Get Buff While Geeking Out

Two different devices intended to slow the nerd obesity epidemic just came to our attention. PoconoPCDoctor writes about the Geek-A-Cycle, which is a workstation with built-on exercise bike that you have to pedal to run the computer. And several readers pointed out the FP Gamerunner (mirror), reviewed here: think treadmill meets Quake 4. Again, you have to keep moving to stay in the game.

Comments

Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[eldavojohn]

These devices are a great step forward and I challenge criticisms of them. These are things in their infancy but with our economy as it is, I'll bet there's a few early adopters out there for this technology.

The only valid criticisms might be cost & intrusion. They are both fairly large devices from what I can tell. In order for them to last a while, I would assume they are made out of solid steel that would be ever present in a living room. Frankly, I'm surprised that they went the bike/running route when it would have been easier to set up a rowing or "hand cycling" device instead. I don't think this device is for the gamer who is looking to tone his already rock hard body so I wouldn't be so concerned which muscles the device works out, only that they achieve a cardiovascular exercise when they use the device. I can think of a contraption for rowing that is quite small (hooks to your feet and has a t-bar for your hands to pull) or a hand peddle device with little more than a base to stabilize it.

I like the FP GameRunner much more than the Geek-A-Cycle which simply powers the computer ... after all, it's competition that drives the gamer. Hell, if you can make these cheap and very competitive in nature, I'm sure many schools will be interested in using them for gym class. The only requirement is that you have a healthy mix of strength versus strategy, I doubt that simply pumping your legs for five minutes and the fastest wins will draw many people. Provide a live course that adjusts for the path you take on the trail and penalizes you for falling and I think you're definitely headed in the right direction.

These are good starts at addressing a growing problem, but I'm hoping innovation kicks in as this market grows. In college, my roommate would watch TV and fix an device to his arm that sent electric shocks to his muscles. He would sit there and twitch and twitch and I just could not stomach that. These are, in my opinion, better that the over medication and electrocution I've witnessed some people put themselves through.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[eln]

Personally, my major problem with these (other than ergonomics on the cycle) is the fact that you HAVE to use them to keep going. A geek just starting out with this thing would get winded in 10 minutes and quickly give up, and probably throw the thing out the window because he wants to stay on his computer for more than 10 minutes at a time. Allowing me to, say, cycle for 10 or 15 minutes at a time and then take a break *while still being able to use my computer* would be a lot more helpful.

Having something like this that allows me to exercise while using my computer is good enough, don't force me to use it by powering off my computer if I stop for a breather.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[symes]

Not only that but this idea seems to miss one important aspect of exercise - destressing by just going and applying your brain to something different for a while.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[coolgeek]

The treadmill is a USB input device. Unplug it and start using your keyboard/mouse again. Looking at the geek-a-cycle site, it appears there is no computer interface: As you think, pedal. When you type, stop pedaling. Yep, looks like there's no excuse for keeping that Mountain Dew Belly there, geekboy.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[Qzukk]

it would have been easier to set up a rowing or "hand cycling" device instead.

It probably would have been easier to do it that way, but much harder to use the computer.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[MWoody]

Hrm... Working out via repetitive hand motions while surfing the Internet... Why does this sound familiar?

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[ViperG]

fpgamerunner.com is down.

mirror site is www.gamerunner.us

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[nwbvt]

Just a clarification, does that Geek-A-Cycle really "power" the computer? Based on what I read, it sounds more like all it does is lock your computer if you start peddling, otherwise you would really be screwed if you had to get off for a minute and you lost all your data because the computer shut down.

I'm still not sure this would be very appropriate for an office environment, though. For starters, if your office was essentially turned into a gym, you might not be able to stand working there for a typical 8+ hour day with your overweight co-workers working up a sweat in the cubicle next door. Plus it can be difficult to concentrate on doing some work while working out. Try reading a book while working out at a gym. Its unlikely you will be able to get as far as you would if you were reading on a couch.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[brkello]

Challenge accepted. This will only be used by people who actually care about their weight. These are the people who would be hitting the gym, playing sports, or doing some form of cardio activity outdoors. Geeks don't care about exercise. They are going to get thier caffinated soda and doughnuts and plop down in front of their monitor. Geeks would get more out of figuring out how to bypass the device to make the computer think it is pedaling rather than actually work out.

To combat obesity we have to combat our culture. We need to keep gym class in the schools so kids get and learn the value of regular exercise. We need to integrate activity in to our work scheduled; employers should have on-site excercise equipment and encourage work out breaks rather than coffee breaks. We need to combat retaurants and their gigantic serving sizes. We don't need to go so far as the past where we idolize overly thin people (to the point of encouraging eating disorders). But we need to encourage healthy weights before obesity related diseases become our number one killers.

I used to joke around that I should rig something like this up. But that's just it...this is a joke. If you want to stay in shape, that get away from you computer and do it. I don't want to go to work and see everyone literally sweating over their keyboards. Geeks already have a BO stereotype...let's not make it worse!

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[0xdeadbeef]

What the hell do you think about? Long distance running is the most mind-numbingly boring activity imaginable. Once you get past the conditioning and the masochistic endorphin high of doing something painfully hard, it becomes a tedious grind that takes hours out of your day. I would kill for a direct neural interface just so I could do something useful while running or hiking.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[voidptr]

We need to keep gym class in the schools so kids get and learn the value of regular exercise.

I don't know about where you went to school, but gym class in grade school doesn't teach the value of squat. In every school I went to, gym was extra practice for the jocks, except they got to use everyone who wasn't as fast or skilled as them as target practice. You want to turn someone off from physical activity, there's no quicker way to do it than making them play football against the varsity team, or run laps with the track team.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[aztec rain god]

Doesn't anyone just take their dog for a walk anymore? Its free, and you might meet a girl.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[Kickersny.com]

...don't force me to use it by powering off my computer if I stop for a breather

Easy fix to that: have the device power the monitor. If you get off to take a breather, only your monitor loses power (saving you money in electricity use..).

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[Professor_Marvel]

If you build it, they will pedal.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[Manchot]

While I realize that this device provides very healthy aerobic exercise, the title is just wrong. You can't get "buff" with this machine, because cardiovascular work alone simply cannot increase your muscle size. To do this, you need to have some form of resistance training (e.g., lifting weights), as well as a caloric surplus. As a matter of fact, if you were trying to get "buff," this device would be working against you by burning calories that might otherwise be spent building muscle.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[shaitand]

"These are things in their infancy but with our economy as it is, I'll bet there's a few early adopters out there for this technology."

I am not sure where you are from. But here in the US the economy sucks.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[Lactoso]

"Doesn't anyone just take their dog for a walk anymore? Its free, and you might meet a girl."

Well, normally I do, but I haven't been able to since this grey-goo problem has been forcing those rolling restarts.... Oh, wait a second, did you mean a *real* girl? Oh, nevermind.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[shaitand]

"We need to keep gym class in the schools so kids get and learn the value of regular exercise."

Keeping gym class in school is nice, but keeping gym class mandatory is ridiculous. By their very nature kids will get more exercise if you let them out of school an hour earlier and skip the gym class. Especially the students who have no interest in sports. Perhaps gym wouldn't be as bad if it were expanded beyond sports (in fact, sports should be eliminated from schools altogether), letting those who did not want to participate in sports participate in Yoga or similar exercises. As time goes on the Yoga gets more advanced and progresses to additional forms. At least then you can maintain the farce that you are teaching something. School is for education after all, not physical fitness.

Students shouldn't be required to dress in open locker rooms or shower in open locker rooms. Since the class would be optional then participation would be a requirement and tests could be administered to show how much the students have learned (although knowledge of a movement is what you would test, not physical ability to perform them). Being fit should never give a student an edge in any aspect of school.

"Geeks would get more out of figuring out how to bypass the device to make the computer think it is pedaling rather than actually work out."

True enough. Perhaps we should put geeks to work on figuring out how to bypass the effort required to work out. Perhaps a system that sent signals to the brain that initiated exercises and physical activity without conscious control. Of course pain signals would have to be inhibited at the same time. It isn't enough to prevent me from having to summon the strength to make those last few reps, I don't want to feel the burn either. We can live with the after effects since they are temporary and go away.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[zurtle]

Yeah, I tried reading a book while on the exercycle at the uni gym once. I had the following concentration breakers:

1. I got the book sweaty.

1. Chicks working out.

1. It was a maths textbook... I find I have trouble concentrating on those in the first place.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[IdolizingStewie]

OK, I can understand wanting a direct neural interface while running. I love it, myself, although I have been distressingly lax since I got to college and no longer have a team to train with, but I know many people hate it. Why would you want one while hiking, though? The whole point of hiking is nature. You might as well be on a stairstepper in the gym otherwise. At least there you could watch the news or something.

In reference to your question, however, I find the best times are when I can, and I've only managed this briefly, clear my mind of everything and just be. I've been bored running, but there's a difference and it's really relaxing sometimes to just not think about anything, important or mundane. On another note, I do some of my best thinking on long runs when I've got problems in my life. I find it's the best way to clear my mind short of beating the shit out of someone, and that's generally frowned upon in polite society (outside of a martial arts studio). It even beats chocolate as a pick-me-up (although I might be the only girl in the world to admit anything beats chocolate as a pick-me-up).

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[Hoi Polloi]

I wonder, is there any way to simulate moving in any direction (horizontal of course) in a virtual reality environment? Standing on a giant track ball is the closest thing I can think of but it seems like a poor simulation, not to mention likely to cause injury.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[PPGMD]

In every school I went to, gym was extra practice for the jocks...

At every school I went to the jocks were exempt from gym class if they choose to be. At one of my schools gym class was only for the freshmen and sophomores, and not only did the usual soccer, football, baseball, but also did dancing (swing, line dancing, et al), archery and others.

It was quite pleasing to out shoot everyone else in archery because the rest of the kids had typical city families that never shot a gun or went hunting (my father enjoyed bow hunting in particular), and get picked by the prettiest girl in the class to be her dance partner for swing dancing week.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[randallman]

Shut up and hike the ball, nerd!

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[elmurado]

I could be wrong, but the problem is that just exercising whilst not changing diet will not do much for losing weight. It takes a lot of exercise to lose the kind of energy you'd get from your average Mars bar. Packaged foods these days are so much higher in sugar and salts than they ever were before.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[TEMMiNK]

The problem with a 'rower' or 'hand cycle' is that the hands are our interface with the computer, so if you are using them to power it, how are you going to use the computer? It seems logical why they would choose a bike since it doesn't require your hands and probably is less intrusive for instance a nice slow cycle with medium resistance. The Gamerunner device is pretty much completely different, I see it more as an early immersion tool for virtual reality.

Only problem I would have is sitting on a bikeseat for hours a day while working, that would get old pretty fast.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[advocate_one]

Having something like this that allows me to exercise while using my computer is good enough, don't force me to use it by powering off my computer if I stop for a breather.

come on... you're supposed to be a geek... how long would it take you to bypass the thing so you could run the PC without having to pedal at all???

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[rucs_hack]

Hmm, shouldn't that be

1: chicks working out

2: er, um, there was something else.

3:....boobies!

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[markass530]

somewhere along the line self motivation becomes important. If the kid is going to cry about people running faster then him, or playing flag football better then him, and not try to get in better shape, let them be a fat slob for life, I could care less. Your same argument could get swapped around for science class, when those poor jocks get turned off because nerds answer all the questions, yada yada yada, a very lame argument.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[steveo777]

Good call, but it's definately the first step. Though I think the video on the treadmill site was completely lacking. Something like four seconds of some chick speed-walking and playing a game. That and they should have thrown someone who looked like they could use excercise on the thing rather than that girl.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[jamesshuang]

In my high school, there was three different levels of just about every class - "College Prepatory", "Honors", and "Advanced Placements". Most of the "jocks" would go into the CP classes, while the "nerds" would go into the AP classes. But there never was a "nerd physical education" class where people get to deal with people of their own skill level, unlike in the science and math classes. Admittedly, we did get to choose exactly what kind of physical education we wanted in Junior and Senior years. Being a nerd, I choose the least physically intensive one, namely the one doing Golf and archery. That was fun, and I really wish ALL of my gym classes were like that, instead of the grinding at basketball and baseball crap, which I suck at anyways...

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[DuckDodgers]

If the kid is going to cry about people running faster then him, or playing flag football better then him, and not try to get in better shape, let them be a fat slob for life, I could care less. Your same argument could get swapped around for science class, when those poor jocks get turned off because nerds answer all the questions, yada yada yada, a very lame argument.

