The Buena Vida Podcast

Creating Healthier Communities: Trent Matthias on Outdoor Fitness

• Lacy Wolff • Season 4 • Episode 3

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Your environment plays a crucial role in shaping your health and well-being. In this episode of the Buena Vida Podcast, Lacy interviews with Trent Matthias, Director of the National Fitness Campaign, to explore how thoughtfully designed public spaces can inspire healthier lifestyles.

With nearly 40 years of history, the National Fitness Campaign is transforming communities by creating free outdoor fitness courts, making movement accessible to all. Trent shares insights on how urban design influences physical activity, the challenges of funding and advocacy, and the power of community-driven wellness initiatives.

We’ll also dive into success stories from cities embracing the campaign and practical steps you can take to bring fitness courts and wellness spaces to your own neighborhood.

Join us for an inspiring conversation on how public spaces can support well-being, and learn how you can be part of the movement. Don’t forget to check the show notes for resources, subscribe, and join Buena Vida—our wellness program where we connect, learn, and support each other! Plus, I’m offering weekly giveaways in our community groups—this is a great way to stay engaged and motivated!

Resources Discussed: 

National Fitness Campaign Website- find a Fitness Court, explore the exercise library, learn about grant opportunities or become an ambassador! 

UT Houston School of Public Health's Tu Salud Si Cuenta Program (Your Health Matters) in the Rio Grande Valley

Buena Vida - Join us in living "the Good Life" through our new wellness program for HealthSelect & Consumer Directed HealthSelect plan participants!  

Speaker 1:

The dream scenario for me, anyway, is you do everything you can to control the controllables in terms of those variables, and over many years and decades, some of those little habits will pick up and make a really big difference in how you feel and your long-term health.

Speaker 2:

Hi and welcome to the Buena Vida podcast, where we explore the many ways you can live a healthier, more fulfilling life. I'm your host, lacey Wolfe. In today's episode, I'm thrilled to be joined by Trent Mathias, who is the director of the National Fitness Campaign and a landscape architect with a deep passion for how environment shapes health and well-being. Trent's journey into public fitness began with his background in landscape architecture, where he saw firsthand how thoughtfully designed space can inspire movement, connection and better health. Now, through the National Fitness Campaign, he is leading the charge to bring free, accessible outdoor fitness spaces to communities across the country. Since its launch, the National Fitness Campaign has partnered with hundreds of cities, schools and organizations to install state-of-the-art outdoor fitness courts, providing people of all ages and abilities with free, high-quality space to move and connect.

Speaker 2:

In this conversation, you're going to hear about the history and the mission of the National Fitness Campaign, how where we live influences our overall health and well-being, the power of public fitness spaces in fostering healthier, more connected communities, some challenges and success stories from bringing these spaces to life and exciting future projects, and how you may be the person who brings an outdoor fitness court or the National Fitness Campaign initiative into your community. Trent's unique perspective lends design research as well as community impact, making this a fascinating conversation for anyone who believes in the power of public space to transform health. Whether you're a community leader, a fitness enthusiast or you're simply curious about how thoughtful design can improve well-being, this episode is for you. Here's my conversation with Trent Mathias.

Speaker 1:

All right. Welcome to the Buena Vida podcast.

Speaker 2:

Trent, thank you so much for joining. Thanks, lacey, glad to be here. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to having some conversation with you. I thought it'd be great if you could start by explaining to our listeners what is the National Fitness Campaign, a little bit about its history.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely Happy to and thanks again for having me. So again, my name is Trent Mathias. I'm the director at National Fitness Campaign. We're an interesting crew. We're a wellness consulting firm and our mission is to build healthy communities all across America. We're actually doing a ton of work in Texas right now, which is part of how we got connected, which is fun, and the history is pretty unique.

Speaker 1:

Folks that are listening might remember way back when these wooden outdoor gym elements pull-up bars, sit-up benches that started to appear in parks. That was us. That was the original campaign almost 40 years ago, and it was born with a real simple mission to get Americans outdoors and help them move more every day to stay healthier. Our founder, mitch Menaged, invented the campaign back then with Stanford University, and Wells Fargo Bank got involved, and we were fortunate to bring the program to thousands of locations over the better part of a decade with the wooden outdoor gyms. Fast forward to about a decade ago. The campaign was reinvented for the 21st century and we are now scaling once again with a brand new initiative focused around a free outdoor gym that's built in parks and schools, called the Fitness Court, and it provides opportunities for folks to stay active. So that's the quick history. It started almost 40 years ago and we are now on the launch of the second iteration of the campaign. It's growing rapidly across the country.

