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We are living in a golden age of fitness.
Calisthenics is all the rage, and it’s not hard to understand why. The sport is a full-body workout that can be done anywhere at any time with no equipment needed! There are many benefits to calisthenics such as increased strength, flexibility, and mobility.
As you’re reading this article you might find yourself wondering “Where am I going to find a Calisthenic park near me?” Well, don’t worry because below we will go over some tips for finding your nearest Calisthenic park!
Believe it or not, it used to be extremely hard for bodyweight training enthusiasts, such as yourself, to find local workout parks to train in. Unless you were fortunate enough to live in a large metro, or forward-thinking area (NYC, SoCal, London, etc.) the resources and options were pretty scarce.
In fact, I remember just 5 years ago when I first got into bodyweight training, having to drive at least 30 minutes to find a workout park with bars so that I could do pull-ups, dips, and other calisthenics exercises properly. 30 minutes!!!
Fortunately, since people have slowly started to realize how much time, money, and effort they have been wasting in public gyms, and with the rise in popularity of callisthenic training, there are now a vast number of resources through apps and websites for finding good, reliable parks to train in the WORLD!
In the following, I have given my expert tips and strategies on how to find workout parks, even if you don’t live in a large city.
How to find a Calisthenics park?
School Parks
The most intuitive place to start when looking for calisthenics parks to train in should always be with any local school. Particularly elementary schools (if you live in the US) or primary schools (if you live in Eastern Europe or abroad).
The reason for this is that nearly all of these schools have playground equipment for school children and this equipment is often more than enough for even the most advanced bodyweight trainer to get in excellent shape.
Often times a school playground will come equipped with monkey or chin-up bars, ropes to climb, and many, many more items that can be used to train on.
So without a doubt, regardless of where you live, looking for a local school (the newer the school the better) is THE best place to start to find a calisthenics park.
Community playground or parks
Most people should look at a playground. Take a walk around your local area and might be surprised with a workout park near you.
If it’s quite far away, you can always add that walk into your routine as a pre-workout. In fact, walking could just be what you need to shed off some of those calories!
Most community playgrounds now come equipped with monkey bars for kids which can be used by adults as well! (And sometimes they’ll have rope climbing walls and dip bars too!).
Just don’t hog the “gym” equipment when kids are around and don’t take too much time on the kiddie slides!
Reddit Map
Some awesome Reddit users have also put together an excellent Google Map of most parks exclusive to the USA.
Some of the parks will carry over between the list, but there are also some new parks that are exclusive to this map that make it definitely worth checking out if you are in a bind looking for a fitness park.
Obviously, by looking at the picture above, the Reddit map is biased towards the West Coast, particularly California. But that’s okay because there are several other great websites that have the Midwest (Chicago), and East Coast (New York) covered.
Simply click this link: REDDIT FITNESS PARKS to be taken directly to the map.
Calisthenics-Parks
Calisthenics-parks is an awesome website with a working app that finds calisthenics parks all over the world. All you have to do is input your address and it will search the nearest registered bodyweight training grounds for you. It can find parks for you with a tap on your mobile device in any country.
With the app, you can also help register unrecognized places for the whole community to be updated with the available locations.
Google Search
Simple, but effective; a quick search on Google maps will produce a list of available outdoor parks you can train in your area.
You can also search by typing in “calisthenics park” at your search bar and the name of the town you would like to find one near.
Don’t forget that there is usually more than one available training ground per city, so don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t show up right away!
Spend some time on the internet and you’re bound to found what you’re looking for.
Sample locations
Here are just quick samples of cities that offer various locations for street workout.
Chi-Town/NYC
Now if you are lucky enough to live in the greater Chicago or New York City areas (pinch yourself), you probably don’t need a whole lot of help finding calisthenics parks.
But if you do, or if you are looking to change up your scenery a little bit, the links below are some of the best resources I have come across in looking for fitness parks.
This photo displays the layout of the NYC fitness park map. Clearly, there are many, many great places to train in NYC. The best feature of this site is that it includes a short description of what type of equipment is available at each location.
Now from personal experience, one of THE best places to train outdoors in NYC, possibly the world can be found at Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx.
Located right in the shadow of the new Yankee Stadium, it is in an absolutely breathtaking location and is almost brand new (built in 2012) so you don’t have to worry about the state of the equipment.
Oh, and make sure to keep your eyes open, word has it that the Kavadlo brothers doing a front lever like it’s nothing. They train here quite often.
UK/London
If you live in London specifically, Muddyplimsolls has compiled a great list of parks in the metro area that can be used for calisthenic training.