You're missing a big part of the problem. If a jock can't answer a question in science class, and a nerd mocks him, said nerd will probably find himself stuffed into a locker after class. If a nerd, or anyone else, does poorly in gym class, the bullies among the athletes can have a field day making fun of him (or her) and there ain't a damn thing the victim can do about it.

I've belonged to three gyms since graduating from college. In each one, every single person there, no matter how fit or musclebound, was at least neutral towards the sedentary and obese people who joined the gym. A surprising amount of people were openly friendly and helpful. I've seen a guy with six pack abs who could bench press 350 pounds strike up a friendly conversation with a 350 pound, 45 year old woman. He appreciated that she was trying to do something about her poor health.

That's the exact opposite of most people's high school experiences. Many high school athletes are neutral or even friendly to their less athletic peers. But most schools have gangs of bullying and very vocal athletes that enjoy humiliating everyone weaker than they are. They turn exercise into a negative experience for the non athletes, and many people never even try to attend a commercial gym because they figure the experience there will be just as bad as high school.

You may not be sympathetic to that, but I am.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[GigsVT]

Sucks when you are on a date and your girl falls through the ground.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[foxtrot]

Indeed, I think that's the biggest problem: requiring constant motion, particularly when the game would not.

Imagine, instead, an omnidirectional treadmill. (Okay, I don't know how to do it, either, and honestly, version 1.0 doesn't really need it...) Insert user into J. Random First Person Shooter with a VR-style headset.

Need to get across the airfield? Start running. Need to jump onto that barrel? Jump; the sensor in the treadmill will notice.

Need a rest? Duck into that building for a minute and hope they don't find you.

Now you've got a setup that'll get people exercise that doesn't intrude on the experience-- indeed, it enhances it. I am, however, having a hard time imagining hard-core gamers guzzling Gatorade and Clif Bars instead of Dew and Doritos, though...

-F

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[Anonymous Coward]

Set programs would spring up immediately as almost too obvious. It would have a similar set workout that all exercise bikes have - this and set breaks, not constant pedaling, would be required.

Rowing? You think it is surprising they made something that allows you to type?

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[Anonymous Coward]

somewhere in that list you need to include the words bouncing and jiggly

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[mlu035]

You can't get "buff" with this machine, because cardiovascular work alone simply cannot increase your muscle size

It all depends on your definition of buff. If by buff you mean big bulging muscles that are unncessarily over developed by a training regime that concentrates on bulking up then no, it won't help you get buff. If however, by buff you mean good muscle definition then it will - by lowering your overall body fat percentage. Your muscles naturally stand out more (less fat between muscle and skin) and look more defined. Freddie Ljungberg isn't the body of Calvin Klein because he looks like Arnie, but because he has a well defined musculature based on low body fat due to his job as a professional footballer (soccer player for you US citizens). You don't need to do crunches to get a six pack, just have body fat content of less than 10%. Provided there is a calorie deficit in your weekly count, and you don't have any medical problems preventing it, your body fat will decrease. This device could help achieve this, as would any amount of cardio vascular exercise incorporated into a lifestyle that contains none.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[HTH NE1]

have the device power the monitor. If you get off to take a breather, only your monitor loses power (saving you money in electricity use..).

Not to mention the stress of having to constantly save your work in case your feet slip off the pedals and your computer suddenly shuts down.

I'm reminded of the stationary bike Stanley Tweedle was made to ride on planet Fire where the motivation to keep going was the threat of automatic decapitation.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

If I weren't married, I'd propose.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[geekoid]

Your an idiot.

It's not about being slower, or not any good, it's about the attitude of others.
More then once I found myself in troube bacause I tried to stop the pounding of someone less skilled.
Fortunatly my father taught me how to snap a towle like a marine, so incidents in the locker room were short. Unfortuantly that skill does no good when there waiting for you outside.
The last scholl I went to allowed you to pick the sports, so I went with Archery and self defence. No jocks, LOTS of girls.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[de Siem]

However the constant motion will get rid of campers and spawn camping me thinks.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[leland242]

"I've seen a guy with six pack abs who could bench press 350 pounds strike up a friendly conversation with a 350 pound, 45 year old woman. He appreciated that she was trying to do something about her poor health."

Wow, you are so right about that.

I've been working out for the last 6 years pretty regularly. I've been to numerous gyms and worked out with a lot of different people. All of them would agree with you. For all the joking I've heard, it's almost always followed by a "well, I hope (s)he sticks with it". And that even applies to those n00bs at new years...

I've met a bunch of new people to the gym, myself included, that asssumed it was a bunch of hostile meatheads grunting at each other. Sure, it is that to some degree - but it is typically fairly friendly too.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[leland242]

"School is for education after all, not physical fitness. Students shouldn't be required to dress in open locker rooms or shower in open locker rooms. Since the class would be optional then participation would be a requirement and tests could be administered to show how much the students have learned (although knowledge of a movement is what you would test, not physical ability to perform them). Being fit should never give a student an edge in any aspect of school."

Wow, so school should shield people from reality. Great.

Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina. If you see other people's hoo-hoo's, it's not a big deal. If you work out, you will see other naked humans. it's wierd to be so uptight.

Fit people have an advantage in life. Not just in the job sector, but in day to day life. Walking around, moving stuff, dating, whatever. It's not wrong to encourage excercise - and believe me, I hated it in school.

Re:Expense, Intrusion & Innovation

[shaitand]

"Fit people have an advantage in life."

School is not life nor a simulation thereof. A big problem with the education system today is the life simulation thing is being done too much when school should be 100% education. Fit people have no advantage when it comes to education. Actually being overly fit may conflict with intellectual persuits. Behind every stereotype (like the dumb jock) there is an element of truth.

"Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina. If you see other people's hoo-hoo's, it's not a big deal. If you work out, you will see other naked humans."

So you don't value privacy. I do. The last thing I care to see before and after an already unpleasant experience is your nasty ass naked.

"Walking around, moving stuff, dating, whatever. It's not wrong to encourage excercise - and believe me, I hated it in school."

Most day to day tasks do not require buffing up at all and doing so is not an advantage. For instance, unless you are grossly overweight you can handle the walking required in day to day life just as well as a marathon runner. I wouldn't call myself 'fit' these days but walking a few miles is not exactly a chore. Heavy lifting is not exactly something that most of us need to do on a regular basis and can be left to the fit people who work overly physical jobs. And of course being fit does not give you an advantage for non-physical jobs.

As for dating, that depends on who you want to date. If your tastes cause you to prefer athletic types of the opposite sex. Even if you do, in adult life, wealth is a far bigger advantage when it comes time to get laid.

But...

[Ghost Gerbil]

Do you run faster with the knife?

Re:But...

[alamandrax]

Why don't you just give them these?

I mean, come on! Be realistic. This is /. We only want to exercise for our hands (think wrist action).

Oh yes! I went there! I'm not ashamed.

Re:But...

[iamacat]

Only if I am running after whoever put this flash ad on top of the article. I promise to contribute a more substantial comment if only I am allowed to RT to FA.

Peddle .. on eBay?

[DudeTheMath]

I'd hate to have my workstation power dependent on my sales ability. Does the bidding have to keep going up a certain percentage per hour to keep the lights on?

Ooh, perhaps the editor meant "pedal". Yeah, that makes more sense.

So if I run virtual machines...

[ettlz]

...does that mean I also have to imagine copies of myself riding virtual exercise bikes to keep them ticking over, too?

Re:So if I run virtual machines...

[megaditto]

Just download a "crack"

Re:So if I run virtual machines...

[MrNemesis]

You don't have to imagine, but you'll be in breach of the EULA if you don't.

Peddle vs pedal

[CameronGary]

The person selling this is peddling something; if you got on it, you would be pedaling it. Geez ...

Re:Peddle vs pedal

[flu1d]

It almost sounded like you were supposed to start that comment out with "In Soviet Russia"

Re:Peddle vs pedal

[TeknoHog]

In Soviet Russia, people know how to spell. As opposed to how they do things in the US.

Re:Peddle vs pedal

[snarkh]

Don't be silly. It is a device to train telemarketers.

The holodeck

[the_skywise]

Will be the ultimate geek work out program..

We just haven't figured out how to build it yet.

Re:The holodeck

[megaditto]

That thing would bring about the end of civilization.

Re:The holodeck

[GlenRaphael]

We just haven't figured out how to build [the holodeck] yet.

A virtusphere setup comes pretty close. It just doesn't yet fit in the home gamer's living room or budget.

1.21 gigawatts

[User 956]

PoconoPCDoctor writes about the Geek-A-Cycle, which is a workstation with built-on exercise bike that you have to peddle to run the computer.

With the number of case fans and neon lights a lot of geeks out there have, they may need to hire lance armstrong to keep their gear running.

Re:1.21 gigawatts

[TheRaven64]

A bicycle generator can fairly easily output 150-200W. That's enough for a modest computer and a TFT (although possibly not a CRT) display. My laptop draws a maximum of 60W, and I could probably generate that much power from a device like this for a very long period.

Re:1.21 gigawatts

[hankwang]

A bicycle generator can fairly easily output 150-200W.

Yes, if it is a well-trained cyclist who is riding the bicycle. On a road bike, 200 W is equivalent to cycling around 33 km/h (20 mph), assuming that the generator itself has 100% conversion efficiency. No way that someone who's in a bad or mediocre shape will do that for more than 5 minutes.

Re:1.21 gigawatts

[Firehed]

But it's plenty to charge your laptop back up. 10MPH isn't at all hard to maintain (especially with no wind), and if that gives you 75-100w, it'll keep you charged.

Re:1.21 gigawatts

[Rick17JJ]

I don't believe that the device in the article is actually powering the computer by itself. But, assuming for the moment that is was, then what kind of computer could an overweight middle aged guy like me peddle power for an hour or more? Laptop computers usually tend to be more energy efficient than most desktop computers. I should not plan on trying to peddle power a Pentium 4 with a top-of-the-line power hungry video card and an inefficent power supply hooked to a multiple 19 inch CRT monitors. Yes, can't you just see me trying to do that for hours at a time?

My AMD Athlon 64 desktop computer uses a quiet fanless cheap video card. The power supply is 85% efficient which is unusually good. It is plugged into a watt meter which shows that most of the time it uses about 95 Watts (not including the monitor) but it briefly uses much more under heavy load. That does not include the monitor. Some LED monitors only use about 50 Watts or so but the CRT monitors use about twice as much power. The energy efficient Athlon 64 EE Processor uses much less power than the processor which that I have. If I am not mistaken, I belive Intel's new "Core 2 Duo" processer is fairly efficient, but I don't know the exact number.

Perhaps an overweight middle age person like me could handle something like the NorhTec Panda PC which only draws about 21 Watts. That plus the LCD montor which would probably draw an additional 50 Watts or so. Maybe I could use a KVM switch to easily switch my monitor, keyboard and mouse back and forth between something like that being run by peddle power and my other computer being run from the local power compay. That is of course assuming that the peddling device was actually hooked to an alternator or generator plus an inverter and was actually powering the computer.

Re:1.21 gigawatts

[Rick17JJ]

Ooops, I ment to say LCD monitors not LED monitors. Keep in mind that I am not a tech or an expert on the different types of monitors.

I recently read a review of a computer that uses the EE (energy efficient) versions of the AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor which only used 54 Watts. Another alternative for someone doesn't need to run Windows XP or Windows Vista might be the NorhTec MicroClient Jr.which is a tiny PC that draws 8 Watts and is capable of running Puppy Linux. Puppy Linux is an extra-light weight stripped down version of Linux which has less impressive graphics than most other Linux distros. You could browse the Internet, send email and do word processing with it. I have never actually tried one of their computers. Perhaps it could be hooked to a small efficient LCD monitor (or whatever is most efficient). Just using a laptop would probably be an even simpler solution. A person could charge the laptop's battery for a few minutes ahead of using it.

The Watt-meter that I used on my computer was the $39.99 Kill-A-Watt meter.

In the article I just noticed that the photo shows a woman dressed up in nice clothes leisurely peddling in front of an inefficient CRT monitor. She isn't even sweating but then, apparently she isn't really powering the computer.

Re:1.21 gigawatts

[hankwang]

10MPH isn't at all hard to maintain (especially with no wind), and if that gives you 75-100w,

Unfortunately, power due to air drag (the major resistance for a lightweight road bike) scales with the 3rd power of the velocity. 75 W amounts to 22 km/h (14 mph). I used the equation P=0.2 v^3 + 4 v with v in m/s, which accounts for the air drag and rolling resistance of a typical racing bike. The numbers are different for bikes with a less aerodynamic posture and thicker tires, but I would say easy-going on a bike will give you 50 W max, which would be about 40 W with generator and voltage conversion losses.

