March 21, 2024
Candace Parker and Muscle Milk's The Lifting Project team up with National Fitness Campaign to ignite free outdoor fitness in Atlanta
Before the excitement of March Madness officially kicks off in the college basketball world, the City of Atlanta celebrated some excitement of their own last Wednesday with the help of seven-time WNBA All-Star Candace Parker. Parker helped usher in a new era of free, accessible outdoor fitness after the 10-day nationwide vote last June named the City of Atlanta the winner of a brand new state-of-the-art outdoor Fitness Court® Studio.
Located in the Peoplestown area of the city, D.H. Stanton Park was selected for the Fitness Court® Studio due to its already active fitness community. In addition, the popular 8-acre neighborhood park is connected to a walk/run loop around the park and is just steps away from the Atlanta BeltLine. This Fitness Court® Studio is within a 10-minute walk or bike ride of approximately 25,700 residents, providing a world-class outdoor gym experience all for free.
The official ribbon-cutting ceremony kicked-off on Wednesday, March 13 with Olivia Mitchell, Muscle Milk’s Senior Marketing Manager, welcoming the crowd of 50 to D.H. Stanton Park. Olivia emceed the celebration and shared the vision behind the company’s cause-based initiative, The Lifting Project, which aims to break down barriers for athletes and everyday exercisers to own their strength regardless of circumstances, in and out of the gym.
“Last year, The Lifting Project teamed up with 7x WNBA All-Star Candace Parker and the National Fitness Campaign to help communities across the country own their strength. We announced a nationwide contest where fans voted for one community to win an outdoor fitness space, and Atlanta was selected as the winner! We worked together with the National Fitness Campaign to build this brand new, public outdoor Fitness Court here at D.H. Stanton Park, which provides an affordable and safe place for exercisers in this community.” - Olivia Mitchell
Commissioner of Atlanta Parks and Recreation Justin Cutler added, “The City of Atlanta is proud to be a part of the National Fitness Campaign’s growing network of over 500 healthy communities across the country! The Fitness Court® Studio is a wonderful complement to the existing pavilion, ballfields, playground and splash pad here at D.H. Stanton neighborhood park. Along with these amenities, families living in the neighborhood and nearby will enjoy this Fitness Court® Studio as well as its immediate connection to the Atlanta BeltLine.”
District 1 Atlanta City Councilmember Jason Winston then presented Parker with an official proclamation from the City of Atlanta, the highest honor on behalf of the City Council, declaring March 13, 2024 as "Candace Parker Day" recognizing her as a role model who exemplifies a commitment to wellness and accessibility and a dedication to community service in celebration of Women’s History Month.
“I'm proud to be working with Muscle Milk and their cause-based initiative, The Lifting Project, to help make inner and outer strength more accessible for all bodies,” said Parker. “The Fitness Court® Studio is 100 percent free for anyone to use, 24/7. Having a safe, affordable space to play basketball made me who I am today and I'm so excited to partner with Muscle Milk to make the same kind of space available to this community. As someone who regularly comes to Atlanta for my work as an NBA analyst, I'm honored to be able to give back to this community.”
Before BlazeSports America (BlazeSports) athletes participated in the inaugural workout, Muscle Milk teamed up with Gatorade’s Equity in Sports Initiative and presented the organization a $10,000 donation through non-profit grant-making organization Laureus USA to provide adaptive sports equipment and to help cover adaptive sport facility costs.
Once the ribbon was officially cut, BlazeSports led a yoga class with more than 20 participants on the Fitness Court® Studio classroom. Local and national media outlets provided coverage of the day’s events, capturing footage of the demonstrations on both sides of the Fitness Court® Studio. Fitness Court® Studios deliver a powerful 7-minute full body workout on one side and a versatile outdoor classroom for enjoying yoga, Zumba, pilates and other popular group wellness activities on the opposite side. Every Fitness Court® is digitally connected with the free, Fitness Court® App, a 24/7 coach-in-your-pocket walking the user through 100’s of workouts.
