IT is the ultimate power workout. Men and women run, row and cycle in the gym — and their energy is harvested to help keep the machines going.

Scientists are working to develop Britain’s first green gym where everything from the treadmills to the lighting can be run on human endeavour.

With 7m people regularly working out in Britain’s 6,000 gyms it could be one of the biggest successes yet for renewable energy.

Even sitting still a human being produces energy. While reading this article your body is emitting about 100 watts into the environment. Researchers have been working on how to tap into such a wasted power source.

A pioneering project at a health club in Hong Kong takes the excess energy from Lycra-clad gym members and uses it to power the fluorescent lights overhead.

The system involves rewiring the generators in gym machines to capture excess energy and running wires under the carpets to a car battery that can store the power.

Researchers at Facility: Innovate, a London design firm, are already looking at a more sophisticated means to convert movement such as running exercises into electricity.

They use a flooring system that incorporates a matrix of hydraulic compression cushions. The energy harvested from every step on the floor pushes fluid through a micro-turbine generating power that is stored ready for use.

Designers believe at the very least the system could enable gym users to drive the plasma screens they watch as they exercise, or charge their iPods while they walk to the water cooler.

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