Still enough to power a laptop as long as the cpu and harddisk usage isn't maxed out.

Re:1.21 gigawatts

[DudeTheMath]

But on a stationary cycle, there's no air drag to overcome. All the power goes into the generator (I've got a mag resistance trainer, and I've been thinking about how I'd harness that electricity instead of turning it into heat), so the result only depends on the efficiency (power transfer from tire to trainer, power loss to heat). How many watts, then, without fighting air resistance?

Re:1.21 gigawatts

[hankwang]

That's what I'm trying to explain. Either you dissipate 50 W into the air drag on a road bike, or 50 W into a generator on a stationary bike. Someone who's trained can do 150 W for a few hours, but for people who don't exercise regularly, 50 W is more realistic.

have to pedal to run the computer? no.

[GlenRaphael]

the Geek-A-Cycle, which is a workstation with built-on exercise bike that you have to peddle to run the computer.

No, it isn't. It's just an exercise bike that fits under a desk. It makes pedaling while working convenient, giving you something to do to keep your legs and heart entertained while you do your work, but doesn't make it mandatory.

Re:have to pedal to run the computer? no.

[GotenXiao]

Listen to heavy metal with double bass. Try and keep up.

I recommend Fear Factory for that; works a treat (although anyone below you might object to hear THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD...THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHU D...THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTH UDTHUD for long periods of time).

Re:have to pedal to run the computer? no.

[shadwstalkr]

Just don't use it while you're on a conference call. All that heavy breathing sounds a lot different over the phone.

I have a better way.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's called getting off my butt every so often then going outside, and interacting with the outside world.

Re:I have a better way.

[Propaganda13]

I weightlift for an hour before I sit at the computer for hours on end. It helps fight the sedentary lifestyle where I work over 12 hours a day at a computer then play on one for a couple hours more.

Re:I have a better way.

[Anonymous Coward]

I lifted for a couple years, but now I do yoga instead for an hour on five mornings out of the week. I find the intense stretching keeps me feeling loose during the rest of the day when I'm sitting at my computer, and you'll work muscles you didn't even know you had.

If you find a good studio, be prepared to be humbled. It's an intense workout, especially if you do heated yoga (the studio is kept at elevated temperatures).

Re:I have a better way.

[Propaganda13]

I've done yoga before. The physical side of yoga was fine(and could be extremely hard), but the mental/spiritual side of yoga wasn't for me. I did not find any yoga stuff that downplayed the mental/spiritual side, so I quit doing it.

Peddle?

[Pinback]

You have to sell the exercise bike to keep the PC running? Oh, you meant pedal?

The Hacker's Diet

[GillBates0]

And while we're talking about geeks and Obesity, let's not forget The Hacker's Diet. In my experience, it's a sensible and effective way for people with a sedantary lifestyle to lose weight safely, effectively and sensibily. Some comments in this related Slashdot article are helpful too.

Re:The Hacker's Diet

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's another, simpler, article on eating well:

http://www.gymjunkie.com/ShowArticle.aspx?articlei d=16

Re:The Hacker's Diet

[twotommylong]

my quick perusal of the hacker's diet finds it a bit simplistic to how the body burns food. In reality, to reduce adipose fat (the obesity fat), one must burn more fat as a percentage of calories. And in general, the body defends it's fat, as it's the 'survival' energy, and when you go into sudden bursts of energy and/or starvation, you tend to 'burn' muscle first, ending up with a higher fat percentage to body weight.

Gentle increases in metabolism, such as moderate biking for long periods of time (over 90 minutes), where you don't push the aerobic/anaerobic threshold (about 65% Max Heart Rate) is perfect to increase metabolism, but not so dramatically as to decrease the fat burning ratio (say, below 50% in terms of calories, or about 2:1 carbs:fat in weight). (in measurements, the maximum fat burning ratio is your sedentary metabolism, just sitting and/or sleeping, usually around 70% from fat [1:1 in terms of weight]... the problem is that you convert excess blood sugar to fat if you're not consuming enough aerobic calories). Gentle biking, for long periods of time, with a subtle change of diet (move to 'good fats [omega-3]', increase protein while reducing bad fats, and reduce simple sugars [such as fructose and sucrose... ie, white sugar, pop] and high glycemic foods [potatos, breads, rice] and replace with complex carbs [green veggies, fiber, whole unprocessed grains]) is the best way to change body composition.

So I see biking while hacking the perfect exercise component... you just need to change the chips to low-salt beef jerky (me... it's low salt roasted soybeans), the soda pop to low-carb energy drinks [monster low-carb!!!!], and the lo-mein to veggie stir-fry.

The process mentioned in the Hacker's diet is a good base, just needs some fine tuning.

That will keep you fit ...

[richg74]

a workstation with built-on exercise bike that you have to peddle to run the computer.

If you have to peddle it door-to-door, that will definitely keep you fit, especially in rural areas. It probably works in urban areas, too: the houses are closer together, but the people are more resistant to peddlers. But what do you do to keep fit after you make a sale ?

Re:That will keep you fit ...

[HermanAB]

Use the profit to buy another. You'll finally have a profitable geek business and stay fit too.

Training

[markh1967]

This plus a copy of World of Warcraft would be perfect for training for the next marathon.

Reminds me of...

[AKAImBatman]

...the Atari Puffer. That was not a saleable idea either.

Cycle?

[ackthpt]

Must be a pretty light work-out, or you have a fan blowing on you. I've worked out on exercise bikes and the one thing you get lots of is sweat. Not perspiration, but highly corrosive sweat. Doesn't seem a good mating of things.

I'd be curious...

[Sunburnt]

...to discover just how many steps it takes to get from one end of a continent to another in WoW. Would it be an appropriately arduous hike, or could one just adjust the treadmill to increase the movement ratio?

I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[mrs clear plastic]

I am solving this problem the cheap way.

I ditched my car and now get around on a bicycle.

My commute is 20 miles each way to and from work. That includes goeing up and down an 800 foot hill (Council Crest, in Portland, Oregon).

I am losing my weight fast.

I am saving about $400 per month in car related costs now that I got rid of the car.

People tell me it can't be done, but it' no problem for me so far.

And I don't need some new fangled cycle/workstation or treadmill/workstation. And I don't need to spend $$$ for waiting to use unwashed health club equipment.

Peace

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[Octorian]

So how do you get around the problem of being all sweaty and icky when you get to work?
(Oh, and what if it rains? Then again, the chances of that depend a lot on where you live.)

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[Propagandhi]

In the morings it's generally cool here on planet Earth, so sweat can be controlled merely by not overdressing or overexerting yourself. Also, many employers provide places for employees to shower before work. If your employer does not, ask them about supplying such facilities. If they are smart they'll realize that a healthy (read: lower health insurance premiums) and happy (read: not smelly) work force is worth the minimal utlity costs.

As for rain, I use a protective rubber suit, consisting of both a "rain coat" and "rain pants" to keep me from getting wet. I live in Vancouver, and bike through the winter, so don't give me any shit about how that simply wouldn't work where you live (unless you've got an actual monsoon season, in which case you can take the bus :) ).

Biking to work is the best thing an 8-5er can do, IMHO, it knocks out the morning groggies and sets your metabolism into motion...

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[greeze]

Parent lives in Portland, Oregon. A better question would be: "What if it doesn't rain?" In Portland, you shower while you ride, which cancels out a lot of the sticky sweaties.

For the parent: I used to bike to work in Portland too (actually from Portland to Beaverton and back), and I can tell you from experience that most cities are nowhere near as bike-friendly as Portland. Ideally, everyone would be able to bike to work, but these devices are a great idea for the people who don't have much of a choice.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[dr2chase]

A 20 mile round trip, twice a week, will let you pick and choose your cycling days, and still lose (my estimate) about a pound per week (I'm down 20 since I got serious about biking more). This is something that you can ease into, if you are the timid/prudent sort. If you need to carry a little bit of cargo, you can build trash can panniers. If you need a lot, you can get an xtracycle. I've got one, the handling is great unloaded, and better than expected when loaded.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[maillemaker]

My commute is 35 miles each way by interstate, and takes me roughly 45 minutes by car.

Even assuming I could find a more bicycle friendly route, I'm sure it would take me at least 2.5 times as long to make the trip. Who wants to spend 5 hours a day getting to and from work?

Steve

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[PoconoPCDoctor]

I had mod points to give on your post, but you're at the max! Totally agree with your approach. I used to commute from Brooklyn to mid-town Manhattan in the mid 1970's. Man what a workout! The view of New York Harbor while riding over the Brooklyn Bridge was spectacular. Round-trip was about the same as yours - 20 miles. I got to work a little sweaty at times, but used to shower at work when it was really hot. My resting pulse at the time was about 45.

Not getting hit by NY taxi drivers, buses, and delivery trucks also added that gaming element to the daily trip.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember: the whiny, the lazy, and the non-bikers bring up the "what if it rains?" question with the answer already in their head. I can't possibly allow myself to get wet, I'm an adult! I'm not a fan of the rain suit, I end up wet anyway (from sweat!) I've got a rain jacket and wind/water resistant leggings for cold/wet weather. Other than that, tri shorts, a tshirt, wool socks and sneakers is good enough to about 40F degrees. Below that temp, gloves, boots, a wool sweater, and wind pants get added.

I wish I had shower facilities, but showing up 15 minutes early to freshen up, change into office clothes, and sit in front of the fan at my desk is more than enough to freshen up. Plus, I have more energy throughout the day. Plus, going home is faster than by car if I push hard enough, and there's my exercise for the day. Woo.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[shut_up_man]

This is my favoured solution too... but I'm pretty much resigned to bike paths, since I've nearly been killed a few times on the roads by people who don't see me, or are concentrating on large trucks, or talking on their cellphone. I haven't actually been knocked off yet, but a bit of bad luck and boom, I'm dead.

I have managed to work at one place with good bikeways, and clean, non-busy showers in the building, and it was excellent. I saved money, got fitter, and felt better when I started the day. I suppose I also helped reduce pollution and fossil fuel usage because of the lack of my mass on the bus, but that's a fairly tiny amount.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[cyberwench]

As for rain, I use a protective rubber suit, consisting of both a "rain coat" and "rain pants" to keep me from getting wet. I live in Vancouver, and bike through the winter, so don't give me any shit about how that simply wouldn't work where you live (unless you've got an actual monsoon season, in which case you can take the bus :) ).

I live near Vancouver... all we get here is rain. There's barely even snow, it's so bloody un-Canadian. We had 10x more snow in Indiana than here. While I agree that people can bike through the rain, I'd question the sanity of people riding 20 miles back and forth around, say, Toronto in January. Or in Iqaluit.

Except for weather quibbles, I'd have to agree with you though. ;)

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[Tablizer]

So how do you get around the problem of being all sweaty and icky when you get to work?

We need to find a way to make smelly fashionable. Some big co's have showers, I would note.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[Hoi Polloi]

"I live in Vancouver, and bike through the winter, so don't give me any shit about how that simply wouldn't work where you live"

I'll give you some shit about it. I used to have a job where I could bike to work and would do it except after the first snowfall. Yes, winter in Boston comes with snow, not rain. Try riding in snow on a trail, it is like riding through molasses. Then the snow freezes and thaws into ice that will send you flying. Go on the road and you find out that the plows have created glaciers along the curbs that force you to ride in the middle of the road. The sidewalks are barely passable on foot. Then the road salt will turn your bike into rust after a month. Fortunately I was close enough to a train station to walk to it until spring.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[mrs clear plastic]

This is where a good mountain bike comes in to play. I know of people who commute in the snow with a mountain bike with big knobbly tires.

Also, there are those who have taken some small nails and created spiked tires for snow and ice riding. 1/4 or 1/8th in long nails or tacks, poked from inside to outside the tire (and backed with a Mr. Tuffy's to protect the tube from the heads) could do the job.

And by the way, my ride is 20 miles each way. That's 40 miles total for the day.

I do this ride two to three days per week. The other days I will take the bus (which has bicycle accomodations) part of the way. I do, however, try to do the 800 foot hill daily for both the morning commute in and the afternoon commute out; this being the most important for excercize. If I have time, there is an additional 250 foot scenic hill climb to the summit, which is at a total of 1050 feet elevation.

