I have lived in Glenboig for two years and through JCD Coaching I have been taking advantage of as much of the natural environment as I can to train clients and also train myself. I have two fitness classes, Glenboig Bootcamp and BodyHIIT, which currently operate out of the park each week, as we continue to move our way out of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Glenboig Village Park itself has been very well funded and supported over the years by Glenboig Development Trust and other community partners and for children and young people there are a lot of fun options to play and have fun. We also have a small selection of exercise equipment installed by North Lanarkshire Council, but as always, I want more when it comes to physical activity!
I had floated the idea of a street workout facility in Glenboig during my first meeting at a local level with numerous other community partners. The response was fairly positive, but then Coronavirus hit and the idea was shelved for 5 months. Now we're getting back to normal, I want to capitalise on local residents sense of freedom and desire to improve their physical health. I've seen so many more runners, cyclists and kids playing basketball during this past 5 months, than any other time since I've lived here!
As much as the park is well-equipped, there is also plenty of room for new development and investment, especially with over 1000 new homes to be built in the next few years. With a basketball court, basic exercise equipment and a skatepark, a street workout facility would really be something unique to the area and could inspire a whole generation of young people and adults to take up a new physical activity.
My preferred option for this proposed facility is supplied by Proludic and costs £5139.18, before delivery, groundworks and installation. My reason for choosing this is simple, this unit has already been installed by North Lanarkshire Council at Airdrie Leisure Centre and there will already be a project history to use in terms of contractors and the other associated costs. This is the same calisthenics rig being used by the Scottish Cali Squad for their monthly meet ups and I think it would be more than adequate for the people of Glenboig too.
My second choice is supplied by HAGS and offers just about the same options to train, and number of people to train, as the Proludic rig. The price for this unit is £2636.30 including delivery, which is a good bit cheaper, in case there are funding limitations.
Both of these options have been shared with Glenboig Development Trust and I am keen to get feedback to see what options are available and where in the park would be the best location.
GDT themselves are on the cusp of reopening the community centre after a few years of multi-million pound redevelopment and I'm very excited to get in to this space and see how JCD Coaching can play bigger a part in improving health and physical fitness throughout this community.
The new community centre is going to have a beautiful garden at the rear overlooking Garnqueen Loch and there could even be the possibility of a small pull-up bar and dips set up within that space. This wooden Multigym Max set-up from Xorbars would be the ideal rig to complement the indoor gym at the centre and this has also been suggested.
Hopefully, the next time you hear about these proposals we'll be getting ready for installation to begin. My new friends at the Scottish Cali Squad will definitely be invited for the grand opening, if we get that far!