Stunning.
Working out is difficult at the best of time – especially when it involves running.
Sure, you can hop on a cross trainer and do a bit of a row in the gym every now and then, but actually psyching yourself up to go for a proper jog in the outdoors is hard.
It’s cold, it might be raining, it’s cold, it hurts when you run on real ground sometimes, going home is so tempting, it’s cold…
Loads of reasons really.
What makes running on a treadmill so much easier is that you can distract yourself.
A lot of gyms these days have build in TVs or at least a little ledge you can prop your phone up on.
Still though, there’s generally only so many channels available and there is only so many times one person can watch the same Sky News story over and over again.
One gym in the UK thinks they’ve found a way to combat this though – by sticking TVs to the back of personal trainers who run ahead of you and make you keep jogging.
No, seriously. This is for real.
David Lloyd’s PTV programme sends personal trainers with digital screens attached to their backs that play your favourite TV show episode while you jog.
Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Now TV or Amazon Prime are all available on the device, or you can choose from a host of other specific shows that have a route length tailored to the length of the programme.
Incredible.
Example routes include:
- Lost In Space: 6.5K run / 48 minutes
- Game of Thrones: 7.5K run / 56 minutes
- The Crown: 8K run / 59 minutes
- The Good Place: 3K run / 22 minutes
- The Marvellous Mrs Maisel: 6.5K run / 49 minutes
- Stranger Things: 7.5K run / 55 minutes
- Westworld: 8K run / 59 minutes
According to the David Lloyd website, the PTV scheme has been introduced to encourage people to exercise more and to show the importance of moving regularly – “even during a binge watching marathon.”
Sounds decent to us.