Truly,

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[dr2chase]

I'll be giving this a try, in Boston, this winter. My plan is to get studded snow tires (Nokians) and to ride in the roads, because I know about the sidewalks and the trails. If that fails, I plan to get my aerobic exercise wandering around the neighborhood and shoveling unshoveled sidewalks into the driveways of the people who were supposed to shovel them in the first place. Supposedly you can be cited for not shoveling your sidewalk, but that never happens.

I tried out a set of snow chains the other day as an experiment. Okay on grass (okay if you aren't the grass) not so okay on dry pavement. Major, tooth-chattering vibration at any sensible speed. I might do it on a snow-covered bike path, I imagine it would be a substantial workout, and I'll piss off all the urban cross-country skiers by messing up their snow.

Plan C is to convert an old trailer into a plow, drag that behind a tandem, find a gullible but strong friend, and get a serious workout on the weekends. (I know this sounds loony, but it might work, and it'll make a fine story if it fails. The tandem's got some nice low gears on it, so who knows? Are you in?)

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[drsquare]

And you've also lost several hours a day of your time. Bear in mind that cycling is a low-intensity exercise so any weight loss will level out eventually and you'll have to find something else to do.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[ZeroExistenZ]

Even assuming I could find a more bicycle friendly route, I'm sure it would take me at least 2.5 times as long to make the trip.

Overhere that wouldn't be always true; with my bike I can easily go passed trafficjams in the city. Roads leading to the centre are congested. I average 25km/h on my bycicle in the city where cars are much slower moving with drivers sitting frustrated in their cars, shouting and honking, being directed around in one-way streets where byciclists are allowed to pass in two directions (which shaves off alot of distance). I just need 10-15 minutes to bike to the trainstation, get on my train and from there walk another 5km.

The first part is faster by bike. The part I walk could be faster by car, but it gives me both some exercise and allows me to order things in my mind and prepare me for my work. On the way back it helps me to "unwind" and clear my head.

For me personally, I consider it overal gain in time and efficient use of it, as improvement of my health; can you cram a daily workout in your schedule? I cannot imagine someone going everyday to a gym after office hours, without sacrificing time usually spent for other activities. I just wake up 30mins earlier every day.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[DudeTheMath]

I'm not sure what you mean by "many employers." Most people in the US work for small companies. I used to ride to work four days a week, but then the company moved to a new location about three times as far away. It was still ridable, but I'd have to have a shower. I'm a sweaty guy, and the route crossed a river valley, so it really was "uphill both ways." Even in winter in Indiana (yes, I rode through the snow) I'd work up a sweat on the shorter ride, but I was much stinkier after the longer ride. I tested it while the new building was still under construction.

I expressed my concerns to my employer, and he looked into installing a shower. It turns out the "slip-and-fall" insurance involved in having a shower was prohibitively expensive. If he'd had even five employees who'd use it, he could have justified the cost, but not for one. A company with five times as many employees might be able to get five regular riders, but no way would we get 20% of the company on bikes. I ended up only able to ride about once a month, when I could manage to get there early enough to really cool down before changing into my work clothes.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[Big Nothing]

But your nickname and sig indicates that you are female and thus have the extra advantage of "common sense", a term/concept/material/substance still eluding us MALE geeks. Hence, for us the bicycleworkstation makes perfect sense; it's both an expensive exercise equipment AND a new feature to our collection of computer-related items.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[Hoi Polloi]

If you are that serious about trail clearing (you wouldn't be talking about the Minuteman Path by any chance?) you might as well rent a Bobcat and plow the trail properly. You'd probably be a hero to the wanna-be winter bikers and you can leave one side uncleared for the x-country skiers.

Even if you use studded tires you'll need full body armor and some sort of weapon if you plan on driving out in a Boston/Cambridge road. The drivers are more dangerous than the ice.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[geekoid]

who the hell in Oregon tells you it can't be done?
The cyclysts here are freakin' crazy.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[gatesvp]

Well put. I live in Winnipeg, MB, where, in January, the air temps hit -40 (F or C) and the wind drops it lower. We have basically zero dedicated bike routes, but a few of my co-workers still brave the snow almost every day with their mountain bikes and studded tires.

They've signed up with a cheap downtown gym for $20/month, just to use the showers.

I actually grabbed myself a job where I could bike to the gym, then to work and then home. It worked out for the summer until I was shipped out on contract. My co-workers on the contract are the "crazy bikers", but I have sucked out on joining them. The only route (and I mean only route) to work is along a dangerous, major thoroughfare. I've started waking up earlier to go for a run, but running in the dark and snow at 6:30 slowly made me bitter. That said, I'm sure I'll conquer my fear soon enough.

Re:I Ride A Bicycle 20 Miles Each Way To/From Work

[Lord_Dweomer]

As for rain, I use a protective rubber suit, consisting of both a "rain coat" and "rain pants" to keep me from getting wet. I live in Vancouver, and bike through the winter, so don't give me any shit about how that simply wouldn't work where you live (unless you've got an actual monsoon season, in which case you can take the bus :) ).

Its not that we'd give you shit about it...its just that those of us who don't like the idea of biking in winter aren't masochistic. I'm all for biking to work when its nice to neutral outside, but the majority of people do not find the idea of exerting themselves in the middle of a downpour or freezing weather to be fun...or safe. Not just safety from the weather itself, but you have to take into consideration other people sharing the road (if you don't have a direct bike path) and bad road conditions.

And don't forget...

[xENoLocO]

You can track your weight with such web 2.0 gems as:

Skinnyr
Traineo
Gimme20
and
RunFatBoy

And that is my spam whoring for the day, ladies and gents.

Yes, I'm going to criticize....

[arielCo]

Regarding the Geek-a-Cycle (and talk about unimaginative names):

Besides the obvious ergonomic nightmare (cf this) and the inconvenience of having to keep your (conveniently not shown) mouse from rolling off, I'd have serious trouble concentrating on the code at hand while pedaling away like a 180-lb hamster.

The other FA, well, I'm just too lazy to wait on YouTube feeds.

How about getting away from the computer from time to time to, say, get some sunlight on your hide?

Re:Yes, I'm going to criticize....

[DeQuincey]

Precisely my concern. The Geek-a-Cycle is just ergonomically wrong.

If there was a product like this, that didn't promote bad ergonomics, I'd be interested. Forget the hoakey pedal to keep the power going. That's just a lame gimick. If you're not interested enough in exercising, such a device wouldn't keep you motivated. You'd just disconnect it.

However, I'd like to have something for my legs to do while at the PC. If I'm doing something that requires concentration, I just wouldn't pedal. Meanwhile, there are lots of times when I'm trying to come up with ideas, and something like this would actually help.

peddling wildly

[smellsofbikes]

>exercise bike that you have to peddle to run the computer.

It's *hard* *work* to generate power by selling exercise bikes. Especially door-to-door: lugging three or four of those puppies around in a suitcase will buff you right up.

I was a bike racer for a long time. At my best I could generate about 350 watts continuously for an hour. A decent computer would suck that dry. I think I'll stick with my Qube-2, which only draws about 35 watts. It's challenging to hook a keyboard or a monitor to it, but at least it's low-power!

Clean energy, hamster style?

[Anonymous Coward]

The obvious extension to this is to go from powering a workstation to powering the home.

Seriously, what kind of costs would it take to hook-up an excercise bike so that it would supply power to the mains, and more importantly, would it actually provide a useful contribution?

Re:Clean energy, hamster style?

[phoenix321]

My question exactly. My notebook draws around 35W when idle and 40-45W when loaded, including the battery recharging. This site http://www.windstreampower.com/humanpower/hpgtech. html is claiming for 125W of continuous pedaling power of the average human - and they even sell the equipment needed. But only in 120V US-voltage, which is not quite right for my European 220V appliances. Hmpf. But nonetheless, one hour of pedalling would yield enough power for two hours of computing - which would ne rather nice to have in not grid-connected cabins to be able to watch some dvds in the evening. Not bad...

Re:Clean energy, hamster style?

[boldra]

Check the label on your laptop power supply. Of the six currently sitting on my desk (in Europe) three of them are labelled as INPUT 100-240V or similar.

Re:Clean energy, hamster style?

[phoenix321]

You're absolutely right, thanks! My notebook power supply and three rechargers for various gadgets are in fact labelled 100-240V, so the pedal crank should be working for them. And boating or camping shops offer 12V compact flourescent light bulbs in 5-15W, which would also be compatible with the pedal machine.

I love their summary, though: "all the energy comes from YOU, so be prepared to GIVE". There's no better way to introduce people to saving energy, I think. ONE common household fridge, ten years old has an intake of about 1kwh and that requires no less than TEN hours of continous pedalling. An energy efficient, smaller and recently manufactured model takes half of that.

Even better: compact flourescent vs. incandescent lights: continuous high power pedalling for the incandescent vs. intermittent or low level pedalling for the CFL. Still too much for pedalling, especially for the fridge, but the huge scale in difference should be grokked by everyone then.

Tip: imagine pedalling for the most blatant culprit of energy waste, worse than the biggest of SUVs: the no-use stand-by power dissipation of the common household VCR - a steady 15W for flashing "12:00", yay!

Obesity and skepticism

[rumblin'rabbit]

My BMI (body-mass index) is 29.3. That's just on the border between overweight and obese. And yet no one seems to consider me overweight. I take a size 34 waste, my belly doesn't overhang my belt, I can easily run 5 miles at a decent pace, and I keep up to obviously fit people when circuit training. My doctor has never once told me I should lose weight.

The problem, of course, is that the BMI doesn't compensate for muscle or stature. Now everyone knows the BMI is only a rough guide, and that there are better ways to measure obesity. But if it's the main instrument for claiming an "obesity epidemic" then we have to know how rough.

If the BMI doesn't work for me, how many others does it not work for?

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[VonSkippy]

OK Chubby - time to find a new doctor with working eyeglasses. //just kidding.

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[Moderator]

29.5, but I can bench press twice my body weight and squat 3x. Like you, I'm no track star, but I can run at a decent pace.

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[Anonymous Coward]

I had a girl friend that was a swim racer, 6', and ridiculously attractive. Her parent's health insurance company, though, raised her health insurance premiums due to a "morbidly obese" BMI, which was created by her incredibly dense muscle mass.

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[tonyr1988]

. . . my belly doesn't overhang my belt . . . run 5 miles . . . circuit training . . . muscle . . .

Are you sure you're a Slashdot reader?

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[rumblin'rabbit]

Are you sure you're a Slashdot reader?

Absolutely. Here's a picture of me about to cut some code.

You can see why my BMI is so out of wack.

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[Anonymous Coward]

It's because they compare you to the rest of population (and themselves) and find you are "below average". My BMI is ~20, which (supposedly) means ideal weight. And I've met some people seriously concerned if I had an eating disorder, many more telling me to eat more because I was "too thin". I shudder to think about what the 17.5 (borderline underweight) people must endure. Just look what's said about models. It's just so much easier to say "this model is anorectic and it's mad, they shouldn't print people like that in newspapers, and I' just slightly overweight" than "this model is almost underweight (but not quite) and I'm seriously obese".

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[EaglemanBSA]

I agree - my BMI is 29.7 and it doesn't begin to accurately describe my body type. I'm 6' and weigh between 210 and 220 lbs. on a good day. BMI unfortunately is a poor indicator of heatlh, as simplistic as it is. A more accurate model would be body fat percentage and V02_max scores. People tend to default to BMI because you can go to doh.gov and have it spit the number right out at you, and that works for most people. For people like me, however, a large frame and lots of dense muscle mass fools the BMI charts...subsequently, the same goes for buying shirts - when I go to buy a shirt with an 18" neck, what I get is a dress with an 18" neck. Dadgum faulty statistics...

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[balloonhead]

BMI is quick and dirty. Everyone, just about, knows their weight and height. It is probably good enough for 95% of the population (figure picked from my ass, but the 95% confidence interval is the standard for medical testing so I reckon it's a likely figure). Best way would be either caliper body fat, DEXA scanning (though radiation dose), MRI, or about 10 other time-consuming and expensive ways which would make estimation on a population scale impossible.

It doesn't take account of people who are heavy because of extra muscle. But they aren't too common in population terms.

I use it, even though it puts me just into the 'obese' range. Eyeballing someone will tell you whether it's totally out or not.

Disclaimer: I am a MD and formerly an elite athlete (international track and field at high school) - while I've put on a few pounds since then I'm still not either overweight or obese. BMI had me at overweight even when my actual body fat (on DEXA scanning - you won't get much more accurate than that) was around 5%.

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[Anonymous Coward]

Disclaimer: I am a MD and formerly an elite athlete (international track and field at high school)

You have a very interesting definition of "elite athlete".

