Hundreds of people sweat it out every day on cardiovascular machines in gyms around the country in an effort to burn off the excess energy our bodies have the pesky habit of storing away as fat.
But what a waste; we lose weight, but what happens to all that stored up energy? The cardio studio gets hotter, and the windows steam up. We open the windows, and the energy is all quite literally lost. Meanwhile, we worry about electricity bills and face pressure to live greener and conserve more and more energy in our homes and throughout our daily existence.
The global obesity problem has now been termed ‘globesity’. Obesity occurs when our bodies store up all the leftover energy we obtain from excess eating, as fat.
While we’re all about saving energy and forking out more cash for our home electricity needs, one in four people in the UK and US are walking energy goldmines.
What if we could somehow convert our fat-burning physical exertion in electrical power? The technology to achieve this is by no means new, but now it has hit the mainstream. The burning question is this: would you exercise more if it saved you money?
Living greener often goes hand in hand with living healthier. Options like walking or cycling instead of driving are good for the environment and great for us. With new technology from the US, you can now get greener and healthier than ever before.
Resource Fitness is an American company based in Seattle. It produces energy-producing cardiovascular equipment. Its range currently consists exclusively of a stationary bike, however the concept it has generated could be applied to any cardiovascular machine, and possible even resistance machines.
Energy-producing fitness machines have been produced before, however the Resource Fitness version does not require the installation of any additional electrical equipment. You simply plug the cycle into any electricity socket in your home, and it will feed generated power directly into your home.
Most users can generate between 50 to 150 Watts, and sustain it for anything up to an hour. If you are of above average fitness, you might even be able to generate up to 250 Watts for the same amount of time. How can you produce even more? According to the manufacturers, “Push harder, faster, and longer!” We won’t be plugging exercise machines in anymore; soon we’ll be plugging them out.
The Green Microgym is a fitness club operator in the US, and the first chain to adopt Resource Fitness technology. Its members are proud to claim, “We are the machines”. They help produce some of the energy required to power the building, conform to other green measures set out by the club philosophy, and as a result, enjoy significantly lower membership tariffs than members of rival clubs.
Their motto: “Big results. Small footprint.” As a company spokesmen has said, “It is the energy-saving culture that has saved more energy than the production of energy from the machines themselves.”
So, while you might not generate all the power you’ll ever need, with such an intimate involvement in the power balance of your home you might become far more likely to live more economically.
If you know how hard you had to work to earn one hour of TV time, you might plan your TV time accordingly, picking only your favourite shows while appreciating them more.
If you know how hard you had to work for each half hour you leave a light bulb on without really needing it, then you may be much quicker to turn lights off in your home.
The Resource Fitness cycle isn’t available in Malta yet, but now that the technology has hit the US market, it’s only a matter of time before we gain access to an entire range of energy-producing fitness equipment.
We still have one of the highest childhood obesity rates in Europe, so what better way for parents to teach their children about the value of home energy and the importance of pitching in, while keeping our national weight problem in check. Half an hour a day on the power production machine could earn a child their TV and video game quota for the day, as well as fulfil their daily recommended amount of physical activity.
Who knows what the future might hold? Exercise-induced energy production may become so efficient that we are able to cover all our own power needs, or even sell it on. With sufficient fitness you may gain a nice little earner, getting paid for every burst of physical exercise you indulge in.
Progressive cities are already testing the idea of offering free public bicycles that store energy in batteries, and feed it back into the city power grid when the bike is docked at docking stations positioned at central hubs around the city.
The future might be green, but it could just as easily become red hot. Six-pack abs and rock hard butts may become a small price to pay for saving the planet, our waistlines, and our hard-earned cash.