If you’ve lost interest in lifting dumbbells and strapping on weights, consider what a London fitness center is doing. Last month, Gymbox added human weights, which allow exercisers to pump, well, flesh instead of iron.
The gym’s five human weights, ranging from 66 to 342 pounds, can be used as free weights or on specially adapted equipment. Gymbox promotes the concept as a tool that lets weightlifters compare what they’re lifting to an everyday object. Plus, the human weights can shout encouragement.
Although lifting live weights can make different demands on exercisers, American Council on Exercise spokesman Francisco Semiao says, “it’s definitely exposing you to injury.”
Weightlifters can drop dumbbells that get too heavy — but you shouldn’t do that to a human weight, he explains. Plus, lifting people can be a bit like lifting a lopsided barbell, because a person’s body weight is distributed unevenly.