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This reminds me of my own wacky idea for a line of fitness products: ordinary everyday items that are normal in every way except that they are intentionally des
by kogus 4y ago
This reminds me of my own wacky idea for a line of fitness products: ordinary everyday items that are normal in every way except that they are intentionally designed to be physically challenging to use.
For example, doors that require a lot of force to open, keyboards with 1lb resistance springs, remote controls that weigh several kilograms, etc. Since many people have trouble going to the gym, it would be a way to introduce weight training in a way that was both unobtrusive and unavoidable.
Just one of those things that has been bouncing around in my head for years now. I think riding this bike would definitely qualify as weight training :)
- marcodiego 4y ago> keyboards with 1lb resistance springs This may be a good recipe for tendinitis.
- tinalumfoil 4y agoEverything here sounds like a recipe for injury. When you're lifting heavy things you should be focused on (correctly) lifting the heavy thing. If you turn the oven door into a deadlift you're going to forget one day and throw out your back.
- Swenrekcah 4y agoAfter three days of the 4kg remote you’ll be over at your date’s house and promptly punch her in the face when picking up her remote.
- xeromal 4y ago
- nicbou 4y agoHave you heard of crossfit?
- mabbo 4y agoYou're thinking too small, friend. Build a space station with gravity via rotation. Then spin it up to 150% of normal gravity. Now everything is 50% heavier, yourself included!
- littlestymaar 4y agoStrong Goku vibe.
- dcminter 4y agoYou don't even need to be in space if you want to make things heavier. As always the great David Jones (Daedalus) had this idea first in his New Scientist column (16th Feb 1968), and it's included in the compendium "The inventions of Daedalus"
- Retric 4y agoThe idea is much older for example 1948: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_(ride) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_(ride) Various test chambers for astronauts where built to test how people respond to higher gravity / a rotating reference frame. Actually trying to do this runs into some unexpected issues in practice. Here is a Tom Scott video about a more recent example: https://youtu.be/bJ_seXo-Enc https://youtu.be/bJ_seXo-Enc
- dcminter 4y agoThe Daedalus column is specifically applying the idea to weight loss & fitness though :)
- Retric 4y agoThat was one of the basic questions being looked into for long duration missions. One idea was to use higher gravity areas to reduce the need to devote time to exercise on Mars or in space etc.
- andai 4y ago
- trhway 4y agoFamous Russian wrestler a century ago walked with a cane 16 kg weight. For simple mortals like me - while hiking I've been using the Nordic poles with 8 inches springed amortization which naturally works up your upper body.
- jamal-kumar 4y agoKind of the extremely radical opposite to the reasoning behind accessibility, then? Ever have someone in a wheelchair get mad at you?
- 323 4y ago> remote controls that weigh several kilograms That would require either very expensive metals, or a giant remote control. But something like this is already done - a lot of people use leg weights as an extra in the gym.
- jffry 4y ago1kg of lead is like 90mL. I just measured my quite svelte TV remote at 22cm x 2cm x 5cm = 220mL. I'm sure you could easily fit 1.5 kilos of lead in there, and with a slightly thicker "A/V receiver" style remote we could easily make that 3-4kg
- throwaway0a5e 4y agoUnfortunately the venn diagram between "people who want a heavy remote for physical fitness reasons" and "people who will absolutely lose their minds when they find out it has lead in it no matter how safely you have encapsulated it" is pretty close to a circle.
- jffry 4y agoThat's OK, the lead remote is simply an anchor pricing option (heh), we can sell those people a luxury tungsten weighted remote instead! As an added bonus we can pack in 70% more mass in the same space
- samatman 4y agoThe door idea is a safety issue, but there's a market for a gag-gift remote control holder that's a barbell, for sure. Whether it helps anyone is an open question, but it hits the sweet spot for twee Americana gas station stuff.
- adrianmonk 4y agoThis is similar to my business plan where I start a combo moving company / personal training service and charge people to move other people's furniture. Double profit!
- phito 4y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkNxvUrWQ_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkNxvUrWQ_Q :)
- shepherdjerred 4y agoI watched this episode just last night. Incredible He's got a new show out: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10802170/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10802170/
- adrianmonk 4y agoHah, so I guess I'm not the only one with that idea then.
- acomjean 4y agoIts not quite the same but one of the Moving Companies around boston has a rowing club. https://www.gentlegiantrowing.org/sponsor https://www.gentlegiantrowing.org/sponsor "and approach to moving as a sport, requiring dedication and teamwork. Many Gentle Giant employees are current or former athletes from a wide variety of sports and competitive backgrounds. Current and former employees include both Olympic, collegiate and club rowers."
- caboteria 4y agoGentle Giant is really more of a rowing club that has a moving company. They moved our company a few years back and I've never seen anyone carry as much weight as quickly and effortlessly as those guys.
- Swenrekcah 4y agoWe think alike! I would have started that company years ago if not for the threat of the inevitable lawsuit when a client drops a grand piano on someone’s head.
