Without much fanfare

The fitness trail in the Sali­nen­park in Bad Rappenau

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playfit

About

The Sali­nen­park in Bad Rappenau is located on the site of the former Rappenau salt factory. Its rede­sign with a fitness trail and other attrac­tions greatly enri­ches what the spa town in the Kraichgau region between Heil­bronn and Heidel­berg has to offer.

The salt­works were closed in 1972, and the boiling houses were demo­lished a year later. In its place, the Sali­nen­park with spacious lawns and abun­dant trees was created. On the occa­sion of the 2008 State Garden Show, the grounds were funda­men­tally reno­vated and rede­si­gned.

Today’s high­lights include the new outdoor fitness equip­ment. They were installed in early summer 2019 and come from playfit.

Fitness course

The new fitness course is thus another attrac­tion of the park. It also creates acces­sible and inter­ge­ne­ra­tional offe­rings in the open air – and that alone is a huge attrac­tion in times of pandemic.

Quite inde­pendently of sporting and physical condi­tions and ambi­tions, the equip­ment selected for the Sali­nen­park appeals to a huge user group.

That was also the plan. Physio­the­ra­pists and occu­pa­tional thera­pists, among others, were ther­e­fore consulted in the selec­tion of the equip­ment in order to be able to meet the needs of as many athletes as possible.

Concept

The equip­ment in the fitness course of the Sali­nen­park combines many advan­tages.

They are desi­gned to attract adults of diffe­rent ages and talents. This also includes those who just want to “get a taste” without having to sign up at the gym straight away.

For this target group, devices that are easy to use and safe are needed. The playfit equip­ment meets all the requi­re­ments of the DIN EN 16630:2015 safety stan­dard for outdoor site-based fitness equip­ment.

The floor of the course is always important. After the persons respon­sible had bad expe­ri­ences with a sand­stone floor, they now decided on a floor made of shell lime­s­tone. Fall protec­tion mats were laid under the calis­the­nics faci­lity.

Equipment

Eight new and attrac­tive fitness machines are now available to visi­tors in the Sali­nen­park. The renewal had become neces­sary because the old system was getting on in years. After less than a month of cons­truc­tion, the new fitness trail was cere­mo­niously opened.

The new course is divided into three trai­ning areas: endu­rance, strength and free trai­ning. In the endu­rance area, there are leg exer­cisers, full-body exer­cisers, and a sit-up bike. To streng­then the chest and back muscles, upper torso trai­ners are ideal for pulling and pres­sing. The back massager loosens the trained muscles and can also be used to streng­then the leg muscles.

The free trai­ning area offers a faci­lity for calis­the­nics as well as a balance trainer.

Users

Young and old alike can keep fit in the course. For older people who can no longer exer­cise so well with their own body weight, there is the seated ergo­meter (seated bicycle). The coun­ter­part for the younger gene­ra­tion is the whole-body trainer (Ergo-Cross).

There are also many joggers in the Sali­nen­park. They use the calis­the­nics equip­ment as an inter­me­diate station and train on the wall bars, the hand-over-hand ladder, and the two hori­zontal bars.

Those who have had enough exer­cise can relax on the park benches. If you don’t want to train at all, you can watch from here – just watching is enough to work up an appe­tite…

Salinenpark

In addi­tion to the fitness trail, the Sali­nen­park has a lot more to offer – for example, the gardens, which are attrac­tive in every season. They are dedi­cated to the theme of “salt, brine and health” with peren­nials and grasses. The more than 1,000 m² largest alter­na­ting flower bed in the colours red, white, and black symbo­lises the former salt produc­tion in Bad Rappenau.

Another attrac­tion are the rose gardens that have been laid out along the historic buil­dings of the spa and clinic admi­nis­tra­tion and the “House of Health”.

There is a laby­rinth of lavender on the southern slope of the garden. From here, a path lined with magno­lias leads to the gradua­tion tower. This is a kind of open-air inha­la­to­rium, where medi­cinal brine trickles over sloe brushwood, evapo­rates, and enri­ches the air with salt.

Meeting place

The entire fitness trail area also func­tions as a meeting place – and magni­fi­cently so. Here you can often see several gene­ra­tions moti­vating and supporting each other. Or even just sit on the bench and watch each other (or others).

Studies have proven the posi­tive effects of fitness trails, espe­ci­ally on older people who are not parti­cu­larly ambi­tious in terms of sports. This applies to both physical fitness and mental well-being.

Conclusion

The exer­cise trail in the Sali­nen­park is also described by its users as a “village foun­tain”, where nice and friendly people always meet and find each other without much fanfare.

This is appe­aling not only to visi­tors, spa guests, and pati­ents of the neigh­bou­ring spa and reha­bi­li­ta­tion clinics but also to the resi­dents of Bad Rappenau itself.

A fitness trail with inter­ge­ne­ra­tional offe­rings in the open air is a gift – espe­ci­ally in times of the pandemic. Fitness equip­ment of the future.

We did this.

Project data

Fitness Course

playfit GmbH
Brau­er­knecht­graben 53
D‑20459 Hamburg

Client

City of Bad Rappenau

Physical address

Sali­nen­park
Sali­nen­straße 28,
D — 74906 Bad Rappenau

Opening

2019

Photograph

Playfit
Hans-Peter Schmitt

Author

Johannes Bühl­be­cker
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© Playfit & Hans-Peter Schmitt

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Phone
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+49 172 4736 332

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