Source: Parekh, 2011)

Faded sign makes it difficult to understand what to do here (Source: Parkeh, 2011)

All in all, I believe the 'Fitness Trail' was good practice, which has become outdated. When I participated in the trail I completed it within 20 minutes, using the guidelines provided on the signs. I did observe, however, that the trail is used a lot by children and also senior citizens, which was reassuring to see. For this reason, I would say that the idea is awesome and is, to some extent, working but the trail needs to be upgraded and more investment is required.