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[rumblin'rabbit]

My concern is that because BMI is quick and easy to calculate, it's being used inappropriately. Basing insurance rates on someone's BMI, for example, is clearly an abuse.

BMI is equivalent to a dirty test tube. My question, and it's one that needs to be answered to use BMI for any kind of study, is precisely how dirty is this test tube? For example, what is the statistical deviation between BMI and DEXA scanning results?

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[TheWizardOfCheese]

Now everyone knows the BMI is only a rough guide, and that there are better ways to measure obesity. But if it's the main instrument for claiming an "obesity epidemic" then we have to know how rough.

Not so. You have over-generalized, assuming that if BMI gives the wrong answer for an individual it must give the wrong answer for a population. But BMI is calibrated against the population; it gives the right answer on average by construction. It has been demonstrated that statistically, BMI has very good predictive power by validating against other methods of assessing fatness, such as calipers & tape or scales & immersion.

The "obesity epidemic" you mention means that we are comparing two populations, one current and one historical, and finding that today's population has a higher BMI. It would be invalid to assume that this higher BMI implies higher obesity if in fact people today merely have more muscle than their forebears. But if that is your claim, I think you are wrong.

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[Yogs]

Your last question deserves an answer:
Only a very small fraction of the general population has inordinately high muscle mass. You may be an exception, but almost all people who score overweight have more fat than is healthy.

BMI scoring is broad ranges which accounts for most natural variation in bone structure and density and muscle mass. 25(borderline overweight)/18.5(borderline underweight) = 1.35, 35% of body weight as a fudge factor. Unless you're a competitive bodybuilder, does that not seem like enough??

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[gatesvp]

I think the problem with the BMI is that it is clearly being misused. The BMI deals very poorly with exceptions: every football player, sprinter, weight lifter is morbidly obese. Marathoners with large builds are prone to being classified as overweight or even obese.

But insurance companies (for example) do not handle exceptions. They deal rotely with raw numbers. I've even heard tell of a marathoner working for a health insurance company that could not insure himself b/c of BMI issues. This stuff is believable b/c the BMI doesn't handle exceptions.

In the health field, a doctor/nurse reading your BMI should just throw it out with one look at you. But health insurers just ask for your BMI. If insurers are giving you trouble it may be worth asking if they'll accept a doctor's note for "excellent health" or something to cancel out the BMI premium.

Re:Obesity and skepticism

[balloonhead]

U23 GB and Ireland? Pretty high level. I even had a card which said 'elite athlete' on it. It meant I didn't have to pay to use council owned facilities and got all my related expenses refunded.

I (and more so my friends) thought the 'elite' thing was pretty funny. Suppose it depends on how you define it - top 1%? Definitely. Top 0.1%? Definitely. 0.01%? Maybe. I think it extends past olympians and suchlike but not sure how far down it goes. Could I have been an olympian? My coach thought so. My life went in a different direction though. I saw the top of my achievements being qualifying and maybe getting to round 1 or 2.

Doop!

[loteck]

What's funny is that not only did I post this back in '03 but that I also misspelled pedal in the story body and it didn't get picked up by the editor then either.

Slashdot is like buddhism for stories. All stories are headed for reincarnation until they reach Nerdvana.

"nerd obesity epidemic"?

[The Creator]

I looked at both the obesity articles, none of them mentioned nerds at all. Is there really any proof that this stereotype is an accurate one?

Weight wanted!

[Anonymous Coward]

People say you are what you eat, but are there some lucky people for whom their weight is determined almost entirely by genetics instead of diet and exercise? Everyday I eat both healthy food (vegetables, fruit) and unhealthy food (chocolate, fries, icecream) in very large quantities -- enough to make other people amazed at how hungry I always seem to be. However, despite being over 6 feet, over 40 yrs, and taking not much exercise, I still weigh less than 150 pounds. People disbelieve that I eat as much as I do until they actually see me eat my meals. Before you ask - no, I don't have an eating disorder.

Re:Weight wanted!

[glittalogik]

There's a very good chance you have worms, or imbalanced gut bacteria/flora. The whole 'fast-metabolism' thing is usually only true for people who exercise a lot - for the rest of us, it usually means that you're not digesting the food properly in the first place, as opposed to burning off more calories in your sleep.

IANAD, but if you want to gain a bit of weight, I'd recommend seeing a nutritionist or naturopath, and some sort of probiotic supplements might not hurt.

Re:Weight wanted!

[Anonymous Coward]

"There's a very good chance you have worms, or imbalanced gut bacteria/flora."

I'd agree with you, but when a hospital recently did a large number of different types of tests, the results apparently conclusively proved I don't have either of those conditions or indeed any other known condition(s).

"I'd recommend seeing a nutritionist or naturopath,and some sort of probiotic supplements might not hurt."

I saw a nutritionist once who said I should eat even more food, which wasn't very useful advice given that I am eating at my maximum stomach capacity; it would be physically impossible to get any more food into my stomach at a single sitting. I have seen various medical experts over the years and none of them have ever found any cause or had any recommendations except "try eating even more than you do" or even (unexpected advice from a physician) "try taking even less exercise!"

Anyway, I appreciate the advice. I'm still left wondering why it is apparently so difficult to put on weight.

Re:Weight wanted!

[glittalogik]

That is pretty odd, maybe you really are one of the 'blessed' ones =/

Personally, I've never had any luck with conventional doctors, and now swear by traditional chinese doctors (it helps that I've found a really good one). I recommend it if you're open to the idea and can find a decent one in your area.

hells bells

[Danzigism]

hahaha this is a freakin fantastic idea.. i guess i wouldn't want to ALWAYS be required to pedal, but it certainly offers a great alternative.. its great to be promoting this kind of thing, especially after watching the recent episode of South Park.. i think the best thing about this idea, is the fact that your hands don't have to leave the keyboard.. i have friends that set dumb-bell weights next to their computers for simple curls.. I've tried to do that, but it takes my mind away from the computer.. I might as well be going to a gym, or taking an excercise break.. but if i can combine the two without having to take my hands off the keyboard, then hells bells.. maybe this isn't the greatest idea of having it power your entire machine, but I'm hoping this will spark the interests of other inventors out there that can maybe come up with some good simultaneous computing/excercise ideas..

Tested this at IHRSA

[Foofoobar]

I used to be the lead developer at the Microsoft Health Club in Bellevue Washington and had a chance to test one of these at the health expo in Vegas (while I was attending Apachecon). You can't back up, you can't jump, the movements are very limited. I saw several of these device and while they were all nice, they all lacked in some way. Overall, I wouldn't suggest thes to anyone until they can get these prices down. I ended up just going home and buying a couple of dance dance revolution pads for my Playstation.

Re:Tested this at IHRSA

[obrith]

wow. read the review. you obviously didnt use a gamerunner!

Re:Tested this at IHRSA

[Foofoobar]

I read the review and regardless of how well it plays with some games, in others, you will have serious issues. The treadmill=momentum issue can be hard to control especially for quick stopping and precision games. Games that require jumping of any sort will suffer from this type of momentum because there is no quick stopping.

Re:Tested this at IHRSA

[obrith]

I would say farcry and counterstrike are pretty "high-precision" FPS games... You may not like the gamerunner for something like Prince of Persia that requires very nimble climbing/jumping, but it actually stops rather easily, and if you set the tension high it stops on a dime. since jumping is a button, I fail to see how you can say it will suffer...

Re:Tested this at IHRSA

[Foofoobar]

As I said... forward momentum. And you seem to be a spokesman for the company rather than a consumer so you can ease up on the sales pitch. I tried it, didn't like it. There are definitely flaws since most games are not made for your device and your device changes the physics of the game enough to make some games impossible to play. On the other hand, I imagine that there are some that are playable but again, I don't think the experience was all that enjoyable.

Re:Tested this at IHRSA

[obrith]

I assure you I have no affiliation with the company, aside from writing a review about a device I loved. As a very experienced gamer, I am telling you that I saw simply no such flaw. If anything I think that the accuracy of the aiming system is above that of a mouse, and the running allowed the gaming experience to be more immersive. I'm not sure what you played, how long you played for, or if you even used the same unit the way you talk about it, but after many hours and many games on it I can assure you that you are wrong.

Re:Tested this at IHRSA

[Foofoobar]

More accuyrate than a mouse?? So why even have the mouse? If the device is that damn good, why use a mouse? Having tested several of these machines each year at IHRSA and having beeing a tester for Starwars galaxies, City of Heroes, Dark Age of Camelot and several others, I didn't see any of these standing out... not even this one. And yes, if it was at IHRSA (which I'm sure it was), I played it because I keep hoping someone will come up with something that no one has thought of yet. Unfortunately, this does not deviate from the many other devices of similar nature on the markt. Some may have a bike instead or a strider rather than a treadmill (mainly because those are lower impact and have less stress on the knees which is important for people who ARE overweight) but the controls really don't differ and create the same problems that others do. You may think it is great and awesome and I'm pleased that you do. You should buy one. But after playing multiple games on these and trying to get these into the Microsoft Health Club, I have yet to see one that doesn't somehow ruin the experience by changing the controller. You don't seem to get the fact that the forward momentum factor CANNOT stop on a dime without significantly changing the user experience; if you wish to run fast towards a ridge and stop at the last second, you won't be able to. Hopping from ledge to ledge will usually result in you plummeting off. Backing up is impossible without the mouse. I accept the fact that as a gamer and a reviewer, you think this is awesome. Please accept the fact that as a developer, a gamer and a former health care professional, that this did not pass my standards.

Re:Tested this at IHRSA

[obrith]

For good measure, I talked to a Gamerunner employee to see if maybe you had used a unit at "IHRSA". They have never been to the IHRSA or Microsoft's health club. So unless you used it at Wireds NEXT fest in Chicago or at CES2006, then you most certianly have no ground to stand on making your claims. I am sorry that you have such a jaded view on this type of product that you would bad-mouth a product that you have yet to use, but I will stand by my claim that in most cases I would prefer (especially while moving my body at all) gamerunners controller to aim more than a mouse. It is as smooth as the nicest mice I have ever had the grace of using, has some sort of onboard processing allowing it to move the mouse rapidly when turned one direction and gain immediate percision when moved back near center, and has a 'safety' of sorts to ensure you dont accidentally look up/down excessively while aiming. All of this makes it quite amazing for aim, quite possibly more accurate than most mice. I used it on all sorts of terrain in Farcry and only early on had any issue navagating difficult areas. Once I was on it for a short time I was able to go on even the most difficult terrain and buildings without 'plummeting off'. As I said, going from run in-game to stopped dead nearly as fast as I could have removed my finger from "W". You are not running full speed to get around in the game (unless you want to), typically it is a fast pased walk to get around full speed in game.

Awesome

[RyoShin]

I've been looking for something like this for a while. I spend most of my non-working day either in front of the TV or on the PC, and it shows. The area around here isn't that great, so I can't go for a daily run or walk, and I'm too lazy/self-concious to go to the gym. I've been trying to do DDR once a day, but living on the second floor of an apartment building puts a crimp on that.

This kind of thing would be great to help me lose some extra weight without getting bored while excersizing. Perhaps set up some program so that the screen flashes annoyingly if I slow down or stop peddling. A stand-alone unit (so you can use it with any desk you want) would be helpful, though.

I can just imagine being in invigorating Slashdot flamewars and getting worked up enough to "jog" 3 miles an hour while replying.

Re:Awesome

[geekoid]

Dude, you don't need an exercise plan, you need a life plan.

I say that with all ernest.

Very important to cool legs while riding cycle.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

If you're going to use a stationary bike for exercise, I strongly recommend a small fan blowing against your legs - especially the uppor portions, and that you wear shorts. Cooling the leg muscles greatly increases your power and endurance - far more than the power cost of the fan if you happen to be pedal-generating.

That's why stationary exercise bicycles sometimes have a blower, and why (absent the blower) riding an actual bicycle outdoors burns FAR more calories than riding a stationary bicycle indoors.

It's also why humans have essentially bare legs, with only enough hair for lubrication, in the first place, and why nothing is worn under kilts (which protect legs from sharp vegitation without impeding cooling): We cool better and can thus jog after most large fur-covered four-leggers until they collapse from overheating into a panting, pre-tenderized, almost self-cooked banquet.

Re:Very important to cool legs while riding cycle.

[ackthpt]

If you're going to use a stationary bike for exercise, I strongly recommend a small fan blowing against your legs - especially the uppor portions, and that you wear shorts. Cooling the leg muscles greatly increases your power and endurance - far more than the power cost of the fan if you happen to be pedal-generating.

