Open Space Radio

How Accessibility Is Impacting Fitness Trends — Episode 040


Listen Later

We have a lot of celebrations coming up this summer. Family Health and Fitness Day is this Saturday, June 8, Olympic Day is June 23, and the entire month of July is Park and Recreation Month! With all of these celebrations in mind, we wanted to highlight the ways in which parks and recreation are part of creating a culture of fitness, as well as making sure that everyone has access to fitness opportunities, regardless of their abilities.

Prepare to be inspired by today’s episode. We’re thrilled to be joined by Jennifer French, who has an amazing story of resilience after overcoming a snowboarding accident in 1998 in which she became a quadriplegic, to becoming a silver medalist representing Team USA at the 2012 Paralympic Games in sailing. We’re also excited to have Sam Mendelsohn, CEO of Greenfields Outdoor Fitness, which has been a leader in accessible outdoor fitness equipment since 2007. Greenfields Outdoor Fitness is also the sponsor of Family Health & Fitness Day, Park and Recreation Month and NRPA’s Parks Build Community.

Jennifer shares her story with us and explains the challenges she faced after her injury, as well as how she had to adapt to continue living an active lifestyle. She also talks about the things she does to stay fit now and gives some tips for others who may be in a similar situation.

Sam and Jennifer also talk about how they connected, and how Jennifer’s story inspired Sam’s work in creating accessible outdoor fitness equipment. Sam shares some of the trends he’s seeing related to accessibility and physical fitness in parks and recreation. They both agree there’s no one way to ensure that everyone in a community has the opportunity to get fit, regardless of physical or cognitive ability, and that getting the community involved is absolutely critical. No one knows the needs of a community more than the people living in that community.

Listen to the full episode to learn more about Jennifer and Sam’s inspiring work — it may even inspire you to go out there and get fit!

Related Links:

Family Health & Fitness Day

Park and Recreation Month

Parks Build Community

Olympic Day

Greenfields Outdoor Fitness

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Open Space RadioBy National Recreation and Park Association

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

40 ratings


More shows like Open Space Radio

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,641 Listeners

The Rachel Maddow Show by Rachel Maddow, MSNBC

The Rachel Maddow Show

36,923 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,076 Listeners

TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

22,098 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,482 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,121 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

55,874 Listeners

Worklife with Adam Grant by TED

Worklife with Adam Grant

9,210 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

15,937 Listeners

Fiction - Comedy Fiction by The Sunset Explorers

Fiction - Comedy Fiction

6,443 Listeners

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart by Comedy Central

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

10,292 Listeners