Recently I was given a writing assignment to cover fitness technology. And not just 'stuff', meaning kettlebells and resistance bands and cool items that enhance an already-functional workout. No: I'm supposed to write about beeping, blinking, plug-in devices of the sort I often rail about in this space.

Interesting challenge, because the second you have to plug a piece of fitness equipment in, my hackles go up. I mean, it's bad enough that we can't capture all the energy being burned in gyms and use it to light and power our cities (though that may be coming!), but that we actually burn up MORE energy giving ourselves a workout? Well, you can't tell me that's right.

Laying that personal objection aside, I've been on the hunt for fitness devices--machines, even, as I'm not allowed to cheat and just use athletic watches with heart rate monitors and GPS tracking--which at the very least don't fly in the face of the basic idea that Exercise Should Make Your Body Function Better. That fitness programs and equipment should accommodate the body's natural functions--rather than vice versa.

To that end I discovered a very cool treadmill called "The Force". Essentially, YOU power it. Get on it, run, and it goes. Run slower, and it goes slower. It's a resisted-running device, and it's very cool. Haven't been on one--the closest I've gotten was getting on one of these last year--but I'm thinking this is where treadmills are going. You know, to the extent that treadmills can "go" anywhere.

Again, I'm not in the business of prognostication, but if you're into the single-joint machine exercises and the bodybuilding-only based training, I'd stockpile that equipment because it's going away.

(I'd say "Use the Force," but I'm pretty sure I'd be inundated with "Unsubscribe" notes.)