COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s been one year since an Ohio group took their workouts outside.
The group has been meeting once a week to do an outdoor workout or hike ever since gyms first closed in March of 2020.
Jenn McDougall, Worksite Wellness Coordinator at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Health and Fitness Center, leads them.
“I like to get creative with my workouts,” McDougall said. Everyone has a good amount of body weight, so why not put it to use.”
Workout group member Garrick Schindler said the crew chooses a new park each week.
“There are some really underrated metro parks here in Columbus and some people haven’t really taken the time to research or check out,” Schindler said.
The group does body-weight workouts with the occasional use of water jugs. It’s hard work, but Ciara Dillion said she’s thankful for sessions.
“It helped because I was like suffering from a little bit of the blues you know,” Dillion said. “I lost all social interaction, I started working from home.”
Some, like Dan Brown, said he knew others in the group before they began their weekly workouts.
“It’s really strengthened our friendship,” Brown said.
Rachel McNabb, however, said she heard about the workout crew through Facebook.
“I actually knew Jenn from the gym,” McNabb said. “I saw she was going to the park with a couple of her friends and I asked, ‘Hey can I be involved in this?”
