[Written by Mary]Move over, Brad. There's a new architect in town.
Brad Pitt is working to make sure the houses in New Orleans are designed to fit in with their surroundings. Architects have drawn up several plans for houses that should be able to survive a hurricane or flood. One architect even proposed a model house that could float. But some architects went beyond this mandate. They talked with the people in the Lower Ninth Ward and created homes tailored to fit their lives, including personalized details such as a front porch where the grandparents could chat with the neighbors.
I suggest taking this one step further. Why don’t we set up houses so that fitness is built in? For example, right now I live in one of those “Amsterdam” style townhouses that are becoming so popular nowadays, at least around Portland. It’s tall and narrow – I mean, we’re talking a 2-bedroom home that’s one room wide and three stories tall. Exercise is built in to the daily routine.
Come home and unload groceries? Why yes, the kitchen is one flight up. Good exercise, especially if I have to make a couple of trips. Or, if I don’t feel like making several trips, I can always do some weight lifting by carrying all the grocery bags in one trip. If I’m working in the garage on the ground floor for several hours, I’ll definitely get a workout –the bathroom is on the 3rd floor. And if I’m rushing out the door and realize at the last minute that I left the car keys in my bedroom, there’s a two-flight sprint built in to my day.
Granted, this style of house wouldn’t work for everyone. But the basic idea of designing houses that would make exercise part of the daily routine might be the wave of the future. You read it here first.
And why stop there? Why not set up televisions that only run when you do? Hook those suckers up to a treadmill. (Also, this would be a good way to justify letting children watch television.) Ellen deGeneres had a whole spin class on her show powering television monitors.
For that matter, set up your computer and work out while blogging! According to HowStuffWorks, "a single 60-calorie chocolate-chip cookie could power a laptop for four hours!"
One reason that obesity rates have risen so much over the past couple of generations is the increase in labor-saving devices. (Yes, there are other factors, I know that. I still think this one is a major factor.) We’re in a good position right now because we can choose which labor-saving devices are worth it and which ones we could jettison in favor of getting more exercise in our life.
How would you design a house so that fitness was an automatic part of your life?
I bet Brad is miffed he didn't think of it first.
If you want to contribute to the foundation that's trying to organize the New Orleans rebuilding project, you can find more information at makeitrightnola.org
Actually, I was just discussing this with a friend, as we went through the usual round of complaints that my apartment is always too cold. The central heat and air are controlled by my upstairs neighbors, but as I live in a basement it is naturally always cooler for me than for them, and ironically the only time the temperature is really right it when it is REALLY cold out and they crank the heat. I have electric heaters on my baseboards, but don't like to turn them on, and we saying that it would be pretty cool if we could hook up a heater to exercise equipment somehow, so when I was chilly I would have to move around, which of course warms you up anyway.
ReplyDeleteCaro, that must be so frustrating! I hate not having control over the temperature around me!
ReplyDeleteAnd Mary, I think you're on to something with the exercise house--though I want a fire pole running down the center. If I'm going to have to climb three flights up, I want the fun of sliding back down! (But would it still be fun? It was as a kid...)
Ooh, yes, Crabby, a fire pole where you could get up in the morning, slide down the pole and emerge at the bottom fully dressed and ready for the day! Why should Batman and Robin have all the fun?
ReplyDeleteCaro, I hope you don't live somewhere like the Midwest? Actually, you're probably comfy warm right now if you do, but in general... ouch! Sounds like a good excuse to get several warm furry dogs -- or a slanket ;)
I lived in a third story apartment for seven years and on grocery and laundry days, I sure got a good weight/stair workout!
ReplyDeleteIn general though, I think the community one lives in is a bigger factor in naturally-ocurring exercise than the house itself.
A community where it's easier to walk than drive to the places you need to go most often will ensure you keep moving!
Ohh, I'd love to live in one of those 'Amsterdam' houses. Right now, I live on the 4th floor, and I very seldom take the elevator (that's not hard to do, since I have a mild phobia of elevators anyway >.>), but it'd be nifty to have to take stairs to go to the toilet (whee! 20 trips a day!) or cook something (gee, I'm not so sure I want that snack after all).
ReplyDeleteAnd if I really had room and money, I'd get one of those stations to keep standing while working on my computer. I agree that people have to move more in general, but when your job entails working on a comp, well, you can't exactly take a 20-minutes walk every half hour, can you?
Wow, this is a great idea. I would love love LOVE a television that was powered by exercise. I am already dying for one of those treadmill workstations. Unfortunately, I'm in consulting, so most of the time we're at client sites. When we ARE in our home office, we use a "hoteling" system, meaning you sign up for a desk each day, and it could be a different one every day. It's kind of neat to trade views (my favorite is the one that looks out over the Statue of Liberty), but unfortunately, it also means I can't even trade my desk chair for an exercise ball or anything.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...how about a nice log cabin tucked away on a mountainside, where you could walk for miles? Just a dream I have!
ReplyDeleteActually my neighborhood is very condusive to walking. I have a nice shopping center with a grocery, drugstore, dry cleaners and bakery about a 1/4 mile away. Unless I am buying tons of stuff, I try to walk there instead of driving. It feels funny to hop in the car to drive for 45 seconds!
