for the waterways of New York . But , how does your sweat and strain turn into power for lights , music and machines ? The general concept is known as energy harvesting , which simply refers to the gathering of energy from one source and applying it to power an object . Italian inventor Lucien Gambarota , who designed California Fitness 's method of storing energy and using it to power lights and music in the gym , told CNN the concept is straightforward . `` One of the oldest types of energy used by people is muscular energy -- so this is nothing new . '' Gambarota said machines such as exercycles created a load , used as a counter-force by means of a resistor . `` I disconnected the resistor and started storing the energy into a battery ... that is then used as power . It was a way to show there can be very simple solutions . It does n't always have to be high-tech , '' he said . Portland 's ` green ' gym will have spinning bikes connected to wind-generator motors . The users should generate enough electricity to power the gym
LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Would you still watch your favorite television program if you had to cycle for an hour before you could view it ? A computer-generated image of Club Watt , Rotterdam 's human-powered club . Couch potatoes will be horrified , but fresh advances in human-powered technology -- where users power appliances through their own motion -- could one day see a ` workout-to-watch ' scenario become reality . Human power is rapidly gaining in popularity worldwide as businesses seek ` greener ' methods of operating . The profile of the technology is set to receive a further boost this month when a human-powered gym opens in Portland , Oregon , and again in September when the human-powered ` sustainable dance club ' , Club Watt , opens its doors in Rotterdam , Netherlands . Human power is already being used to run the ` California Fitness ' gym in Hong Kong , and to power the recently opened ` Club Surya ' in London . iReport.com : Can you predict what the future will be like ? Beyond all of this , further concepts have been developed for human-powered ` river gyms '