Hm.. It wasn't me legs that were pouring sweat, its my head mostly, but a bit from upper-body and arms. The pattern of drops on the floor after 45 minutes was concentrated below my chin. A sweatband won't help, once it is saturated. If you are doing this indoors, fan or no fan you will be heating up the room (it'll eventually smell like a gymnasium or locker room.) I don't think this is very realistic. Best to just go out and ride for an hour than clean up, have some decent non-fried food and then play your games.

Re:Very important to cool legs while riding cycle.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

Hm.. It wasn't me legs that were pouring sweat, its my head mostly, but a bit from upper-body and arms. The pattern of drops on the floor after 45 minutes was concentrated below my chin.

That's because your body is mostly trying to keep your brain cool.

But the amount of mechanical power you can get out of your muscles is limited by your ability to keep their operating temperature within spec. Dumping some of the heat from their surface lets them run at a (far) higher power level than if their cooling was entirely dependent on using the blood to carry the heat to some other heat sink.

Re:Very important to cool legs while riding cycle.

[ackthpt]

That's because your body is mostly trying to keep your brain cool.

Yess.. but even while certifying for open water diving it was impressed upon us that most heat loss happens through the head, largely due to the high blood-flow to the brain and to the thinness of fat layers around the head. Also seems to have a greater density of pores than anywhere else on the body, perhaps for that reason alone.

But the amount of mechanical power you can get out of your muscles is limited by your ability to keep their operating temperature within spec. Dumping some of the heat from their surface lets them run at a (far) higher power level than if their cooling was entirely dependent on using the blood to carry the heat to some other heat sink.

I don't think you've done much long distance cycling. The legs lose heat very slowly, perhaps thanks to anscestors not wearing a lot of fur-lined trousers or such. More heat goes out through your lungs I think. Most of the excess heat generated by the large leg muscles, also doesn't seem to remain in the legs, so I believe it is carried away by circulated blood as it removes waste from the muscle cells. After a good hard ride on a hot day you can generally observe where you perspire most (which is the body's primary means of cooling itself) by the deposits of salts.

On long rides in air temperatures warming from early morning to mid day, leg warmers are the least uncomfortable, in terms of holding in heat. Arm warmers get peeled down quickly because arms tend to get hot quickly after you've warmed up. I refer to my upper arms as radiators.

Re:Very important to cool legs while riding cycle.

[geekoid]

"That's why stationary exercise bicycles sometimes have a blower, and why (absent the blower) riding an actual bicycle outdoors burns FAR more calories than riding a stationary bicycle indoors."

that has to do with hills(up). wind resistance, and friction.

NEAT way to lose weight

[woodsrunner]

Dr. Levine, a Mayo Clinic obesity researcher, has found that walking slowly, about a mile per hour, burns calories while not breaking a sweat. It's called "non-exercise activity thermogenesis", or NEAT.

Levine has devised a computer workstation that integrates a treadmill so you can type and walk. He and his colleagues also walk laps together at the track rather than sit in boardrooms.

Levine claims that the added workload would equate to loosing fifty pounds per year without any diet change and without breaking a sweat!

Re:NEAT way to lose weight

[Anonymous Coward]

Levine's research is attempting to characterize the inputs to NEAT.

Fidgeting, movement, and any increase in activity above the basic resting state increases the energy expenditure of any animal organism.

However, ultimately it comes down to a heat equation: there are 9 kcal of energy per gram of fat. 9 kcal ~ 37.7 kJ. J = nm. kg * g ~ n. So moving yourself (say, 80kg) a metre in any direction is 0.785 kJ, or about 0.2 kcal. Walking 45 paces therefore consumes a gram of fat.

At bodily scales, in a well-fed healthy individual, systemic inefficiencies cancel each other out such that fat energy almost precisely, and small increases in NEAT energy expenditure can thus result in equivalent decreases in stored fat.

EAT (that is, exercise, or similar work with more power -- greater wattage) is less efficient than NEAT, however, so running 45 paces will consume a bit more than that gram of fat.

At small timescales (minutes, hours) the energy system is fairly complicated, involving among other things a ca. 9000 kJ supply of glycogen which acts as a buffer between muscle and other tissues which require energy, energy storage in adipose (fatty) tissues, and food intake.

At longer timescales (weeks) differences between in energy output and food intake are directly reflected in the mass of adipose tissues.

So, if food intake is constant, a 420kJ/day increase in NEAT -- fidgeting, using stairs, walking to the store -- results in a loss of 1kg of fat in about 90 days.

In general, though, it is MUCH easier to reduce food intake by 420kJ (about 100kcal) or more a day than increasing NEAT or doing that much exercise a day. Even though calorie restricted diets often really suck.

A can of Coke (non-diet), for example, is about 600 kJ. Drinking water or even a can of Diet Coke or Coke Zero instead is worth more than 750 normal slow walking paces by a normal 80kg person with a 1 metre stride.

Re:NEAT way to lose weight

[Bastard of Subhumani]

So moving yourself (say, 80kg) a metre in any direction is 0.785 kJ

I can move 80kg a metre without expending any energy at all. I call this patented technigue "falling over".

Re:NEAT way to lose weight

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, ha ha, but you are simply converting potential energy into kinetic energy (and don't forget that some of your tissues will also be doing work in stabilizing you) and then into a shock. The latter will cause some trauma (micro at least, depending on how you decelerate) which will take energy to repair.

Even falling down doesn't come for free.

And then you probably stand up again at some point...

Essentially, unless you turn into a puddle of liquid or leave the planet you are always fighting g.

I for one...

[MS-06FZ]

...am still pumped from using the mouse.

Re:I for one...

[PaganRitual]

I'm just happy that something other than my right bicep is going to get a workout while using the computer.

Dance Dance

[luketheduke]

This looks cool but haven't fat computer nerds been loosing weight to Dance Dance Revolution. I know I have the past few years.

Re:Dance Dance

[Anonymous Coward]

I actually know a friend who joined the high school cross country team to get in shape for a big DDR competition.

Get naked whilst geeking out?

[Tony Hoyle]

Cool idea...

Those laptops can get damned hot though.. might not be safe.

I can't find any definition of 'buff' that makes sense in the headlines context: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3Abuff &btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Get yellowish-brown whilst geeking out?

Gotta love slashdot.. invent new terms just for fun.

Re:Get naked whilst geeking out?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you serious? :-/

Re:Get naked whilst geeking out?

[Kredal]

in case you are serious, try "define:buffed"

A typo or misuse of a word is better than "making up words"...

Team building

[Xiroth]

Heh, this would be interesting in a large company's corporate gym - set up two dozen of them and have two teams go at it. If you're in a team, you've more reason to keep at it (or you let the rest of the team down), and teammates would be encouraging each other to keep going. Team building and exercise all in one.

Mirror site for fpgamerunner.com

[ViperG]

FpGameRunner.com is /. so it's down. the mirror site is

GameRunner.us

Stand Still - Powergrid

[bkruiser]

http://www.powergridfitness.com/ by far the best out there. I have used it extensively on both PS2 and PC for FPS, puzzle and racing games. This is a fantastic controller, not just an exercise machine. No I am not a paid representative.

Re:Stand Still - Powergrid

[Anonymous Coward]

wowowow i'd hella like to push on a huge ass stick...
NEXT

the fpgamerunner looks like the only worthwhile one

Not real pratical

[edwardpickman]

It'd take one hell of a hamster wheel to run my quad CPU server.

Sell it?

[HermanAB]

"you have to peddle" why would selling the thing give you any exercise? Does that mean you have to try to hawk it door to door? May work that, seeing that nobody would want it...

So...

[Anonymous Coward]

...if I "peddle" it, I get a decent price at the bazaar, right?

-AC

Also on Digg

[ViperG]

Looks like fpgamerunner.com is going to suffer a slashdot and a digg effect... poor website..

Digg GameRunner

The idea is good excuse to call...

[CyberKender]

...WoW's monthly fee a 'gym membership.'
A friend's roommate built himself that same sort of thing, only around an eliptical machine about a year ago. Been wanting one myself, but elipticals are expensive for a decent one. I decided to go with the bicycle idea, but instead of buying that one, I'm building my own desk. I'm going with a more level keyboard tray and extra mousing/Nostromo area.

Portable gaming devices...

[blahplusplus]

.. also work. I play my gameboy advance while using an quality exercise bike, the big thing about exercise is that you need something to keep your mind busy or else you will be bored out of your mind.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a Wii?

[WillAffleckUW]

Then you can work up a sweat golfing or sword-fighting and not be quite such a couch potato in the first place?

Re:Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a Wii?

[faolan_devyn_aodfin]

You laugh, but several of my friend and I get together with wooden practice swords and go at it full steam. Great way to exercise and very fun too. Although if you are concerned about getting hurt you may want to invest in some sort of armour or padding and definitely shielding for your head (and hands if you work with computer and rely on them to code).

Has to be Hands-Free

[Anonymous Coward]

how can i row if i'm typing?

can't hold a torch to DDR

[Wizzerd911]

sorry but Dance Dance Revolution came first and beats this idea by far. Haven't we all seen the before and after miracle DDR exercise plan pics all over the internet?

This ignores the real problem

[wedge603]

Is that people are just too lazy. This is pathetic. It takes MAYBE 20 to 30 minutes a day 4 or 5 times a week plus not eating everything in sight to stay healthy. The best way to lose weight if you're a geek is to turn off the computer, and go outside. Trust me, I've done it, it works.

Re:This ignores the real problem

[/dev/trash]

and then you become an athlete

Re:This ignores the real problem

[Eli Gottlieb]

30 minutes per day, 4 days per week with a decent diet will bring you down to and keep you at a healthy weight in most cases, but it won't get you the "healthy and fit" look that most people seem to want - so-called "athletic fitness".

Re:This ignores the real problem

[wedge603]

Indeed, but you can't go from disgustingly overweight and sitting all day to an athlete in one step. I think the whole concept of something like GameRunner is stupid. You are not getting enough of the focused, aerobic exercise that is needed to bring down the weight of most 'geeks'. Getting healthy requires a lifestyle change. I highly doubt that either of the two products linked would be effective in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

I am amazed

[gerbalblaste]

I am amazed by the number of people who don't even read the whole article or even the whole summary before posting and sounding like idiots.

I think the treadmill is a really cool idea. I will probably get one should they ever hit $200 - $250.
The bike is a stupid idea. The posture it demonstrates is so horrible that users will have serious back problems and horrible carpal tunnel. Also a mouse is useless on that sort of sloped surface.

Was she playing Far Cry?

[antdude]

Was this YouTube video of Far Cry game?

Re:Was she playing Far Cry?

[ViperG]

yeah that is farcry

I just want a drug!

[maillemaker]

Just give me a safe appetite suppresant. That's all I need. I lost some 50+ pounds on Redux - that stuff worked. Now it's off the market.

Steve

Re:I just want a drug!

[geekoid]

Most people who over eat do so out of habit, NOT because they are hungry.
As some who never ahd to think about it until I was 40, I can tell you that over eating is a very hard habit to break.

No Thanks...

[lagfest]

imagine the smell in an office full of these :(

Camping?

[dcam]

How can you camp if you have to keep moving? These games will destroy FPS as we know it.

Re:Camping?

[obrith]

the treadmill does let you stop =P

Netpulse Health Club version was lousy

[billstewart]

A number of years ago, there was a company called Netpulse that had exercise bikes in health clubs with internet terminals on them. Their market was entertainment-while-exercising, rather than exercise-while-computing, which is a bit different - I hope the Geekcycle works better. Part of the problem was ergonomics - they had a touchscreen rather than a real keyboard, which made it hard to type; you could hit the pageup/pagedown keys without much trouble, but if you wanted to type more than a few words, you basically had to stop pedalling and lean forward, and the timers on the hey-you-stopped-pedaling feature were set *way* to tight, so you couldn't type much before it interrupted you. It just wasn't usable. Furthermore, the screen resolution was too low; I forget if it was 640x480 or 800x600, but Slashdot was hard to read because the border frames took up too much screen space. I had my Slashdot id set to something like zzz, because it was almost impossible to type "billstewart" without the you-stopped-pedalling timer attacking.

This was back during the dotcom boom - their business model was something like tracking user fitness and selling advertising based on the demographics of the frequent users, plus presumably some rental charge to the health clubs. Obviously they'd never tried doing any real computing while doing any real pedaling.

I know how he feels.

