the rise in gym participation did not take long to catch on in rio - cariocas use their trips to the gym as a means to socialize and meet friends, making it a particularly pleasant event.

some of the most accessible and affordable gyms in the city are the micro gyms situated along the water front pathways and green spaces. these outdoor friendly work out spaces feature a variety of simplified euipment that allow participants to do strength training, and in some of the more elaborate layouts, cardio exercises.

along copacabana and ipanema beach the compact micro gyms can be seen every half a kilometer - the micro gyms with cardio equipment are found along lagoa rodrigo de freitas, in leme beach and atterro de flamengo.