Speaker 2:

That's amazing and I was so excited. After I talked to you, I realized we have a fitness court in Pflugerville, texas, where I live, and so I was really excited and I went over there. It's amazing because there's an app that goes along with it. It makes fitness really simple and the equipment is phenomenal. So I'm excited to talk to you more about that. Can you talk a little bit about, because I'd love for our listeners to get to know about you? Also, I know you went to Virginia Tech and you were a landscape architect. That was your background. Can you talk about your journey to getting into this outdoor fitness space?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, of course. So for me, wellness and fitness has always been part of my life. Played a lot of sports growing up, I took a big interest in designing buildings at first architecture. I went and visited Virginia Tech and got a chance to tour the landscape architecture department and thought wait a second, I think I like being outside more than I like being inside, and that's what landscape architects do. They help design public spaces, the built environment and outdoor places. And so I thought that's what landscape architects do. They help design public spaces, the built environment and outdoor places. And so I thought that's pretty interesting, got hooked into that and as my education went along, my thesis actually focused on uniting my passion fitness and wellness with what I was studying at the time, which was landscape architecture.

Speaker 1:

So I took a look at a project over the better part of 18 months that investigated how our environments shape our habits and behaviors and, in turn, our health. And so that's where all this really started for me. I was fortunate to be in the Bay Area many years ago after my education and ran into the very first fitness court right next to the Golden Gate Bridge that our founder Mitch had placed there to help kick off the new campaign, I thought this has got to be the best thing I've ever seen for outdoor wellness, and I've got to learn more about it. And so I was in the right place at the right time, and that's where the journey started with the campaign.

Speaker 2:

That's a great story. I mean, you were just there, you saw it and you said I've got to be a part of this. And here you are director. Absolutely, that's amazing. I think most of us know that, intuitively, where we live plays a role in our health. But could you talk a little bit more about what you see from the research around? How does where we live and our environment impact our overall health?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. This is something I get really excited about. I'm not sure about the listeners, but I think in terms of your everyday habits it's when you start to think about this you'd be surprised how many of them are directly connected to where you live. There's really incredible research now that's been done across many decades that show inextricable links between the cities that we live in and health outcomes. And where you see a lot of this is european cities. They're older, there's more pedestrian infrastructure, so sidewalks um tighter spaces that cars don't fit into bike lanes. Those infrastructures, along with public transportation access, make it more likely that people will walk or ride their bike. So suddenly you're starting to walk and ride your bike a little bit more to get to work, to get to school, to go pick up dinner, to cook, and so these things add up. They really stack up what we see? Still a pretty car-centric society. We're jumping in our cars a lot. I know, lacey, you're down there in Texas, I'm sure here and again you're jumping in your car, I do the same thing. But those habits are going to stack up and so that's one really clear analogy.

Speaker 1:

You can think about just your transportation choices and, depending on where you live, this is going to be different. If you're in a little bit more densely populated area, you might be choosing to walk a little more. Things might be closer. If you're in a sparsely populated area, you might be driving more. So there's really extensive research on this. This is really our passion and our work at the campaign is to help identify and explore these connections. But for me personally, I know that if I didn't live where I live in Northern California, I wouldn't be out on my bike quite as much, and I saw that change when I moved from Virginia out here. There's just more infrastructure in this area for cycling, walking, jogging, and so I think it's really interesting to explore that and it's certainly something that can be applied for the listeners in their everyday life and sort of thinking about where they live be applied for the listeners in their everyday life and sort of thinking about where they live.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, it's so interesting. I feel very blessed that I got to live in Europe for about a decade and I remember when I moved there from Texas. I grew up in the country and it took us 30 minutes drive to get to the grocery store and when we got to Germany the first place we lived working for the army we were walking to the grocery. I didn't have a car and I was like, oh, I can only get the things that I need in my backpack and so then you're carrying those things. But now that I'm back living in the suburbs, it is challenging. You have to really make an effort to get out and do those things that we know that are so good for us. It's an interesting field and also, I think even from zip code to zip code we see differences in people's health right.

