City parks and recreation agencies in the Lake Travis and Westlake areas have installed or plan to add outdoor fitness or exercise stations along lakeshores and pathways to encourage physical activity outside.

The stations consist of various exercise equipment, such as parallel bars, pushup bars and sit-up benches, and—depending on the park—are clustered together or spread out along trails

New fitness stations at Dick Nichols Park in Southwest Austin were installed in March, said Marty Stump, assistant director for the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.

“Austin is very fitness-oriented and very outdoors-oriented, so there’s some real synergy of having this sort of amenity in the parks,” he said.

Fitness stations at Lakeway City Park were installed in 2009 following a decision by the Mayor’s Fitness Council, a City Council subcommittee formed to implement fitness ideas in the city, said Andra Dearing, parks director for the city of Lakeway.

“Particularly with Lakeway, you have a good balance of some older residents that have free time but that are also looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle,” she said. “And then you have the young people who have moved in and are very interested in exercise and fitness.”

Rollingwood Park Commission member Amy Pattillo said numerous groups who use park equipment for workouts have requested improvements to the existing stations or additional fitness equipment, but the commission has not been able to address those needs. Pattillo said she hopes to look into the possibility of that project in the future.