R K Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12453494 Portable pedal machines could be used in every office to improve the health of workers, according to scientists in the US. The researchers, writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, said sedentary lifestyles were a serious health problem. They argue that small exercise bikes could be a cheap solution. Charity Weight Concern said improving the health of workers would also benefit employers' bottom lines. Hours spent sat a desk staring into a computer screen is not an alien experience for many office workers. Physical inactivity has been linked to obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Previous attempts at increasing the health of workers have involved hooking a treadmill up to an office computer. Now researchers at East Carolina University are investigating mini exercise bikes, which can be used while sat at a desk. During a small study with 18 workers, they assessed how feasible it would be for the bikes to be introduced. On average, the workers each used the machine on 12 out of the 20 days of the study and pedalled for 23 minutes at a time. In a questionnaire, the workers said they would use the machine regularly at work if they were offered one by their employer. They researchers said: "Portable pedal machines may serve as a tool to reduce sedentary times in the work environment without necessarily influencing the sitting time necessary for performing computer-related tasks." The authors note that the novelty factor of having an exercise bike did wear off so additional motivation would be needed to keep employees using them. (getting paid, presumably) Dr Ian Campbell, of Weight Concern, said: "It's increasingly being recognised that employers have an opportunity to provide options for staff to become more active during the working day. "In principle this is a good idea, and relatively inexpensive. If used regularly not only would individuals benefit, but employers would see reduced absenteeism and improved performance and job satisfaction. "However, it's not for everyone and I was concerned that, not surprisingly, use of the pedal machine decreased gradually over the one month trial period as enthusiasm waned." Linked directly into the Nationwide house price index and Bob Diamond's bonus. Pedal faster you dissident proles! Got to keep feeding the banksters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 A chair that says "Ouch! My, you are a fat s*d!" everytime you sit in it would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Home_To_Roost Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 (edited) They want us to generate electricity while we work .... :angry: Edited February 15, 2011 by Home_To_Roost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@contradevian Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 (edited) Human body doing nothing, is rated at about 100 watts with the brain taking 20 watts of that. On the gym cycle machine, I can sustain 130-150 watts with peak power approaching 250-300 watts. Would keep a few energy light bulbs going at home. I assume that will be on top of my basal energy usage. Sadly that equates to over 600 kcals, which is quite a bit of food, though not quite a Mac D "Big Breakfast " an hour. Edited February 15, 2011 by Sir John Steed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Hook the bikes up to the microwave ovens so their can zap their own pop tarts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowflux Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Human body doing nothing, is rated at about 100 watts with the brain taking 20 watts of that. On the gym cycle machine, I can sustain 130-150 watts with peak power approaching 250-300 watts. Would keep a few energy light bulbs going at home. I assume that will be on top of my basal energy usage. Sadly that equates to over 600 kcals, which is quite a bit of food, though not quite a Mac D "Big Breakfast " an hour. I'm guessing that you're only considering mechanical output here. Obviously, the human body also generates a substantial amount of extra heat when working hard, which means you can turn the office heating down too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 A chair that says "Ouch! My, you are a fat s*d!" everytime you sit in it would help. That sounds very easy to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aa3 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Human body doing nothing, is rated at about 100 watts with the brain taking 20 watts of that. On the gym cycle machine, I can sustain 130-150 watts with peak power approaching 250-300 watts. Would keep a few energy light bulbs going at home. I assume that will be on top of my basal energy usage. Sadly that equates to over 600 kcals, which is quite a bit of food, though not quite a Mac D "Big Breakfast " an hour. If you pedalled for a whole 40 hour work week at 150 watts output.. that would equate to 6 kilowatt hours of electrical output(if 100% was captured). 6 kilowatt hours of output wholesales for about £0.30. Thats why people are dead wrong that we can go back to a human/animal powered world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@contradevian Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 If you pedalled for a whole 40 hour work week at 150 watts output.. that would equate to 6 kilowatt hours of electrical output(if 100% was captured). 6 kilowatt hours of output wholesales for about £0.30. Thats why people are dead wrong that we can go back to a human/animal powered world. Yes I thought human labour converted to electricity tariff was incredibly cheap. Just goes to show how cheap oil energy, when measured in terms of human slaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Wont happen. Fat people are like gods in the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 An office full of people literally sweating away? No thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Thats why people are dead wrong that we can go back to a human/animal powered world. Work til you drop and then use the bodies as fuel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@contradevian Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 (edited) Wont happen. Fat people are like gods in the US. Not surprised, they are like huge storage batteries. Lots of fuel to exploit there. Each lb of fat is what? 2000 kcal? That's about 3 hours on the old exercise bike. Edited February 15, 2011 by Sir John Steed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aa3 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Work til you drop and then use the bodies as fuel? 2 pounds of fat is about a litre of oil. A barrel of oil that sells for 85$ US has 160 litres I believe. So a person with 50 pounds of bodyfat, that is 13.25$ worth of oil:). The meat on a person might be useful for dog food or fish food. The skin might be made into leather, that might be the most valueable part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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