This idea would take a collaborative effort between fitness equipment manufacturers and athletic clubs.
Step one - get fitness equipment manufacturers to add power generators to their products (treadmills, bikes, stair steppers).
Step two - set up energy storing devices in which they could store generated energy and use this energy to power the facility.
Step three - give members a card to slip into the machine - identifying themselves to the machine and gym. The amount of energy produced by the individual could then be tied back to a refund on the individuals gym fees.
Expensive to implement though...
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The amount of energy expelled by gym patron would not be enough to make such an enterprise finacially worthwhile.
I think this is a great idea. Gyms all across the country are packed with people 'wasting' energy. Unfortunately, I don't think the technology is there yet. I guess they have some cycles and treadmills that power their own display boards, but that's about it. I think it could be taken one step further and a treadmill should be able to generate enough electricity to run a light bulb above the machine. Taken to the extreme, a gym could make use of skylights and no other power source for lighting, relying only on their cardio machines to run the light bulbs throughout the gym. If nobody's running or stepping, hope the sun is out.
This is a great idea. How about starting small and simply having a Television powered by the Exercise bike. Perfect solution for couch potatoes - you get to watch only as much TV as you "pay for" with your sweat. Does anyone know whether the technology exists to "store" energy generated by cycle pedalling? (I'd have thought it works like a turbine - no?)
Some treadmills already do this. They are not powered unless the user is operating the machine, and derives its display power from the power generator on the machine.
But if the user runs more, then u get more power, which is, i guess disposed off. It might be good to store this.