Outdoor fitness circuit installed at Northampton university to help staff and students be more active
People can enjoy a range of sports equipment on the trim trail including a chin-up bar, overhead rings, twin crossover and a traverse wall
An outdoor fitness circuit has been installed at the University of Northampton as part of its mission to get staff and students more physically active.
The 'Trim Trail' around the perimeter of Waterside campus now includes 14 pieces of fitness equipment at various interludes of the one mile course.
The trim trail is available for members of the public to use and is part of the university’s 'Active Campus' initiative.
Associate dean faculty of arts, science and technology, Dr Peter Jones, said: “Active Campus is about how we can design our environment to increase the activity of our student and staff, as being more physically active reduces risk of a lot of diseases, including hypertension, type two diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.
"It also improves our ability to deal with stress and mental health issues.”
The trim trail equipment includes bunny hops, parallel bars, leg stretch and bar push ups, twin crossover, log vault, step-up logs, traverse wall, traverse weaver, chin up bars, step-up sleepers, body raise and reverse pull ups, stride jumps, run-and-leap and overhead rings.
The Active Campus project additionally includes free sport for all students, free use of table tennis and table football games, signs around Waterside to promote walking, a walking group and a regular Saturday morning Park Run starting later in the year.
The university is also set to employ a Physical Activity Activator - in collaboration with Public Health - to help support and grow the Active Campus project for the benefit of students and staff, and will also coordinate health checks and health MoTs for staff.