I have not been fortunate enough to make a trip across the pond, but this website makes it all the more enticing.
From what I can tell the park at Parliament Hill Fields seems like the best bet in terms of location (beautiful scenery judging from the pictures), and hilly geography making for that much more challenging of a workout session.
I have not been fortunate enough to make a trip across the pond, but this website makes it all the more enticing.
From what I can tell the park at Parliament Hill Fields seems like the best bet in terms of location (beautiful scenery judging from the pictures), and hilly geography making for that much more challenging of a workout session.
As you can see from the map, most of the UK parks are located in London and the surrounding areas.
As I said, I have never been to the UK, but the park located in Parliament Hill looks like a dream to train in.
Alternative options
For some, finding accessible outdoor workout parks will not yield results, but this shouldn’t stop you from your quest of building strength and muscle with calisthenics!
That’s the beauty of the discipline. There’s always an option to work on your push-ups and muscle-ups even if you’re in a workout park or just at home.
Bring gymnastics rings/ TRX System
One excellent and very affordable option is to carry around a set of gymnastic rings or TRX Suspension training (we prefer the former though).
With rings, you can basically do any exercise you want on it. Pull-ups, push-ups, muscle-ups, dips, front lever, you name it!
You can hang it virtually anywhere as long as it’s sturdy. With gymnastics rings, you don’t need a pull-up bar. You can just find a solid tree branch at a park then you’re good to go with your workouts. You can make every park (even without any bars) a workout park!
The only disadvantage for rings is it’s not particularly friendly for beginners. The skill floor is quite high so it’s best to have mastered the fundamentals of calisthenics with The Movement Athlete before moving to ring workouts.
You can’t learn dips on rings or even push-ups without mastering them on a stable surface.
Believe me.
Those push-ups will feel a lot different so better opt for regressing.
Prepare your body first for the necessary demands then you’ll enjoy the muscle and strength-building potential rings have to offer.
Build your own gym!
You don’t need a lot of space, so you can start with your garage or basement and gradually add equipment as needed.
Build your own gym- With some sweat equity and a few bucks, you’re well on your way to getting started on building out a home gym that’s perfect for what you want it for.
You’ll be able to assemble anything from pull-up bars to rigs that will accommodate all aspects of bodyweight workout without going anywhere at all!
Again, if there are no parks nearby where this is an option just remember that anyone – any age -can build their own setup in less than twenty-four hours.
No need to get fancy here and we’re not talking about buy weights (but you could always get some for additional variation). We’re talking about building your basic calisthenics needs for a fun street workout you’ve been always looking for.
You can even build two horizontal dip bars which can act as pull-up bars and dip stations in one!
Check out this article written by Mark Zarvie, a Movement Athlete:
You got your place. What’s next?
Once you’re set with the place, you can’t just jump straight into training.
Well, you can but it’s better to plan a proper routine for your workout to get the most out of your time and effort.
Although any exercise can be good, there’s always a smarter way to progress through life to get more enjoyable and more efficient progress.
Proper programming
Your body is smart and stubborn. It always finds a way to become efficient to keep everything stabilized. As a result, you might find yourself on a plateau or not making any progress with your exercises.
To challenge it further, exercises for your street workout should be planned that are based on science.
Proper programming isn’t limited to professional athletes. Casual athletes and other people who just want to be healthy are in need of proper routines.
Read more: How to build an optimal calisthenics training routine
Sample workout
You can create your own workout or follow a powerful course that will guide you in your fitness journey.
Beginner calisthenics workout routine
Everyone has to start from somewhere. Basic training lays a proper foundation for fast development. The beginner’s routine focuses on building strength to accommodating the requirements of upcoming exercises in the calisthenics journey.
Intermediate calisthenics workout routine
For intermediate athletes, it’s all about polishing your basics and choosing a specific goal for your current path. Since a strong foundation has been set, there will be more workout paths to choose from.
Advanced calisthenics workout routine
More advanced athletes can aim training for more advanced skills such as handstand push-ups, planches, and bar handstands. These are the ones you usually see highlighted on Youtube at calisthenics parks.
Ultimate programming wherever you workout
If you truly want to maximize your time from training in your calisthenics park, opting for a personalized workout program would be your best bet.
Read more at The end of Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced that is hurting your training
The Movement Athlete developed a personalized adaptive training program so you can train at your favorite calisthenics grounds or at home while staying efficient, realistic, safe, and fun thanks to the personalized and adaptive approach to calisthenics.
Take the free assessment to begin your journey now!