- egman_ekki 4y agohttps://youtu.be/FCvtqy4-RS8 https://youtu.be/FCvtqy4-RS8
- avrionov 4y agoSNL did a sketch about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZRzJJcq6Rs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZRzJJcq6Rs
- agumonkey 4y agoIt would be a cosmic irony, since humans have been trying to make things "easier" since at least 4000 years. I have another idea, make a lot of crank generators so that biochemical energy gets converted into electricity. I know you won't power your kettle nor your telsa but considering people 1) pay for exercise [0] 2) pay to power the devices to exercise .. I think it's due time. [0] gym club managed to market gravity (and social context, but mostly gravity).
- skocznymroczny 4y ago> keyboards with 1lb resistance springs I'm sure there would be mech keyboard enthusiasts who would find the actuation force too light on those
- hetspookjee 4y agoFor some reason the feeling of getting exhausted on an ultralight racing bike feels much easier on the mind than getting exhausted on a regular bike with a flat tire. Similar with swimming with slick gear versus swimming with long shorts and a shirt.
- jjcm 4y agoThere's something to be said about overloading the effort required though. We used to train endurance by dragging a tire behind us in the water. When it came to race day, everything would feel 10x easier.
- LoveMortuus 4y agoWhat about just wearing a weighted vest? Another interesting idea I've had many many years ago: Skies that have enough buoyancy to be able to float on the sea while a person is standing on them. Do that you ski across the sea. Although the movement would be closer to rollerblades, due to lack of hills.
- jaredhallen 4y agoWhat you're describing would be called "skate skiing" on snow, and it's absolutely a thing. Not pooh poohing the idea, but imagine the fun of a loss of balance on the open sea. It'd make a waterski crash look downright convenient.
- LoveMortuus 4y agoYee! That's where I got the idea for it. Because my family we didn't have the normal skiing gear but instead always did the skate skiing. That's where my idea came from. Also just walking on water seems quite cool!
- klyrs 4y agoI once met a guy on a bike ride who trained with a kids trailer loaded down with bricks. He claimed that it was more time-efficient way to train, and on race days, his bike felt like it was made of helium. My only concerns are wear&tear on knees, and the risk of a crash, getting smashed by a 200lb trailer doesn't sound fun.
- nradov 4y agoThe Airhub resistance trainer is a safer option. It can selectively apply magnetic resistance (drag) in order to make training rides harder. But when switched off the bike rides like normal, and there are no extra safety risks. https://airhub.com.au/ https://airhub.com.au/ Wear on the knees is more an issue of proper bike fit and pedaling technique. If you want to get fit as a cyclist then you have to put in some high wattage training rides. Whether the resistance comes from a heavy trailer or a steep hill or whatever makes no difference to the knee injury risk.
- worthless-trash 4y agoI know a similar story retold by yellow-jacket wearing cofee drinkers of a man who trains on a heavy mountain bike weighed down with offroad equipment and spares. The humm of his fat mountain bike tyres on the road approaching inspires ire and jelousy. He wins the local triathlons quite regularly.
- squarefoot 4y agoIt's much easier to get married, so you'll have the weekly task of going to the store by foot and bring back bagfuls of groceries, and possibly two packs of bottled water... then return there because you forgot two bags of cat's litter:) More seriously, ages ago I wondered about a way to generate power by making sort of a (very compact) exoskeleton-like contraption for each limb articulation, so walking or using arms would activate some generators. Mechanical construction would be quite a challenge, however if built in a very compact wearable way it could become a thing: sensors for body parameters could self power, the phone in a pocket equipped with a inductive charger would charge while running, etc.
- mellavora 4y ago> so you'll have the weekly task of going to the store by foot and bring back bagfuls of groceries, and possibly two packs of bottled water... then return there because you forgot two bags of cat's litter:) it's the "by foot" part where this may not work as you intended.
- asasidh 4y agothey call it functional training
- walrus01 4y ago> This reminds me of my own wacky idea for a line of fitness products: ordinary everyday items that are normal in every way except that they are intentionally designed to be physically challenging to use. Not exactly an everyday item, but people who want to train for "tactical" things with ballistic armored vests, either because they work for a PMC or are actually in the military, can buy steel plates to put in a plate carrier which exactly match the dimensions of an expensive ($2000+) ceramic plate set, for weight and balance purposes and train with those.
- parentheses 4y agoIt seems like anyone who’s a lazy TV watching bum would get RSIs from their remote control. I know my Apple TV remote does this to me when I use the integrated touchpad.
- grishka 4y ago> doors that require a lot of force to open These already exist! Especially when a door opens outward and it's windy outside and the wind is pushing against it.
- nnoitra 4y agoThis has got to be the dumbest idea that I have ever heard of.
- maxerickson 4y agoHave you heard about fork-axe?
- epalm 4y agoAlong the same lines, I’ve wondered why gyms don’t hook up all their weight machines up to a big generator. Gym members would be paying the gym to reduce the gym’s electric bill.
- oarabbus_ 4y agoNot exactly the same, but this reminded me of the following excellent design gallery: https://www.theuncomfortable.com/ https://www.theuncomfortable.com/
- 6t6t6t6 4y agoOr just have kids. I am picking up a 16kg and a 12kg masses several times a day, and I am sure that this keeps me in shape. Basically, because I didn't have time to go to the gym in the last five years.
- mellavora 4y agoGoogle "rucking" Basically you put some bricks or weights into your backpack and take a walk. And yes, it is a thing.