MVP Health Care Fitness Court reopens at Cobbs Hill Park

Flaherty says she is thrilled to have the bandwidth, resources and partnership with MVP Health Care and the city to bring free community fitness and wellness to the community. 

“To be able to have something that is open to everybody, super-inclusive and absolutely available to all levels of fitness is truly something I’m so proud to be part of because I just know our community needs it now more than ever,” Flaherty said. 

With music playing and hardly a mask in sight, it was near similar to what normal life working out looks like.

“It was intense. It was a lot of fun, it was hard, and I really enjoyed it,” said Dania Ceruti, an attendee of the class. 

After a frustrating year of “COVID fatigue”, Ceruti saw a post on Facebook about the free class and decided it was time to hit the gym. 

“Before the pandemic, I was a member of a gym. I was being personally trained and it was pretty good. Once the pandemic came, the gyms closed. I really stopped going and I stopped working out altogether. I did nothing during the pandemic,” Ceruti said. 

After a quick hour of exercise during the lunch hour, Ceruti says she has the jolt of energy that was missing from last year.

“I feel energized. I feel hopeful. It releases those endorphins, so I’m automatically happy when I can breathe. And I will be back, It’s so important to work out and be healthy. I know for a fact the pandemic has affected so many people negatively with their health. It’s just good to get out, even if they’re not doing this, they need to walk or do something,” Ceruti said. 

The new fitness court includes 30 pieces of equipment and allows for up to 28 individuals to use the court at the same time. Classes are free and open to everybody in the ROCnFree program, you just need to pre-register to reserve a spot in the class. For a complete schedule of the classes, visit the ROCnFree community fitness and yoga series.