I went to the park a few days ago to play with my 19 month old son. I was teaching him how to climb up the stairs to get to the slide and held his hands as he went down. Of course he loved it so we repeated it over and over again. At first it's kind of fun. You go up, you get on the slide, and then a couple seconds later you're back on the ground. As an adult, this gets boring after the first couple times but G wanted to keep on going so I repeated the action for a half hour.

It was a good workout! Climbing, squatting, bending down, pushing, pulling up... At the time I was thinking of how good it was for my boy because he had a lot of pent up energy that needed to get out and I was glad to do it.

Then I started thinking... wouldn't it be great if there was a gym modeled after a child's playground? What if there was a multi-story slide with twists and turns and drops that was really exciting but in order to reach the top you'd have to go through an obstacle course that would take about 10-15 minutes to cross? You'd have to climb walls, swing on ropes, climb stairs, crawl through tunnels... Just like a kid's playground but larger and more challenging so adults are engaged. Say you want to go on the slide 3 or 4 times and that's your whole workout right there.

These playgrounds for kids are designed to work their gross motor skills. Ours are developed as adults but are rarely utilized as many of us are sedentary. It would be nice to have a fitness facility that addressed and helped us hone our abilities while being fun and interesting.

If only I had the desire and capital to pursue this business idea... I guess in the meantime I'll keep playing with my son at the playground

well, let me know when you start this business, because I'll be the first member to sign up!

Sounds like a blast! There is a ropes course in a forest preserve near my house. You just gave me a great idea- it's a beautiful early fall day today in Illinois. I'm free and just may make the drive and do it!!!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Sounds like you have a great idea for an entirely untapped market. When I was a child I was never able to fully utilize the playground equipment as I was already ashamed and self conscious about my weight. How wonderful it would be to go back now and see exactly what I missed.

Or, you could rent a toddler!