parkHIIT - Resistance is Worthwhile!

Welcome to the final episode of season 5 of The Work Well Podcast! Today we’re doing a deep dive on parkHIIT, a social enterprise that promotes the importance of resistance exercise in local parks. 

In this episode, Anne Farrell, Health Promotion Executive at Irish Rail and CIE Group and parkHIIT Community Leader is in conversation with The Work Well Podcast host and parkHIIT founder, Brian Crooke. Listen in as they discuss what parkHIIT is, how it started and the different ways people and organisations can get involved.

I hope you enjoy this very special episode of The Work Well Podcast! 

What is parkHIIT?

parkHIIT is a volunteer led community initiative, it’s about getting resistance training local to you, using our beautiful parks and city spaces.  Why resistance training?  It is such an important contributor to good health and wellbeing across age and social society groups and that is where community comes in, bringing these together with no barriers such as commitment, fees and that awkward feeling we all sometimes get when walking into the gym.

parkHIIT delivers this through free weekly 30-minute outdoor group exercise sessions based on bodyweight only resistance exercises.

park because it takes place in a park and HIIT is an acronym for High Intensity Interval Training.

parkHIIT’s Vision

parkHIIT’s vision is to advance physical, mental and social wellbeing across Ireland for people of all ages and backgrounds by promoting the importance of, and facilitating individuals to participate in, resistance exercise in community-based public spaces.

How did parkHIIT start?

Brian started parkHIIT back in January 2018 while he was studying to become a personal trainer and gym instructor. 

A lot of people are aware of the WHO and Healthy Ireland recommended aerobic guidelines for physical activity, namely 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity per week (minimum). This is often broken out as 30 minutes of aerobic activity per day on at least 5 days of the week (again, this is the minimum). "What's neglected, but it's in the very same guidelines from the WHO, is that we should also be getting a minimum of two resistance sessions per week."

Most people aren’t aware there’s a separate recommendation for resistance exercise. parkHIIT’s mission is to change that and raise awareness of the importance of resistance exercise through free weekly workouts in local parks.

Lean muscle mass sadly diminishes with age for everyone. If you don't do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose you'll increase the percentage of fat in your body over time. Resistance training can help preserve and enhance muscle mass at any age.

Anne tells us that she first became aware of parkHIIT through word of mouth in 2019 and since her first session, she never looked back. 

How does parkHIIT help?

parkHIIT removes barriers. The first barrier removed is the intimidation barrier. A lot of people think resistance exercise or strength training means lifting heavy weights in a gym. parkHIIT shows how simple resistance exercise can be with free introductory bodyweight only workouts in a fun outdoor group setting.

parkHIIT also removes the financial barrier. parkHIIT workouts are free!

For local fitness professionals, parkHIIT provides a platform to show off their skills and build relationships in their local community. 

What can you expect at parkHIIT?

parkHIIT organises 30-minute outdoor group workouts based on resistance exercises. Each workout starts with a 5-minute warm-up, followed by 20 minutes of high-intensity interval training, with seven resistance-based exercises followed by a 5 minute warm-down. This structure is the same for every location.

The parkHIIT community leader training programme

One of the benefits of parkHIIT is that people can get involved and volunteer regardless of their background. parkHIIT offers a community leader training programme that allows everyone who wants to support parkHIIT and their local community to get involved. 

parkHIIT is not a class, it’s a group exercise session. In order for parkHIIT to scale and run consistently every weekend in local parks, parkHIIT upskills and empowers community leaders to lead parkHIIT sessions. This is achieved through the parkHIIT Leader Training Programme.

The training programme is provided to those interested in leading parkHIIT workouts in their local communities. parkHIIT Leader Training is for regular parkHIIT attendees that have an existing understanding of how resistance training works (you don't need a fitness qualification but if you don’t know a lunge from a squat then this training is not for you). Leaders must also demonstrate a genuine passion for health and wellbeing AND their local community. Once a leader successfully completes the training, they will be covered under the parkHIIT insurance policy to lead parkHIIT sessions in any of the designated parks. 

Anne went through the training programme and told us about her experience: "A good thing to do is to give back. And I suppose the five ways of wellbeing revolve around giving, and being a parkHIIT volunteer leader is lovely and not too demanding."

parkHIIT is a social enterprise - what does that mean?

To answer this question, Brian says: "When I saw when parkHIIT was growing to a few different parks and there were a lot of people getting involved, I just saw there was more to it than just a standard exercise session. And I knew this wasn't a money-making exercise either, it was a community initiative."

This realisation led Brian to look for the correct legal structure for parkHIIT. In November 2020, parkHIIT was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee with an active board of directors in place.

"parkHIIT is a not-for-profit, but we want to generate revenue. We want to generate employment, create jobs in local neighborhoods through an overall governance structure, but we can also provide employment opportunities for local personal trainers and this is already happening with our parkHIIT @ Work initiative." Brian comments. 

parkHIIT’s weekend workouts are free and always will be. Anything above and beyond this is an opportunity for parkHIIT to generate revenue and create those employment opportunities.

Where can we find parkHIIT?

parkHIIT currently takes place at the following locations and times every single weekend:

●        Ashtown                       Saturday         8.30am

●        St. Anne’s                     Saturday         8.45am

●        Poppintree                   Saturday         8.45am

●        Stoneybatter                Saturday       10.00am

●        Phoenix Park                Sunday          10:00am

●        Rockfield Park              Sunday          10:00am

Can you get involved?

All parkHIIT workouts are free and you can see all upcoming sessions and register for a specific location through this link. 

Could you volunteer with parkHIIT? Perhaps you’re a fitness professional and you’d like to volunteer your time leading some sessions? Maybe you’d simply like to bring parkHIIT to your local park? You can find out more in our Getting Started with parkHIIT guide. 

Could your organisation get involved with parkHIIT? Our first nationwide CSR partner is developing an IT platform and merchandise for parkHIIT. They're also presenting us with a fantastic problem. The advertising campaign they launch when we announce the partnership will completely overwhelm our entirely volunteer-based team!

I'd love to speak with organisations that could help parkHIIT to positively manage this opportunity by funding a role to meet the challenge. Could your organisation help power parkHIIT's people (or get involved in some other way) to take our social enterprise to the next level?

I have a 15 minute presentation that I can deliver to you and your colleagues over Zoom to introduce parkHIIT and answer any questions you may have. Email brian@parkhiit.com to arrange.

If you’d prefer to watch this conversation, you can view it on YouTube through this link. 

You can also find parkHIIT on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or contact Brian via email at brian@parkhiit.com. And if you are interested in knowing more about Anne, you can check out her Linkedin profile.

Additionally, if you want to know more about parkHIIT, here’s an article with everything we discussed in this episode and more

About Your Host

Brian Crooke is a wellbeing educator, speaker and adviser, empowering organisations to promote and sustain wellbeing within their workplaces.

He is the founder of The Work Well Institute and the Work Well Community and is Course Director of the Postgraduate Certificate in Workplace Wellness at Tangent, Trinity College Dublin. He is the host of The Work Well Podcast.

If you’re looking to bring sustainable wellbeing to your workplace then check out The Work Well Institute’s flagship programme, Developing a Workplace Wellness Programme that Lasts.

In his spare time, Brian is bringing free resistance training to every county and community in Ireland through his parkHIIT social enterprise.

If you have any suggestions for future topics you'd like to hear on the show, email Brian directly, brian@workwellpodcast.com