The
Lake Gregory Fitness Trail
With all of the stations now in place, the fitness trail around Lake
Gregory is a great place to get a workout.
The 10 stations on the trail begin near the South Beach parking lot.
If you want to get right into the stations, start at the South Beach parking lot located
on San Moritz Drive and go counterclockwise around the lake. You’ll find Station #1
in about 100 yards. If you would like a good warm-up run or walk before you start the
exercises, start in the same place and go clockwise around the lake. Your first station
going this way (Station #10) will be just past the boathouse on the other side of the
swimming area.
The collection of exercise equipment is called the Steel Challenge
Course, and is manufactured by Miracle Recreation Equipment Company in Monett, Mo. It is
not recommended for use by children under the age of 12. All of the stations have diagrams
and instructions for the exercises. There are different numbers of repetitions of each
exercise recommended for beginning, intermediate and advanced fitness levels.
Just up from the parking lot on the trail is Station #1, which is the
leg lift. At this station is a post with handgrips at different levels. You stand with
your back against the post and grip the overhead bar with both hands. Then you slowly lift
one or both legs until they are parallel to the ground, and then you return to the
starting position. The benefits of this exercise are to strengthen the thighs, legs and
lower back.
A few hundred yards down the trail is Station #2—the sit-up,
which strengthens the muscles of the stomach and lower back. The station consists of a
slanted bench with two bars at the top. You sit on the bench with your legs bent and put
your knees above the top bar and your feet under the lower bar, and do sit-ups as normal.
We found this to be a much more comfortable way to do sit-ups than on a flat surface.
On the way to Station #3 you pass one of the major improvements that
have been made to the trail. Workers replaced the crumbling wooden bridge there with a new
steel and composite bridge.
Just before the San Moritz Lodge, you find Station #3, which is the
horizontal ladder, a common sight on playgrounds for decades. At this station, you grasp
the bar with both hands, lift your legs off the ground, grasp the next bar, and then
repeat the motion to the end of the ladder. This exercise benefits your arms, shoulders
and chest. Just past the lodge, some painting was done on the small bridge over the creek
as part of the project.
Just past the Senior Center is Station #4—the beam jump. At this
station you jump with legs together over a series of beams without stopping. This exercise
strengthens calf and thigh muscles.
The next stop is directly in front of Lake Gregory Elementary School,
where there are two stations together. Station #5 is the body curl, which strengthens the
stomach, lower back and biceps. There is a bench with a bar on top. You lie flat on the
bench and lift your legs, curling your body into a tucked position, and then slowly lower
your legs back to the starting position.
Station #6 is the step-up, which is a series of bars on the ground
with a vertical pole in the middle. You grasp the pole with both hands, and then stand up,
bringing both knees up and stepping onto one of the bars. Still grasping the pole, you
step down one foot at a time, and repeat as recommended, alternating feet as you go. This
strengthens the thighs, knees and legs. The bars are at different heights for people of
different heights or for different levels of difficulty.
Station #7 is the parallel bars. At this station, you grasp the bars
and lift your feet off the ground, keeping your arms straight and “walk” down
the bars with your hands. The exercise strengthens the shoulders, triceps, upper back and
forearms. At the point of the large cove at the north end of the lake is Station #8, which
is the balance beam. You step onto one end of the beam and them walk to the other. Be
careful when stepping onto the beam. You might want to have a rag with you to wipe sand
off the beam before stepping up onto it. This exercise strengthens calf and leg muscles
and improves balance.
Near the bathrooms on the northwest side of the lake is Station #9,
which is the jump-up. It consists of a tall slanted bar. You stand with the bar overhead
and out of reach and attempt to jump up to it and touch the bar with one hand. This
exercise strengthens thighs, calves and legs.
At Station #10, the final station, there are higher and lower bars
for doing chin-ups, where you grasp a bar that is higher than your reach and then pull
your chin up over the bar then lower your body to the hanging position, then repeat. This exercise strengthens the shoulders, upper
back, biceps, forearms and lats.
The fitness trail provides a great workout in a short amount of time.
In 2004, workers from San Bernardino County Regional Parks and the California Conservation
Corps replaced all seven of the old fitness stations around the lake with new equipment
and added three additional stations. The first bridge on the route was replaced and the
second bridge on the trail near the San Moritz Lodge was repainted. The trail was also
better defined along the entire route. |