Houses that promote exercise are great, that is until your knees start to give out.
ReplyDeleteI think powering Tellies and computers with bikes or treadmills is a good idea though.
Walkable neighbourhoods are wonderful ideas too. I am fortunate to live in one.
The Bag Lady walks miles every day, from one room of her house to another. The older (and more senile) she gets, the more she walks, because she keeps forgetting either a) to take something or other with her or b) what she went there for in the first place! (Usually she went there to take whatever it was she forgot to take with her...sigh) So she already has an exercise house! Too bad it's all on one floor though, 'cause she would love to have a fireman's pole to slide down...
ReplyDeleteThe last thing I want is an exercise house. Home is for relaxing. I have an exercise bike, and I do exercise, but TV time is for vegging. Erm, did I mention I was lazy? Did I have to?
ReplyDeleteThe fire pole is great in theory, but I'm scared of heights. I tried it once, just a one floor journey, and that was enough.
Oh man, you have no idea how many times I have wished for a treadmill I could set up a computer on and chat/surf the web while I work out. And now I want an "exercise house" too!
ReplyDeleteDid crabby say fire pole or stripper pole?
ReplyDeleteSadly, I live in Minnesota, so it IS pretty cold. They love the A/C, so it's colder in the summer than the winter! However, someone once told me that cold weather exercise was automatically better because you burn more calories just existing, so I console myself that I am AUTOMATICALLY increasing the calories I burn just watching TV. Anyway, I would not want my heat to be solely controlled by my exercise (You'd freeze overnight!) but I do think that having it set to some mildly uncomfortable minimum, then forcing you to do the extra work to make it comfy for a few hours, is a fun idea.
ReplyDeleteOne of Iowa Avenue's members posted this link on her blog talking about human-powered gyms in which the power of riding a stationary bike is actually keeping the lights on. Can be far from being marketted for home use?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.inhabitat.com/2007/03/08/human-powered-gyms-in-hong-kong/
Lisa
http://www.iowaavenue.com
Here in Wellington, New Zealand a lot of our houses are built on the side of very steep hills. Off street parking is a luxury, let alone internal access garaging! There are 46 steps and a couple of paths down to my house, and I know people with 100 steps to climb. So exercise is kinda built into the daily routine!
ReplyDeleteMarie, you naughty girl, I said Fire Pole!
ReplyDeleteYou would NOT want to see me performing on a stripper pole!
Though now, thanks to having written a post about young girls pole dancing, I get all these google searches for strippers & pole dancing. I could post a video of me giving it a go and scare those weirdo's away from their nasty-ass searches for EVER.
A few months ago I went and hiked up this #@!%$ steep hiking trail. On the way down, my friend thought it would be fun to jog down the trail. It had a lot of switchbacks. Once, when I went round one of those 180 degree turns, I put a hand around a tree trunk and used momentum to swing myself around and onto the lower part of the trail. "Look!" My friend cried, pointed at me. "An eco-stripper!" Several people applauded.
ReplyDeleteMy claim to fame.
Great post, and the comments are hilarious, too. I automatically pictured myself sliding down a fire pole and thought of the horrible damage it would do to my large thighs. It would make a noise like: screeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Ouch! :)
ReplyDeleteOMG, the Bag Lady just re-read her comment...what she meant to say was she would like a pole such as in a firehouse, not a fireman's pole...that sounds so dirty...gawd
ReplyDeleteBag Lady, I'm willing to bet you are not the only Cranky Fitness reader who might appreciate having an ample sized firemans' pole handy! (Though I know that's not what you meant. Anyway, we won't tell the Cowboy).
ReplyDeleteWhew..thanks, Crabby...knew you could be counted upon...
ReplyDeleteI am somewhat disappointed that the picture to go with this post did not feature Brad Pitt. You could have been promoting a healthier lifestyle right there as I'm sure my heart rate wouldn't be the only one to go up! ;)
ReplyDeleteRandi,
ReplyDeleteI wanted a picture of Crabby kicking Brad Pitt's butt, but for some reason Crabby wouldn't go for it. Afraid of being beaten up by Angelina Jolie, I suspect ;)
And Bad Lady, I thought your Freudian Slip would make an interesting addition to the design of a house. You don't see that sort of thing in Architectural Digest, but I bet the Offbeat Homes blog might have something like a fireman's... um, well, anyway, I thought it was interesting!
I signed up for notification of comments on this, which seemed like a great idea at the time. Unfortunately, due to the volume of comments about strippers and stripper poles, all of my targeted ads are now about strip clubs and stripper pole wholesalers!
ReplyDeleteWell laura, let us know if you end up ordering one!
ReplyDeleteSome of those context ads are hilarious. I keep getting one for getting rid of your man boobs--even when there's nothing remotely about boobs or weight loss anywhere!
I think a Fitness House is a great idea! You should market your idea -- I bet you'd have some takers. :)
ReplyDeletehahaha you guys make me laugh I love reading your blog. I have just started to get serious about some of my own goals and started to blog myself. You're welcome to check it out although it is not as fun as yours...yet. I love how blunt, and honest you guys are. Thanks for the smiles! -Ana Lee (GoMeGetFit.blogspot.com)
ReplyDelete