Academias ao ar livre: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Introduction: Outdoor Gyms (OG) were developed for local public squares and parks, with the aim of giving the population access to the practice of physical activity focused on health and well-being. As it is implementation has been disseminated throughout the world year after year, this study sought to understand, based on various academic productions, what is already known about the users to this space, how the equipments are used, whether there is professional guidance on site, among other investigations explored in the OG. Objective: To gather academic research associated with OG, developed both in Brazil and in other countries, in order to systematically expose and compare the information present in the literature. Methods: The selection of studies was carried out in six databases (Cochrane Library, PubMed, LILACS, Web of Science, Scopus and Scielo), with no fixed initial period until May 2022, using the research term: outdoor gym AND health gym AND physical education. Subsequently, the studies that met the previously established inclusion criteria were maintained. Results: In the end, 17 studies were included and allocated according to their similarities, resulting in the construction of the following categories: users profile; location effectiveness; physical activity level; systematic reviews. The following isolated categories also emerged: teaching strategies; professional performance; equipments use; physical structure. Conclusion: Literature analyzes indicate that there is still no characteristic users profile of OG, but that the low-income population is the one that most uses the equipments. It is necessary that there are Physical Education professionals in the OG, so that this population can receive adequate guidance, perform physical activities reaching satisfactory levels and feel more encouraged to adhere to their practices in the OG.