By Jill Fehrenbacher
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

NeXfit BikerFor the past century or so, advances in technology have gradually erased physical exertion from our lives. Unlike our ancestors who had to walk to get from one place to another – we drive our cars everywhere, take elevators instead of stairs, play indoors instead of outside, and hire other people to do our physically intensive house and yard work. Because of this, Americans are getting fatter and fatter, statistically speaking. According to a recent study, nearly two thirds of Americans are now overweight, with 30% considered dangerously obese.

Video game playing is often blamed for problems with obesity in children. While playing video games might be mentally stimulating, sitting motionless for hours is simply not good for your body. If you are someone who just can’t bear pull yourself away from fragging aliens for an hour to hit the gym, this new NeXfit exercise bike may be just the thing you need.

The high-tech NeXfit exercise bike hooks up to your XBox, Playstation, or the Internet, incorporating game controls into the handlebar. It has a force feedback system, which delivers 16 different shock levels based on explosions and collisions. And, since this is an exercise machine, it comes with an online health manager, which accumulates user’s exercise records after each game for accurate health management.

So stop making excuses and get off that couch!

There are similar products to this already on the market, including the TACX’s Fortius trainer, which actually generates electrical power from your physical exertion, and sends it back to the mains.

Powergrid Fitness also makes a treadmill which can be hooked up to videogames.

Via Inhabitat