[Anonymous Coward]

I also don't gain weight regardless of what/how much I eat, and I have been to doctors about it, I got put on a diet that involved eating 4 meals min daily and drinking protein shakes between meals... It only made me feel ill from eating so much :/

But I am like everyone else here in that, while I don't gain fat, I don't magically gain muscle tone or definition either, and a the game runner looks like a nice way to stay fit for when I'm playing Ultimate Flying Disc (Whammo still have a trademark on frisbee).
I could see myself using this if it was cheap enough.

great... and my image word was 'therapy' :/

Re:I know how he feels.

[glittalogik]

I'd like to see strength options as well as cardio for gameplay, maybe squeeze-grips, or a 5-10lb 'nunchuk' attachment for the Wii. Anything that promotes fitness is cool, but for people trying to gain weight, I reckon strength/resistance workouts are going to help a lot more than running/cycling.

speedhack

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they could allow a speedhack in CS, the faster you pedal the faster you run.

Pssst.. hey buddy

[way2trivial]

http://www.netpulse.com/

they are still around....

Farm hippies beat them to it.

[garyebickford]

This 1981 article in Mother Earth News cites a father who lived offgrid, who submitted to his kids' demands for television with a bicycle generator that charged a battery for a 12 volt TV. 1/2 hour of cycling got them one hour of TV.

They have a three part article on how to build your own, with detailed instructions.

Quake Camping

[rachit]

think treadmill meets Quake 4. Again, you have to keep moving to stay in the game.

Isn't the "camping" problem in most FPS games bad enough already?

I hope people don't call this a new technology.

[insomniac8400]

The powerpad has been out for the NES for a long time. http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/nes/peri pherals/powerpad.html

"think treadmill meets Quake 4"

[PaganRitual]

Awesome! So they're finally making a Quake MMORPG?

Or how about these great inventions...

[Anonymous Coward]

Self-control and self-discipline! Eat less and exercise! Or be lazy and get fat.. whatever works best for you.

lance armstrong

[Joe The Dragon]

You will need to get lance armstrong to take alot of steroids to be able to power a system runing windows vista.

In The Buff

[BryanL]

Boy, I read that as "in the buff while geeking out". Boy was I disappointed!

I found a cheat code!

[CFD339]

With a small hardware modification, you can plug the power directly into the PC, and then you don't have to peddle any more. The modification is only a $3 cable, but if you want to be able to download the instructions, you have to join our web site which is $20 per year. You also get wifi firmware with it. :-)

it's worse

[commodoresloat]

you have to read Beowulf while you do it!

The economy under Bush is just fine.

[ccmay]

But here in the US the economy sucks.

No it doesn't. Most of what you think you know about the economy from listening to the mainstream media is a crock of shit. It's a manifestation of Easterbrook's Law: All economic news is bad.

We are at 4.6% unemployment, which is pretty close to what economists consider full employment, and better than most other developed countries. 5.7 million new jobs have been created since 2003.

The stock market is at all time highs. We've had 57 straight months of economic growth since the Clinton/dot-com mini-recession of 2000-01.

It's true that wage growth is flat since 1999, but if you include benefits, there has been steady growth. Taxes are falling, so after-tax disposable income is higher than it's ever been.

The top five percent of taxpayers pay 57.1% of all taxes under Bush, up from 56.5% under Clinton. At the same time, the share of national income earned by the top 1% has fallen from 21% under Clinton to 19% under Bush. Most families earning less than $40,000 are paying no Federal taxes. The rich are paying their fair share, and then some, and then some more.

The deficit has been cut in half, three years ahead of schedule, and a surplus is in sight if corporate profits continue to grow at current rates.

Inflation is miniscule. Gas prices are down to near their normal inflation-adjusted levels. Food has never been cheaper.

Housing prices are high, but taking a breather while incomes catch up. Mortgage rates are low by historic standards, and headed downwards again.

I lived through the Carter years, sonny. You don't have jack-shit to teach me about an economy that sucks. But if you want to find out, go ahead and vote for the Democrats.

-ccm

Re:The economy under Bush is just fine.

[shaitand]

"The rich are paying their fair share, and then some, and then some more."

You reveal your income bracket here. The rest of your post is either condescension (you aren't entitled to any sonny) or meaningless statistics taken out of context and used for propaganda.

"Gas prices are down to near their normal inflation-adjusted levels."

Compared to when? The gas crunch? 5 years ago gas was about $1.50/gallon. Now gas is about $3/gallon. Your math seems a bit skewed to me. If you are claiming that inflation rates are so high that the dollar is worth half what it was 5 years ago then our economy is in a very sad state indeed.

"We are at 4.6% unemployment, which is pretty close to what economists consider full employment"

Sounds great. Of course it is meaningless. The biggest single glaring fact that makes your unemployment statistic worthless is that it only considers people who are actually drawing unemployment benefits. That is a small fraction of the unemployed. It also considers part-time and minimum wage (or near minimum) workers employed.

"At the same time, the share of national income earned by the top 1% has fallen from 21% under Clinton to 19% under Bush."

How about the top 5%? How about the top 10%? This is why statistics are useless for anything but propaganda. No matter what your viewpoint you can pick the numbers that suit your position.

"Most of what you think you know about the economy from listening to the mainstream media is a crock of shit."

The media? Who needs to look to the media to find out about the economy? Look to the people. Your average citizen is now making $25,000 or less and has no benefits. The reason they have no benefits is that almost all corporations have eliminated full-time positions among non-management workers. If you look at the workers filling positions typically held by teens you will now find adults working those jobs. A single adult in this position is forced to live with family or a roommate. In a marriage both the husband and wife must work just to keep up and they are building a landlord equity instead of themselves. Remember when the economy was healthy and one individual could work hard and support a house and car, plus put away something to take care of their family? Now both a husband and wife must work and they must save to be able to afford insurance, forget building to the future.

There is nothing fine about the economy if you are looking at it from the position of most of the working citizens instead of the position of the most successful citizens.

Re:The economy under Bush is just fine.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you are claiming that inflation rates are so high that the dollar is worth half what it was 5 years ago then our economy is in a very sad state indeed.

Hey, I get paid (well my company does) in US pesos and it seems to me that it is worth waaaay less than it was a few years ago, just by the amount you have devalued it let alone inflation. Yet that fact seems to have passed Walmart by. One day their suppliers might ask to get paid in a solid currency, and then the s**t will hit the fan.

Re:The economy under Bush is just fine.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds great. Of course it is meaningless. The biggest single glaring fact that makes your unemployment statistic worthless is that it only considers people who are actually drawing unemployment benefits.

This is completely false. It's amazing how a piece of misinformation like this continues to spread, no matter how many times the ignorant are corrected.

Re:The economy under Bush is just fine.

[geekoid]

"We are at 4.6% unemployment, which is pretty close to what economists consider full employment, and better than most other developed countries. 5.7 million new jobs have been created since 2003."

except people working a lot less then 40 hours are cnosidered 'full time'. How companies get away with that I don't knoe,. but it sure as hell skews the phone polls.(phone polls are the main way unemployment is calculated.)

"It's true that wage growth is flat since 1999, but if you include benefits, there has been steady growth."
What are you smoking? benefits get cut more and more every year.

" Taxes are falling, so after-tax disposable income is higher than it's ever been."
Except that costs of things are going up more then thaxes cut, and the majority of taxes that have been cut have been for the wealth, having no real inpact since that already ahve enough to buy whatever they want before the tax cuts.

"The top five percent of taxpayers pay 57.1% of all taxes under Bush, up from 56.5% under Clinton."

Show your work here, This is counter to what I've read.

"At the same time, the share of national income earned by the top 1% has fallen from 21% under Clinton to 19% under Bush."
So even the rich are suffering under Bush, well done.

  "Most families earning less than $40,000 are paying no Federal taxes."
Not true at all.
" The rich are paying their fair share, and then some, and then some more."
"Fair share" does not equal "same amount as."

The purpose of a community is about the whole, not the one.

"Inflation is miniscule."
Lie
"Gas prices are down to near their normal inflation-adjusted levels.
Lie
" Food has never been cheaper."
Lie.

"Housing prices are high, but taking a breather while incomes catch up. Mortgage rates are low by historic standards, and headed downwards again."

Incomes would need to triple to catch up.

"I lived through the Carter years, sonny. You don't have jack-shit to teach me about an economy that sucks. But if you want to find out, go ahead and vote for the Democrats."
so did I, Sonny. And apparently you have a hell of a lot to learn about economics. Also, suffering through bad economic times does not mean you know JACK SHIT about economics, any more then being a passanger on a plane means you can fly.

"But if you want to find out, go ahead and vote for the Democrats."
yeah, those rough Clinton years...oh wait.

This administrations incredibly HIGH spending is killing this country.
This administration may be under the republican banner, but they are not praticing any republican policies.
I suggest you consider that when deciding who to vote for. Are republucan party has been taken over by warmongers, has no fiscal responsibility, sticks there nose into private affairs, and ignores the people in serious troubkle in it's own borders.

Re:The economy under Bush is just fine.

[Spunk]

I'm not here to defend the OP (didn't read it actually) but your post has some misinformation I feel I need to correct. No, I'm not an economist, but I'm rather interested in the topic so I read a lot about it.

"We are at 4.6% unemployment, which is pretty close to what economists consider full employment"

Sounds great. Of course it is meaningless. The biggest single glaring fact that makes your unemployment statistic worthless is that it only considers people who are actually drawing unemployment benefits. That is a small fraction of the unemployed.

Untrue. Here's the methodology for the numbers. Some percentages of people collecting uninsurance can be found here:

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Sept. 16 were in Puerto Rico (3.7 percent), Alaska (2.5), Michigan (2.5), New Jersey (2.5), Pennsylvania (2.4), Arkansas (2.2), Connecticut (2.0), Massachusetts (2.0), Oregon (2.0), and Rhode Island (2.0).

We can see from those numbers that even the highest "collecting unemployment" number is well below the 4.6% unemployed. Looking at the historical figures here shows that the number has been on its way down and is now lower than the whole period from 1974-1996.

Here's a link to the Full Employment concept the OP mentioned.

It also considers part-time and minimum wage (or near minimum) workers employed.

This is true. But how would you have a meaningful statistic without this? How do you define "near minimum" for instance?

Your average citizen is now making $25,000 or less and has no benefits. The reason they have no benefits is that almost all corporations have eliminated full-time positions among non-management workers.

I can't find the numbers for average salaries but benefits are still common. You may very well have a point to make here but your "no benefits" and "almost all corporations" claims are baseless.

Re:The economy under Bush is just fine.

[mink]

From your link. "Information here reflects procedures as of July 2001"

Last update before that was 1996.

Seeing the details is an eye opener. we still have a chance of luck dealing us false numbers but statistically much more accurate then just benefits filed for.

Pedal this...

[notanatheist]

Too bad mine isn't a game. It still kicks your arse. My indoor trainer

Re:Pedal this...

[geekoid]

Yeah, but you have an orange keyboard.
Gross.

"That last thing you'd want is a disconnect when sprinting over 30mph."

But as an observer, that would be the first thing I would want you to do.

no really...

[Anonymous Coward]

isn't there a way i can get buff without moving?

Nothing new - Once again, Microsoft was a leader

[transporter_ii]

in innovation yet again, as its tech support has used pedal power to power its tech support computers for several years now

Transporter_ii

Just don't start calling these things...

[Supertroll]

"(L)ardass (A)dipose (R)eduction (T)ools"

pre-tenderized

[lakeland]

Try eating meat from an animal that's been stressed to death and you won't think that chasing an animal will make it tender...

Re:pre-tenderized

[Ungrounded Lightning]

(It was a joke. As for the quality of meat from an animal that's been run down: That's what the knives and slow fire are for.)

It's even worse

[Solandri]

I was a bike racer for a long time. At my best I could generate about 350 watts continuously for an hour. A decent computer would suck that dry.

350 W is nearly half a horsepower. A fit individual can generate a sustained 0.3 horsepower. I'd guess that a sedentary geek could generate a sustained 0.15 horsepower (110 W). About enough to power a high-power laptop, but that's it.

I saw something like this before...

[ModernGeek]

...on something like Discovery Health (about 3-5 years back) where people would have a competition to see who would loose the most weight. They connected one of these to his monitor, and if he stopped peddling, the monitor would stop. I always wanted one because I know it would suit me best as I always have restless feet under my computer desk, and can never find the time to work out. Where do I sign up?

Re:I saw something like this before...

[Moderatbastard]

see who would loose the most weight. [...] and if he stopped peddling

I don't understand. Weight isn't tight to start with, and I don't see how selling things could make it less so.

Not going to help...

[hokeyru]

Cycling isn't going to get you buff. Try hitting the gym and picking up some weights. What a bunch of nerds you guys are.