Speaker 1:

A hundred percent and there's a lot of factors, you know built environment, definitely something that plays into it. There's, of course, many different layers of policy and other decisions that are made that may shape behaviors, and then at the individual level, there's all kinds of things that are hanging us and seeking our attention and enforcing certain habits and behaviors, and so I think for me it really comes down to what is in your control. How can you set up your daily life and where you live to be the most supportive of some of those healthy habits and behaviors? And that's sort of the dream scenario for me, anyway, is you do everything you can to control the controllables in terms of those variables and over many years and decades some of those little habits will pick up and make a really big difference in how you feel and your long-term health.

Speaker 2:

That makes so much sense. I know that building these fitness courts across the country, you get to see all different types of municipal governments, state governments, because you work a lot with the public sector. What kind of challenges do you face when it comes to actually building fitness courts and is there anything kind of notable around that that you've learned for building healthy spaces?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's a great question, you know. Really, the good news is most civic officials and education sector leaders when they hear about the program, they get kind of excited. They connect with the idea of building healthy communities, so there's a lot of support. One of the big efforts, of course, as many folks listening will know, is always prioritization of programs and funding to make that happen. We're in a really fortunate position that in Texas, blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas has taken an interest in the work and they're actually our state sponsor and they've been supporting the funding side of the equation for eligible municipalities and schools, which is fantastic. We work with many of America's largest healthcare companies that are seeing that it's pretty important to also invest back into communities to help people stay healthier. That's good for everybody and so fortunately, we have some resources and a team that actually helps solve some of these key challenges resources and a team that actually helps solve some of these key challenges. Space is also important, so we do a lot of work to help identify site locations and parks along trails on college, school and school high school campuses to make this happen. But there's really a myriad of issues that start to happen at the local level and at the end of the day, we're pretty good at the funding piece, pretty good at helping find the right locations to build these wellness hubs, but the prioritization is key and that's where folks can come in and really help.

Speaker 1:

As advocates, each of us actually has a lot of ability to impact change at the local level. It's pretty interesting when you get a little bit into it and I'm sure some of the listeners are engaged in their communities. There's are engaged in their communities. But city council meetings, parks and recreation committee meetings and commission meetings you'd be surprised how much you can do if you speak up a little bit and talk about what's important and if wellness infrastructure is important, that's kind of the start and the catalyst for change. So we're doing a lot of work around the country to help encourage folks to speak up. If they feel like having outdoor wellness hubs or trails and pedestrian infrastructure is key, they can actually have a lot of impact. And I think that's something Lacey that sometimes folks don't realize that that local government level or working with your local school board, with the high school, those things are really accessible to anybody in the community.

Speaker 2:

For sure, and I know my husband and I have recently gotten pretty involved in our local government and the municipal government. My husband's actually going through a class right now called Pflugerville 101, where he's learning all about all the committees and each week I think last week they did Parks and Rec and he learned about our fitness court and they came in and the class was in our rec center and things like that. I think so much of our health and well-being we have more control over, like you said, but in the municipal government, like so much of our health, is dependent upon our municipal government. Yet a lot of people have no idea how to get involved. Do you have, like, do y'all have kind of a playbook or anything available for people for how they could bring something like this to city leaders? How would somebody share that?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. Yeah, we've got a number of resources at National Fitness Campaign that folks can have access to and definitely encourage folks to poke around and check it out. The good news is, across Texas, we're really growing. There are over 50 fitness courts already available and there are many dozens of them being funded and built at all times towards hundreds of them across the state to make it accessible within 10 minutes of every Texan. And so, number one, you can find your nearest fitness court pretty easily by jumping on the fitness court app or checking out our website, which is great In terms of advocating to bring the campaign or initiative like this to your community.

Speaker 1:

They're absolutely tools and resources.

Speaker 1:

I think, lacey, what you pointed out there are commissions and committees that are present in every municipal government, and those are great ways for citizens to be involved.

Speaker 1:

One of the easiest ways we recommend is actually just attending a council meeting and speaking up during the public comment section. So many folks may not know this, but council meetings regularly have opportunities for community members to bring up important issues to them, and these meetings can last a little bit of time, but you can jump in usually the comment period somewhat in the beginning and we encourage folks to get out there and advocate if there's an issue that's important to you. Maybe you'd love to see better sidewalks in your part of town so you could start a habit to walk five to 10 minutes every evening. Those are opportunities to do that. We've also developed a toolkit with some resources, like a three-minute film, that help people bring these types of issues to the attention of civic leaders, and there's easy ways to get that shared. So, yeah, I would actually start with the local council meeting and jump in there and get a sense of it if you're interested in advocating and being involved.

Speaker 2:

Trent, do you mind telling me a little bit about how these parks are funded?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely yeah.

