h a l f b a k e r yCogito, ergo sumthin'
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people in the gym are basically spending all their energy and food wearing down the heavy machines until they break. what happens when you use a stairmaster? after thousands of hours of people on it, it breaks. the gym fixes this for you. but anyway, you are the one that made it break. that is all
you are doing in the gym. the fitness you receive is just a side effect. the actual "work" you are doing is breaking the machine (whatever machine it may be).
so, instead of doing negative work (breaking something) by climbing fake steps; climb real steps instead. say, the steps of the johnsons leading to their 4th floor apartment. and while you're at it, carry their box of dishes up there. breaking a sweat? good, that's why you're here. the johnsons have a whole van full of boxes here, so you can workout for as long as you want.
when you're done, you get paid by the hour. the johnsons are happy. you're happy. you didnt break anything. you helped someone in a concrete way.
Self-Powered Health Clubs
http://www.halfbake...ed_20Health_20Clubs
[egnor, Feb 05 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]
Halfbakery: Work (it) out
Work_20(it)_20out
For welfare, not money, but same basic idea. [jutta, May 16 2006]
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Do we have to lug the boxes up the stairs to the johnsons house? Can we lug them down the street to the pawn shop instead and still get paid hourly? That way you save the johnsons work unloading the boxes, you get your exersize, and the pawn shop gets business... |
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[PeterSealy] ...or losing money whatever you're doing. |
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i am shamelessly bringing this idea to the front burner because, as an engineer, i am frustrated. people should be paid to do (newtonian) work! today, people are paying (gyms) to do this work (upon big heavy friction monsters)! this is wrong! who is the Stairmaster? the man who is profiting from your kilocalories. |
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this isnt a novel idea. it is the description of a crime! |
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If I'm carrying a heavy box of dishes up several flights of stairs, chances are I'll break something. |
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It's not about *work*, it's about *control*. |
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When you pay a health club for exercise, you're paying for control. You control exactly how much exercise you get, when you get it, exactly how much resistance the machine produces, exactly what muscle groups get a workout; you're in charge of the entire experience. |
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When an employer pays a manual laborer, they're not paying for Newtonian work (you can get that through the power grid much more cheaply), they're paying for control. During the workday, they control where the person goes and what they do; a laborer is able to exert much more control over their body than even the most sophisticated machine -- and that control is all driven by the employer's wishes ("pick up all the boxes at this address, put them in a truck, drive the truck to that address, unload them all..."). |
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(Even in very poor countries, employers use trucks, or at least pack animals, to move goods long distances, not human employees. When you just need brute energy, don't employ a human.) |
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If you imagine all manual labor jobs as energy (Newtonian work) in exchange for money, well, the world will be full of paradoxes. |
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I'm voting for this on the grounds that I have "offered" several people who belong to health clubs the chance to come lose weight by doing manual labor (stall cleaning, hay moving, post hole digging, etc.) and they all have turned me down. I just don't get it....they "pay" money every month to do the same type of activities to get in shape and I offered to let them do the work here for free.... yet, these same people are always telling me that they wish they were as thin as I am and as strong..... well, come do what I do in a day. |
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Along similar lines, can exercise bikes, treadmills etc. be wired up in any way to produce electricity to power the tv you are probably watching as you are getting fit? |
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That's a different idea. See link. |
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Susen: The difference is that at the health club, they're not covered in dirt, itchy hay, or horsecrap... |
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egnor, if it's about control, people could just volunteer at a manual labor job and do exactly the amount of work they want. that would be totally cool if some employer were really flexible like that and just taught you how to do the work and then let you drop in and help out any time you felt like you needed exercise.
however, manual labor jobs that give you good exercise are hard to find. those damn machines do all the work for us.
i totally agree that working out at the gym is a waste of all that energy and wondered why no one else saw that. but i think the main problem is that people have the idea that they're too good for manual labor, that it's lower class. so the solution is to make it super easy for people to volunteer until they see how much more fulfilling manual labor is than stepping up and down on a machine.
and for all you folks that still can't or wont do manual labor, playing sports is a whole lot more fun than wasting the gym machines' energy.
me, i can't do jack squat right now, i sprained my ankle. so anyway whatever exercise youre getting, be happy :) |
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If you really want a well rounded work out, go clean the johnsons old apartment, top to bottom, kitchens & baths, polish the chrome and clean the rug on your way out- and do it under portable bright lamps so you can see what you're doing and really sweat. Then, just maybe they could split the deposit return, if you're lucky ;-) |
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//climb real steps... to their 4th floor apartment...carry their box of dishes... concrete.// |
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Methinks something is going to get broken. |
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