SportsArt Fitness has installed the Green System into its first British gym at the Spectrum Leisure Centre in County Durham, UK.

The new cardio fitness equipment aims to turn human energy into useable power. A ‘pod' of 10 SportsArt elliptical trainers and cycles attached to an inverter were installed at the centre.

The system uses power from the exerciser, harnessing this and feeding it back into the power grid as useable energy, with the intention of saving the facility money in energy costs.

Other pieces of GreenSystem equipment include recumbent bikes, upright bikes and elliptical trainers all capable of producing up to 2,000 watts an hour.

Attending the open day were interested parties from other fitness centres, educational establishments, local authorities and both prison and fire services.

SportsArt managing director Mark Turner said: “SportsArt Fitness has designed and built the Green System with Spectrum being the first British gym to install the new power-generating gym equipment and use its members’ exertions to produce power.”

He added: “If the machines are used for 60 per cent of the time the gym is open, the centre could save up to £10,000 on its energy bills over the next five years.”

Ian Hirst, chairman of Slam, the charity that runs the Spectrum Leisure Centre said: “The biggest cost to any leisure centre is electricity; these machines are the perfect way of tackling that bill.”