Speaker 1:

The campaign really facilitates a unique public-private EAT funding grants that provide an important share of the funds from National Fitness Campaign and Blue Cross and Blue Shield Texas, and there's a match required at the local level from the applicants.

Speaker 1:

So we find that bringing funding together from a few resources is a great way for all the participating entities to share in the funding, create more impact across the state and the country, and it's also really important that the local municipalities and schools value wellness and are also invested in this so that they take great care of the program, help promote it with their citizens and get a lot of people involved. So it's great. So there are lots and lots of seed funds In fact, over a million dollars worth of seed grant funding available across the state just this year from NFC and Blue Cross, blue Shield Texas year from NFC and Blue Cross, blue Shield Texas and our consulting group helps assist really all municipalities and school systems across the state and learning about the program becoming eligible and then joining over the next decade, which is our goal to get everybody involved.

Speaker 2:

Trent, do you have any success stories? Specifically, I don't know if you could share a couple of success stories in Texas, for where the National Fitness Campaign has come in and helped to transform communities or to support communities in various ways.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. Yeah, too many to count. I think a couple of my favorites in Texas gosh probably one of the most fun and powerful stories we've had so far just happened. I think this was last year and this was. South Plains College joined the campaign and we actually in this case, we had a, of course, seed fund from NFC and Blue Cross, blue Shield of Texas and the college was extremely supportive and there was actually a donation from a family of a longtime educator at the school named Judy Bryant, and so this became the Judy Bryant Outdoor Fitness Court, brought to the school by NFC, blue Cross, blue Shield Texas and South Plains College.

Speaker 1:

It was just a tremendous launch and story and what a great way to honor someone who's just dedicated many, many years I think over 40 years of service to the school and now is involved through her family, her son, giving back to something that will be there for decades to impact wellness for that community. So just a tremendous story. There's been a lot of use. The fitness court there, the Judy Bryant Fitness Court, had tremendous engagement, so that's one that is just a fantastic story. We've had a ton of success with large municipalities as well, and one that comes to mind is Grand Prairie, texas, who's been a leader in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They've built a network of outdoor fitness courts six of them so far that are breaking down barriers to access across different demographic groups, really buying into the importance of changing the built environment to support well-being, and so we're seeing many of these stories pop up every year. We expect about 25 new outdoor fitness courts to open up across the state this year, thanks to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.

Speaker 2:

Wow, I love those stories and I love that South Plains is one of the colleges that is in our ERS health plan population, so that makes me really happy to hear about that fitness court and I hope to go to Leveland one day and see it myself. So that's amazing. Yeah, are there any projects that you're currently working on? And also I'm going to ask more specifically in the Texas area that you're excited about? Yeah, absolutely I'd the Texas area that you're excited about?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely, I'd say this year we're most excited about work happening down in the Rio Grande Valley. So there's a couple of exciting announcements. I can't quite get them out there publicly just yet, but, working with some really tremendous partners in the region, folks that are involved in supporting wellness in that area, the city of Brownsville is jumping in. There's many participating municipalities and schools and we are really investing in that region as one of the innovation zones across the country with the campaign. So, very excited about that. More to come.

Speaker 1:

They're running their annual wellness challenge down there, which is brought to that region by UT Health Houston School of Public Health out of Brownsville, and there's a really tremendous initiative that's been happening down there for well over a decade, brought to that region by the School of Public Health in Brownsville from the UT Houston School of Public Health Lots of acronyms, but Dr Reidegger is the name of the dean of the school and she's been doing some tremendous research over a couple decades on public health interventions that help support healthier behaviors and really impact diabetes rates and health outcomes. So I'd encourage everybody to check out Dr Reiniger's team and her work. Their initiative's called Two Salutes Sequenta and we've been glad to be a part of it. I think there's going to be a lot more work happening as we bring more wellness infrastructure to that region with Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Speaker 2:

That's amazing and I will share the link to that program in the show notes as well. It's interesting because we have the UT Houston School of Public Health just moved into the ERS building at 1836 San Jacinto or at least some of their team and they have a cooking demonstration kitchen and all kinds. I mean it's like a learning lab. I'm excited for potential collaborations with them as well, because it seems like just an amazing organization. Absolutely so, Trent, I'm so grateful for the time with you. I wanted to wrap up with just a couple of questions about, kind of personally, what do you do to maintain your own wellbeing? You obviously care a lot about health and wellness, and the title and the theme of our program is Buena Vida, which means a good life. So I don't know if you could just tell our listeners a little bit about what is a good life for you?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that question. Thanks for thanks for asking it. You know, for me it's pretty simple I've got to move outside every day, we've got to make that happen. Most days I do it more than once. So typically my formula is three outdoor walks and some form of more strenuous strength training or cardiovascular training. And I think folks hear that and they say, whoa, wait a second, you must be spending two to three hours, and that's not the case. The outdoor walks are short. One in the middle of the day is super important. We're all working hard and in many cases stuck at a computer and a desk, and so I, no matter how busy my schedule is, I make sure I get outside and walk straight up a steep hill at some point for about 10 or 15 minutes and get some sunshine. That's really important to me.

