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Basic workout areas in the airports

Image credit: Photo by Li Sun from Pexels

Michaela D

Michaela D Mar 30, 2022

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Introduce small, basic workout areas in the airports with just a couple of showers and fitting rooms.
Why
You have 2-3 or more hours of waiting time. You cannot do much other than sit around. Why not get some exercise?
There is only one real gym in an airport worldwide (Baltimore/Washington), yoga rooms are a bit more common. The reason is airport space is very expensive and it is hard to make a profit from a gym. However, small, basic rooms would be enough for people to get some exercise.
By exercising before or between flights you:
Compensate for the health impact of long sitting hours during the flights.
Spend your time while waiting for your flight, without further sitting.
Potential socializing.
How it works
Similar to airport yoga rooms only that visitors can do heavier exercise (and make more noise).
Rooms big enough to fit 3-4 people (depending on the demand and the available space).
Basic (mats, small weights) or no equipment. People can do body weight exercises (Calisthenics style).
A couple of changing rooms (travelers bring a change of clothes in their backpack or carry-on, no shoes while working out).
A couple of showers and ideally towels.
If need be, the entrance will have a small fee.
What do you think? Would you workout in these areas?

fitness travel air travel wellbeing

4

Creative contributions

Calisthenics gym doesn't take much room

Darko Savic

Darko Savic Mar 30, 2022

Own body weight (Calisthenics) exercises don't require much room.  All it takes is some conveniently positioned bars. 
In order to work out in an airport, I would really need a full set of temporary clothes and a shower afterward. I would store my clean clothes in a locker. I would put on disposable or buy cheap sponsor-plastered clothes. Build up a sweat in them. Take a shower in the end and put my clean clothes back on. I would then be ready to proceed with my travel itinerary. 
So temporary clothes + shower are key to airport workouts for me.

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Goran Radanovic

Goran Radanovic3 years ago

Agreed. Some airports do offer showering facilities, but you also need a locker to keep your belongings safe. Something about lots of people you'll never see again passing through an area makes me uncomfortable.
I just remembered. If you're working out, you'll definitely need a locker for your luggage, especially if the training spaces are small.

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Darko Savic

Darko Savic3 years ago

Goran Radanovic it wouldn't be bad if the locker space was within or at least adjacent to the gym area.

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Michaela D

Michaela D3 years ago

Darko Savic the locker would be a requirement, yes, and ideally inside the gym. It could be in the same area as the fitting rooms and the shower. Inside the locker, you would put your carry-on, personal bag, clean clothes, etc...Also, paying for the locker would be a potential way of paying for using the gym. You either pay for a general entrance, a "training pack" as J. Nikola suggested, or the locker. 

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"Training pack" in vending machines

jnikola

jnikola Mar 30, 2022

Have you seen vending machines with one-time toothbrushes, plane earphones, travel pillows, etc? If there is a gym, it would be nice to have a small "training pack" in those machines. The pack would consist of a  disposable and recyclable t-shirt, shorts, socks, and a small shampoo. The pack could also be an entrance ticket to the gym.
Why? Not a lot of people travel with a t-shirt, shorts, shampoo, and a towel on top of their carry-on luggage.
What do you think? What else would you fit in the pack? How would you make it tiny, but complete?

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Michaela D

Michaela D3 years ago

I love it! You mentioned all the basics. Ideally, the clothes and towels would be cleaned and reused to decrease the environmental impact. But the logistics may be complicated and I guess some people may prefer one-use clothes. 

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In-flight cardio area

Miloš Stanković

Miloš Stanković May 17, 2022

Your idea made me recall this Darko Savic's idea for small playgrounds on planes. So it got me thinking that having a designed space, a row or two, for recumbent exercise bikes on planes could help people with nervousness on long flights. 
You could stretch out your legs, be active, and feel productive. Focus on smaller time increments than that of a daunting 16-hour long flight. You could be able to schedule the time on the bike ahead before the flight for a small fee. 
The issue here is the personal hygiene again. But the bikes could be set up to block out reaching high-intensity training so as to avoid profuse sweating. The stewardess could also provide the flier with wet wipes after the end of each session. With proposed disposable shirts prior. 

I also thought of limiting the use for only the last three hours of the flight but that would probably impair the financial benefit too much. 

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Michaela D

Michaela D3 years ago

I'd definitely use a bike during long flights! I think the setup would really need to be optimized for this to be popular and be worth the space it would take from seats. If it is too close to other seats it would be awkward...People feel self-conscious even stretching on a plane (you see very few people doing it) even though it helps offset the negative effects of long sitting.

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Another way of pricing this - charge for shower and give access to the workout area for free

Povilas S

Povilas S Sep 01, 2022

Sitting around for hours in an airport you start feeling like taking a shower anyway, especially if you spend the whole night there. So since we agreed here that shower is an absolute must for proposed workout areas, the fee for the entrance to the workout area could be the fee for a shower, and then you either work out if you want or not. 
All it takes is making enough shower cubicles. Expensive airlines could include the shower price in their tickets, you scan the plane ticket and get to shower and workout for free. A lockbox for your belongings would be included in the price since you need to put your stuff somewhere while showering anyway. The time for which you can keep your belongings in a locker would be limited, like one hour or so.

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Michaela D

Michaela D2 years ago

That's a good one because you would attract more people than those who just want to exercise. Towel and shower gel will be included in the price. If someone wants to buy the full "training pack" that J. Nikola suggested would have to pay a bit extra.

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General comments

Spook Louw

Spook Louw3 years ago

This would be beneficial near any areas where people regularly spend time waiting. Bus stops and train stations also spring to mind.  Darko Savic also touches on the point of hygiene, especially outside public transport stations, people would need to be able to have a shower before getting in a vehicle with other passengers. This might complicate the infrastructure requirements and make it a little less feasible.

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Michaela D

Michaela D3 years ago

Spook Louw you are right, a gym would find good use in many places.  I focused on airports as an example because people sometimes need to wait for hours, and it is not so simple to just go and come back. Also, as you said, outside places would be harder to accommodate hygiene services, not to mention weather conditions.

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