1. In a world that is both controlled and limited by
its energy consumption, innovation is constantly
developing new technologies that seek to
generate energy through everyday movements. It
is not a new concept to harness our kinetic energy
but the amount of energy produced by a human
body that can be harnessed for use has, until now,
been limited.
Through utilising a range of recent developments,
it will not be long until facilities, such as
gymnasiums, could become self sufficient with
their own energy requirements. Yet the largest
impact will undoubtedly be a growing awareness
of what is really meant by energy saving and an
expectation of businesses to help make energy
consumption more sustainable.
This paper is written as guidance for those
involved in the UK health and fitness industry.
The human
power
generator
A report for the
gym based fitness industry
Group 34 - Squared Online - Module 5 - Energy

2. Since 2007, engineers have been
trying to harness human power to
generate electricity. The California
Fitness centre in Hong Kong
worked with French inventor Lucien
Gambarota and entrepreneur Doug
Woodring to introduce a programme
called ‘Powered by You’ where
exercise machines generated ener-
gy to light the gym [1]. Although to
date, the cost of the equipment and
the small amount of energy they ac-
tually produce has limited the upta-
ke of the ‘Green Gym’, the largest
impact by those facilities that have
invested has been the general awa-
reness of how much energy needs to
be exerted to generate even a small
charge.
The £2bn UK health and fitness
industry is recovering from a major
downturn over the past decade due
to the economic crisis. The
introduction of budget gyms and
fitness classes has helped drive
numbers, with over 4.4 million British
adults now holding gym membership.
Fitness is becoming ‘cool’,
particularly with the introduction of
fitness gadgets which enable even
the most sedentary to keep an eye on
their steps. More developed gadgets
such as tracking apps, sweat resistant
accessories and fitness watches have
enabled technology and fitness to be
ever more closely intertwined.
According to Kantar Media [2]
‘Regular exercise fiends are as
married to technology as they are to
their fitness regimes. They are 26%
more likely than the average British
adult to keep up with developments
in technology and 32% more likely to
buy new gadgets or appliances.’
They are the perfect market to
introduce human powered
technology to – both for the
excitement of using it and for
generating awareness about the
amount of power required to charge
their gadgets. To equip individuals
with the ability to power their own
fitness regime would also provide an
outlet for their intrinsic competitive
nature. Such users of fitness
wearables are also more likely to
share their achievements with their
peer group and social media groups
spreading the world about human
power generators.
Harnessing
Human Power
300W
1200W700W
=
= =
=
1000W
1 hour
work out
10 MIN1HOUR
1HOUR 1X

3. Wearable sports technology has been
driven by the creation of ultra low
power technology which in turn is
being supported by micro energy
harvesting systems; an array of micro
scale technologies that scrounge
milliwatts from solar, vibrational,
thermal and biological sources [3].
Although these harvesting systems are
unregulated, intermittent and small
they can be recovered passively from
body heat and motion or actively
through user actions such as winding or
pedalling.
The average human will produce
around 100 watts of power at rest [4].
Most of this energy is used to produce
a vast array of movement; from a
constant heart beat through to moving
around, but a lot of it is wasted as heat
or other physical inefficiencies. It is
believed that almost all of this wasted
energy could be turned into electricity.
The fitness centre, as a whole building,
can help harness these energy sources,
bringing them together to work in
synergy rather than as stand alone
technologies. These technological
innovations draw energy from humans
as follows:
TECHNOLOGY 4 types:
Piczoelectronic
floor tiles that
generate electricty
from footsteps
Electro-
mechanical
Generating electrici-
ty from breathing
Electrodynamic
Wearable human
motion energy
harvester
Thermo
electrical
Absorbs heat from
body and converts it
to electricity
Body heat
2.4-4.8W
Blood preasure
<0.93W
Arm Motion
<60WFinger motion
6.9-19mW
Footfalls
<67W
Breathing band
<0.83W
Exhalation
<1W
Possible power recovery from body-centered sources with total
power for each action listed. Figure 1.

4. THe Future is now
be part of it
‘Whilst the energy producing gym
won’t immediately solve the energy
crisis, it does at least require its
members to physically engage with
the issue.‘[5] The technology detailed
in this report will have to work
together to produce sufficient energy
to fuel a gymnasium‘s requirements
initially. But by introducing other
renewable technologies, such as solar
panels as support, it is a feasible feat
and one that will become
expected by its members in the
future. The more that those involved
in the health and fitness industry start
becoming aware of what is
achievable now, the more that they
can prepare for it in their business
plan. These technologies are
expected to disrupt the health and
fitness industry within the next 5 - 10
years.
However, the main push will be
through their marketing efforts;
highlighting the power produced,
exemplifying the CO2 emissions
saved, developing a fitness drive
between members - not to burn
calories any longer but increase the
number of Watts generated by
individuals. It is this awareness that
will change attitudes towards
electricity. If people can genuinely
understand just how much effort is
required to power a light bulb, they
will think twice about leaving the
lights on.
It has been noted from gyms that
have already invested in this
technology that their members are
now aware of the amount of effort
required to charge their mobiles. By
educating their members,
gymnasiums will help drive the world
to create a more sustainable future
in terms of energy consumption and
remove their electricity bill in the
process.
The Edge sports complex at Leeds University is an early adopter
of sustainable exercise machines after purchasing the Artis
Renew range from Technogym and in March 2015 ‘generated
574kwh of power, enough to power a plasma TV for 158 days,
light a room for 9,573hrs and keep a fridge running for nearly 2
years’. They also highlight the reduced carbon footprint that the
technology offers.[5]
A contrasting article by Tom Gibson [6] in IEEE Spectrum
explains that we are still a while off seeing gyms providing
surplus energy to the grid. The technology is still in its infancy
with the energy output so low that any benefits are scant. Plus
the economic savings are not at all enticing to invest in yet. It
will take decades to recover the cost incurred to buy the
equipment but at present the machines only last between 5-6
years.
The growth of wearable and digital technology within the fitness
environment provides unlimited potential for the health and
fitness industry. It will allow big data to move into the realms
of super data delivering indepth insights into user interaction
within the gymnasium. The data collection will be both smarter
and more robust than ever before and allow the user to be put
at the centre of the activity - whether for market research
purposes, design of the equipment, layout of the building or
used by health practitioners to confirm that their patients
training is on schedule.
Example
Data collection
1 http://www.aashe.org/files/resources/student-research/2009/HPG_AASHE_2010.pdf
2 http://uk.kantar.com/consumer/leisure/fitness-and-gym-statistics-uk-2014/
3 http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/landing/cc430/graphics/slyy018_20081031.pdf
4 http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/135481-will-your-body-be-the-battery-of-the-future
Fig 1 http://eh-network.org/files/human_power.pdf
5 http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/apr/01/the-fat-burning-and-energy-producing-gyms
6 http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/conservation/these-exercise-machines-turn-your-sweat-into-electricity
References