It’s just so phenomenally little it doesn’t make any sense, a full routine wouldn’t even full charge a smartphone battery (not even close). Put solar on the studio roof instead.

I think you're wrong on that one. E.g. when cycling, 100W for 15 minutes is achievable for most people, which corresponds to 25 Wh of energy. To charge a modern phone you need about 15 Wh. So if your overall system efficiency is at least 60%, which seems realistic, you'd be able to charge a phone with that.

I guess it's just not financially viable. Because those 25 Wh would still correspond to less than 1 cent in value (at 0.3€/kWh).

A few small commercial gyms have implemented this, as well as the gym at Brown University. Brown estimates that the power generated by its 50 machines is about comparable to what's generated by the solar panels on the roof of the gym. So it's not nothing, but gyms tend to be cavernous and expensive to run, so it's a drop in the bucket, unfortunately.

More unfortunate still is that the takeaway is almost always, "ugh don't bother, it's basically nothing" and not, "wait, why are we burning so much fuel to power this room?"

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/olympic-cyclist-versus-toaster-can-forstemann-toast-a-slice-of-bread-video-175175

lol I read the post and knew what the username was going to be.

Sustainability!

Half the reels I've seen on Instagram in the past have a copy pasted description that starts with "Japan is turning footsteps into electricity!" Regardless of the content of the reel. It's on everything from make-up tutorials and videos of cute animals, to videos about Israel's human rights abuses.

Love how it compares "Japanese walking" with "10000 steps". Didn't the latter start as a marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer.