A well-equipped gym gives schools a lot of opportunities; it can be used as part of the PE curriculum, for helping young athletes train and for students and staff to use for keeping fit. Unfortunately, not every school has the space for a gym and some lack the budget for the very expensive apparatus.

Another concern is that any equipment that involves weights and moving parts requires constant supervision when children are using it. There is, however, a solution for all these problems which is designed especially for secondary schools: the ALLGO+ Gym. Here, we’ll take a look at how it could be the ideal gym for your school.

The outdoor gym

With lack of space being an issue for many schools, one big advantage of the ALLGO+ gym is that is designed to be installed outdoors. The individual pieces of apparatus are permanently erected so there is no need to keep bringing them in and out of the storeroom every time you want to use them. Once it is installed, it stays there, ready for use whenever you need.

Of course, as an outdoor gym, everything is designed for outdoor use. The construction materials are robust, durable and manufactured to last in the open.

Safe, weights-free equipment

One of the problems with traditional gym equipment, like free weights and weights machines, is that they are not safe for children to use unsupervised. ALLGO+ equipment, however, doesn’t use weights at all, instead, it is a bodyweight only fitness system. In other words, pupils will use their own bodyweight on the apparatus in order to develop strength and fitness. Being weights-free means there is no chance of injury from students dropping heavy equipment or to back or muscle damage from lifting too much weight.

Full body fitness

The ALLGO+ outdoor gym has a range of equipment designed to develop strength and muscle tone in all areas of the body. Here is a breakdown of the equipment:

• Leg rise

The ALLGO+’s hanging leg rise is ideal for developing abdominal and core strength, improving all abdominal muscles, including the lower abs and obliques.

• Monkey bars

When students work their way along the monkey bars, they will be using and developing their lats, biceps, abdominal, oblique and deltoid muscles. This is done not just by pulling upwards and across, but also from using the muscles to stabilise the body’s position and balance as it moves.

• Press-up bars

The ALLGO+ comes with three different press-up bars all at different heights: 300, 550 and 700mm. When first starting out, children may find press-ups hard to do. Placing their hands on the bars will make the exercise a little easier while they develop strength. At the opposite end of the scale, stronger students can rest their feet on the bars and push up from the floor. Here, the higher the bar, the more difficult the press up.

Press-ups are not only excellent for developing arm, shoulder and chest muscles, they can also help with back, leg and abs, too.

• Pull-up bars

The ALLGO+ provides two pull up bars, one being shorter than the other so that children of all heights can participate. Pull-ups are helpful for increasing arm, back, abdominal and grip strength. As a multi-joint exercise, pull-ups are great for helping pupils gain muscle mass.

• Sit-up benches

The gym has three different sit-up benches, with increasing levels of challenge: level, inclined and steep. The steeper the incline, the more demanding the exercise.

Sit-ups can be used to develop a wide range of muscles, including abdominals, obliques, pectorals and the erector spinae, which help extend the back and give stability to the spine.

• Step-up

The step-up apparatus can be used with and without additional weights and is ideal for developing leg strength. It is also helpful for improving balance and stability.

• Ring step and fast feet markings

These markings enable students to add some cardio exercise to their workout, which is great for burning calories, improving heart health, agility and stamina.

• Circle steps

This fun apparatus of rising steps placed in a circle around a central balance pole is designed to develop leg and core strength whilst improving balance and agility,

Cleverley signed

Each piece of equipment has an attached sign giving pupils information about how to use it, the muscle groups it develops and ideas for easy, medium and hard workouts. There is also an additional signpost which can be used to display health and safety notices.

Conclusion