A RE-DESIGN PROJECT: CORRECTION OF AN OUTDOOR FITNESS EQUIPMENT’S DESIGN ACCORDING TO ITS USERS’S ANTHROPOMETRIC AND BIOMECHANICAL DATA

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the anthropometric measurements of the users of outdoor fitness equipment and to re-design of an in-use outdoor fitness equipment according to these measurements. A total of 100 (50 male and 50 female) outdoor fitness equipment users, living in Eskisehir, Turkey, voluntarily participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 18 to 79 years and the mean of their ages were 31,2 (SD: 1,15277). The following human body dimensions were measured: stature, shoulder height, side-arm reach, fist (knuckle) height, forearm length, upper arm length, shoulder-fingertip length, knee height, malleolus height and hand length. The anthropometric measures of the adults and the outdoor fitness equipment’ dimensions were compared in order to identify any incompatibility between them. The data indicated a mismatch between the adults’ bodily dimensions and the outdoor fitness equipment available to them. Later on, in use fitness equipment’s motion output compared with biomechanical limits. Also, a mismatch was found between the motion output and biomechanical limits which might cause injuries. As these mismatches endanger public health, an outdoor fitness equipment, FE02 Stepper was re-designed according to its users’ anthropometric data and biomechanical limits as an example.