University campus is helping students and staff to be more active

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, which is also open for the public to use, includes 14 pieces of fitness equipment at various interludes of the 1.1-mile course.

The trail is part of the University’s Active Campus initiative, as Associate Dean Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology, Dr Peter Jones explained.

He 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 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers. It also improves our ability to deal with stress and mental health issues.”

In addition to the trim trail, the Active Campus project includes free sport for all students; free use of table tennis and table football games; signs around Waterside to promote walking; the setting up of a walking group and a regular Saturday morning Park Run starting later in the year.

Working with Public Health, the University is also set to employ a Physical Activity Activator 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.

The trim trail equipment comprises: bunny hops; parallel bars; leg stretch/bar push ups; twin crossover; log vault; step-up logs; traverse wall; traverse weaver; chin up bars; step-up sleepers; body raise/reverse pull ups; stride jumps; run and leap and overhead rings.

Find out more about sport and physical activity at the University by clicking the link below.

Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity at UON