Speaker 1:

Cycling's become a love of mine, being out here in Northern California, so that's a big one.

Speaker 1:

But I think, most importantly, moving outside and when you can do it with people which is where cycling comes in we've got a group that we go with.

Speaker 1:

That really, to me, is what a great life and health looks like, is getting to move outside with a group of people and having that social connection, and it's no coincidence that that's what the fitness courts are designed to do.

Speaker 1:

They're designed to bring people outside as a group. There's a really functional seven-minute full-body workout that anybody, at any age or ability, can engage in. It's free, they're out there, they're connected to our public spaces, they're out there in the sunshine and that's kind of what it's all about. You know, five or 10 minutes a day, even just starting with one wellness habit to get outside and move, can make a huge difference, and it not only makes me feel great Lacey but gives me the energy and the support to kind of dig in and have a successful and healthy life. And that's something I learned from Mitch our founder, who to this day is very involved in the campaign, is really the energy behind making this whole thing happen, and if you had a chance to ask him what his day looked like, he might say something similar. He's up early and outside moving his body as well, so that's kind of how it all works.

Speaker 2:

That's great. It all goes back to habits, right, that's it. How do you make yourself get up to go for those walks, trent, just for the listeners that may I mean for me honestly, right now, how do you do it.

Speaker 1:

Two key things right now. One, a 90-pound chocolate lab's. He's on me. If I'm, uh, if I'm slacking at all, he'll get, he'll get me, which you know. That's again, it's a choice, right, dogs take a little bit of work, but if you, if you get one that needs some, some exercise, what a great way to keep you engaged and make sure you get them outside. So that's another one of those lifestyle design pieces that, uh, of course you know has an impact. And then I've got a two-year-old son and he's got to get get outside quite a bit, or, uh, same same thing there. So he keeps me pretty honest. So that's the morning walk. And then, uh, keeping myself accountable with a group of guys that I ride with and cycle with. That's really important. So, whether it's a walking group or you know somebody, that's your accountability buddy to get in the gym. I've always found that over the years, even back to sports and practice with the team and having accountability with others is a key aspect. So morning walk, I'm accountable to Randy, the 90 pound chocolate lab.

Speaker 2:

That's a great dog name too, randy. Oh, no way, yeah, he's definitely a Randy.

Speaker 1:

So he's a big. He's a big guy.

Speaker 2:

That's great. Well, I am so grateful for the time. As soon as I learned about this program, I thought how do we get this out to our population? How do we help people understand what is the national fitness campaign? How can people access these courts? So thank you for your time For our listeners. I will be putting all the information in the show notes. So check it out, see if there is a fitness court in your area and, if there's not, see if you can get involved in trying to help get one. So I think everybody, like you said, can play a role. So thank you again, trent, it's so wonderful to talk to you.

Speaker 1:

I'm looking forward to getting this out to our listeners. Yes, thanks. So much, lacey. Thanks for having me on and really appreciate the time.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for tuning in for this episode of the Buena Vida podcast. I hope you found our conversation with Trent Mathias as inspiring as I did. It is incredible to see how the National Fitness Campaign is transforming communities and making fitness more accessible to everyone. If you're interested in learning more, be sure to check out our show notes for links to resources that we discussed. If you haven't already, please subscribe to our Buena Vida podcast wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode.

Speaker 2:

We are pushing out episodes once a month and we've got some great guests lined up throughout the year. And if you want to take your wellness journey even further and you are a Health Select of Texas or Consumer Directed Health Select plan participant, join Buena Vida, our well-being program, and become part of our community groups, where we support each other, we share experiences and we grow together. I'm offering some weekly giveaways right now in our groups. This is a fun way to connect, learn and to stay motivated. Thanks again for listening. Until our next episode, keep moving, keep growing and keep living the Buena Vida. Take care everybody.