If you were asked to list the things that might improve the lives of homeless men and women living in a Paris shelter, it might take a while before you added “outdoor gym” as an entry. But in June, Finnish fitness company Omnigym teamed up with the French non-profit Emmaüs Solidarité to deliver this very thing. And the results have been significant. After just four weeks, “90 per cent of the gym’s users said that it had made them feel more valued and made it easier to talk to other people,” says Omnigym CEO Kirsti Laasio. “And 80 per cent said that the gym, placed in the shelter’s courtyard, had improved their physical health.” Others told the team that going to the gym had aided their mental wellbeing, sleep, mood and energy levels.
While the health gains from the easy-to-use strength-training equipment are impressive, the impact of Omnigym on people’s self-worth deserves as much attention. It’s an almost impossible task to turn your life around and set new ambitions when you are left feeling worthless. Giving vulnerable and marginalised people back their dignity – whether that’s access to decent housing or ensuring that disabled people don’t struggle to even enter a building – can be transformative. But all too often this gets neglected, dismissed as too complicated or too expensive. What makes Omnigym stand out is that its robust equipment rarely breaks and its long lifespan keeps down costs.
Laasio offers another example from Stockholm where a gym was built in a neighbourhood that had experienced problems with antisocial youths. “Local residents tended to avoid the park due to safety concerns,” he says. “To improve the park’s attractiveness and encourage greater public use, the city decided to upgrade the lighting but also install an outdoor gym. Following its installation, the park began to attract a more mixed crowd, contributing to an improved overall sense of safety. Police also observed positive changes.
Omnigym says that the alfresco nature of the equipment is one reason that it has proved such a success in Paris. Many people don’t feel comfortable getting dressed in Lycra or leggings to head to a regular gym where they feel observed and judged. In the EU, some 39 per cent of people never exercise or play any sport and these numbers are unsurprisingly highest among the people who face the greatest economic challenges. “We collect user feedback during temporary outdoor gym trials to help municipalities make informed decisions,” says Laasio. “Our data consistently shows that about 20 per cent of users start strength training after trying Omnigym for the first time. Many return and develop lasting exercise habits.”
Now let’s not get carried away. While exercise, a sense of community and some pronounced pecs might be powerful tonics for all sorts of people, they are not enough to turn a life around alone. You still need to have access to many other services and support networks. Omnigym offers dignity and bench presses in one simple package. Let’s hope that it finds more cities with an ambitious commitment to public health to partner with.
To hear more about the Paris project, listen to this week’s edition of ‘The Urbanist’.
Andrew Tuck is Monocle’s editor in chief. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