Citations? Re:The economy under Bush is just fine.

[SpectralDesign]

I'm not trying to troll you here -- I'd love to see some citations for the fact's you're presenting, such as who's paying the taxes, how much wealth the top 1% are absorbing, etc...

"we are at 4.6% unemployment" ... "5.7 million new jobs have been created since 2003."

The CIA World Factbook entry on the U.S. (updated October 5th) states 5.1% (2005 est) unemployment index (okay, not a big difference, but still, when dealing with such small percentages, that's still a 10% difference), with 12% below poverty (not exactly great there, for such an economic powerhouse). And, keep in mind, the revised U.I. is not a true reflection of unemployment rates, it's based only on "new unemployment claims". In a nut-shell, it's not a terribly accurate measure of economic health in and of itself. If a person loses their $60,000.00/year job and starts working part-time at McD's to try to bring in some money, they don't even get counted as a new unemployment claim because, well, they're working!

Meanwhile, public debt is 68% of the GDP (the GDP, by the way, is $12,000,000,000,000.00, so apparently the debt-load is > eight trillion dollars).

In the two year period of 2004-2005 three million jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector alone. How you spin the data you selectively present makes a difference... While I'm certain that there are many benefiting in the GWB economy, there are many suffering as well.

(This is where you're supposed to respond and say something about poor people being that way by choice, that if they'd only work a little harder then they too could become rich and successful, and avoid a situation where the military seems like the only viable option).

Inflation is miniscule.

Quote from outside source: "The inflation outlook remains highly uncertain, and until we actually see inflation begin to slow down, I will be focused on the upside risks in the outlook," Yellen said in a speech to the California Independent Bankers convention in Laguna Beach, California.

In the Carter days, minimum wage was far closer to a living wage than it is today. Executive compensation was also much closer to employee compensation -- granted, there may be a higher level of benefits for the peons these days, but in almost all corporations, the lower you are on the totem pole, the more you are paying out of your own pocket for "benefits" such as health care (seriously, the U.S. still lacks national health care?)

Now, I'm not saying the Dem's would make it any better, that's not for me to say, but it seems that the truthiness of you post is aimed at justifying a specific agenda. Frankly, I think the Dem's are the same as the GOP with one small difference -- they tend to lack backbones. Bottom-line, both the primary parties seem to be no more than corporate lapdogs in this day and age. You'll never see any radical changes in economic policy based on who wins or loses, perhaps only in "moral issues" legislation and warmongering.

Feels different to some people.

[Kadin2048]

I'm with you. I've tried to figure out the same thing, and as far as I can tell, the "masochistic endorphin high" is the reason runners seem do do it. Most people aren't sightseeing when they go running (more often than not you run a route, so you've seen it before, and how much do you really see when you're zoned out and have the "thousand yard stare" going?), so that's not really it, like it could be for hiking or walking. There's really very little to enjoy about it, except for the feeling of exertion itself. If you don't take pleasure in the exertion, you're probably not going to enjoy running.

I have a suspicion that there is a difference in brain chemistry that makes some people enjoy the endorphin high more than others, because many runners honestly seem to really enjoy it, and not in an "I really like pain" way, but that they are actually deriving a form of physical pleasure from the exertion which outweighs the pain. Conversely, many (IMO, most) other people find the "high" to be more than outweighed by the physical discomfort necessary to obtain it.

I do a mild run a few times a week (and I used to do a lot more when I was in the military) but I've never once enjoyed it. I go running because it's good exercise and because I don't want to turn into Jabba the Hutt in my new desk job; if it weren't for the health and vanity/appearance benefits, no way would I put myself through that. (It's also cheap and requires very little equipment compared to other exercise modes.) Aside from the exercise, I could simulate the experience of running as I perceive it fairly well by having someone beat me repeatedly with a stick, and save a lot of time and wear on my joints.

If you could invent a pill that would allow normal people to enjoy the experience of running in the same way that some distance runners I've spoken to seem to enjoy it, I suspect that you're be a very rich person.

Re:Feels different to some people.

[haystor]

I suggest that a runner should spend his time thinking.

It's my firm belief that the reason so many people use cell phones while driving and speed while driving is that they need a distraction from being left alone with their own thoughts. They need something to take them away before they start thinking.

For the same reason, most people hate distance running.

Imagine having 1 uninterrupted hour of being able to think about anything you want. If that appeals to you, get started with your distance training. If it doesn't, play a sport, climb rocks or get a track bike and weave in and out of traffic.

I was in a running club with professional runs at one time. The club had everyone from the 5k record holder down to people that could barely make it around the park. One of the people there just to lose weight asked one of the professionals when it stopped hurting. The guy said, "it never stops hurting. it's about making the other guy hurt more."

Or, if you prefer, Lawerence of Arabia:
(Lawrence has extinguished a match with his fingers, Potter attempts to do the same)

Potter: "Ooh! It damn well 'urts!"

Lawrence: "Certainly it hurts."

Potter: "What's the trick then?"

Lawrence: "The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts."

Well that's well and good, but...

[Kuroji]

What about those of us who don't have that luxury, as the case may be? I used to ride mine five miles each way back and forth to work; that was great for staying in shape, I highly recommend it if possible.

Then I moved to a city where I'm twice as far from work -- which in itself wouldn't be a big deal if every neighborhood between home and work weren't places you do NOT want to be after dark. Unfortunately that's not the case, so my bike is largely collecting dust as I pretty much work six or seven days weekly, on night shift.

The economy has not yet begun to suck

[Cid Highwind]

5.7 million new jobs have been created since 2003. ...and with a population growth rate of 0.91% (taken from the CIA world factbook), 8.2 million new Americans have been created in the same time period.

It's true that wage growth is flat since 1999, but if you include benefits, there has been steady growth. Taxes are falling, so after-tax disposable income is higher than it's ever been.

The value of benefits is up because health care costs so much more than it did in 1999. Being able to afford the same N goods and services plus the same annual visit to the doctor and the same prescription on your current salary as on your 1999 salary even though the doctor visit costs twice as much and the prescription costs 4 times as much is NOT income growth! (unless you're a doctor or a health plan administrator)

Your statistics are bad, but look on the bright side. By the time the perfect economic storm that's coming when massive consumer debt, and economic growth based entirely on construction and real estate collide with rising interest rates and stagnant wages reaches it's full bank-collapsing fury, Bush will be out of office so you'll get to blame that one on the democrats too.

Not quite as fancy, but

[koreth]

I bought myself an elliptical trainer last year. My laptop rests comfortably on the hand grips. I bought an Easy Chair Mount with a couple extra vertical segments -- the guys who sell the mount are happy to help you figure out what you need -- and used it to mount a 21" LCD (the Dell 1600x1200 one) just in front of the trainer. It works nicely; I can read my email and do my morning Web surfing on a decent-size screen and before I know it my water bottle is empty and I've had my morning aerobic workout. It is not the cheapest setup in the universe but I've been getting a lot more exercise since it arrived, so I think it's worth the hit on my wallet.

One piece of advice, though: Avoid exercise equipment with wireless heart rate monitors. Mine has one and it constantly gets bogus signals when the laptop is resting on its console, making the automated "adjust the resistance based on your heart rate" modes next to useless for me.

Tetris weightlifting!

[peh]

Another variation of the concept:

http://www.tetrisweightlifting.com/

an alternative

[Oscar Jameson]

As usual, we try to fix a modern problem by throwing technology at it. There's a much simpler solution: - Sit on the floor - Sitting on a flat space on the floor, with no back support, forces you to use your own muscles (remember those?) to support your back, thereby making it stronger. For people not used to sitting this way, it is difficult to maintain one position for very long, so you wind up moving around a lot. Getting up and down from the floor without any external aids also builds muscles, while aiding flexibility. It's pretty cheap too, as you probably already own the basic equipment.

prior art

[Bastard of Subhumani]

I hope they haven't got a patent on this. I was in the bar with a group of people from work about 10 years back and we came up with the same idea when one of the girls complained she was skipping gym due to all the overtime she was doing.

I guess the difference is we knew we were joking. Maybe next time I'm in a state of lubricated creativity and invent something ludicrously impractical and overcomplicated I'll run to a patent attorney, just in case.

If I can remember what it was the following morning.

Strength Training

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget the http://www.powergridfitness.com/kilowatt series of full body isometric strength training video game controllers.

BAD IDEA

[pooman10288]

This is the worst idea i have ever heard of no one is ever going to pay to have to work while they play games. the reason most of us play games is to escape the shittiness of the lives that we are forced to live. The other reason we play games is to relax and have fun without having to stress our bodies too much.

Dr. James A. Levine's work at the Mayo clinic

[Paul Fernhout]

We have set up two workstations with treadmills, inspired by Dr. James A. Levine's work at the Mayo clinic:
        http://www.mayoclinic.org/endocrinology-rst/112066 08.html
        http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/levine_ lab/
        http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-06-07-offic e-fit_x.htm?csp=34
Each has three LCD monitors on a shelf on the wall in front of the treadmill.

One big issue is we had to rearrange our house to have the heavy (~250lb) treadmills on the ground floor -- both to not carry them up the stairs and also for concerns about noise.

Dear Dumbass

[Anonymous Coward]

Frankly, I'm surprised that they went the bike/running route when it would have been easier to set up a rowing or "hand cycling" device instead.

They need to use their hands to use/play the fucking computer/game.

What I do

[rantingkitten]

I do mild excercise throghout the week and I'm in good shape, but for the purposes of building muscle tone I've taken to a seemingly silly but, in my experience, effective way to get some excercise in during gaming sessions.

I'm talking about load times!

On my 2ghz machine, load times can be a minute or more between maps, depending on what game I'm playing. Any time that loading screen comes up for Unreal Tournament, I drop to the ground (with feet on the chair, for an incline) and crank out 30 or 40 pushups. A few rounds later and I've done 100 or more that day, which may not be much but is 100 more than most people do. I do this for situps, as well, and keep a pair of 25 pound handweights nearby so I can pump a set or two of those during load times. Better than staring at the progress bar, does a good job on my physique, and when I hear the game start again I can get right back to blowing stuff up.

Plus, it's a good way to work off some of that aggression about the jackass who just sits on the top hill the entire damned round and pops off sniper shots like a coward. God, I hate that guy. And his buddy with the vengeance kills. Hate him too.

Uh, anyway, try it. And for crissake, stick to diet soda.

Not really intrusive.

[geekoid]

I built a device that attaches to an exercise bike. If the where stops moving, the com-uter will begin shutdown after 5 minutes.
Simple device really. So when not in use, you could put your exercise bike away.

Of course the real solution is to find a way to sell motivation.

Correction!!!

[geekoid]

"The biggest single glaring fact that makes your unemployment statistic worthless is that it only considers people who are actually drawing unemployment benefits."

Myth. I would like to slap the person who started this.

It is drawn from a phone sample of 60,000 random calls per month(or maybe per week, I forget.)

Granted, it excludes people to poor to have a phone.

Re:Correction!!!

[mink]

Thats really odd, because every financial news source I have seen talk about unemployment numbers says that it only reflects people actively drawing unemployment benefits.

Do you have any kind of information about this?

Naw

[geekoid]

I'd just build a holodeck version of me to play. On that could see through walls, and camp spawn.

A Frugal Solution

[equivocal]

I post this from my recumbant exercise bike with my NCD X Terminal. See here (it's the login screen background): http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~mball/images/BikeAnd Terminal.jpg

Best part was that it made use of things I already had. Extra purchases were limited to trivial items.

My Idea

[djdavetrouble]

I had an idea for a really big keyboard powered by arm strokes, not finger strokes. You could hammer away on it and get a great workout.
I thought this would be a great break from a regular keyboard, but not for all day use, or you'd get really tired !
I love the idea of combining computers / computer games and exercise. DDR and the like fascinate me. These
interfaces are in their infancy, expect way cooler things to come. Exercise equipment is big business, and computers
aren't just for geeks anymore. Everyone that I know has a computer these days, or at least a family
computer if they don't have their own.

One huge example of this direction is the nike + ipod thingamajig.

my method-

[tacroy]

I play halo2...alot. What I do is keep free weights next to my lazy boy. Between matches or during loading screens I lift while still sitting in my chair. Other things is do is kick the lazyboy out to "lay down mode" and bench the free weights. For abs I enter lay down mode and hold crunches while holding a free weight over my head. Works in most gaming situations (loading screens, movies, long dialogs) Its worked out well for me so far, but now im looking for something to help more with the pecs. Any armchair workout tips?