Inmates in one of America's toughest jails are pedalling exercise bikes to generate electricity for their televisions.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio debuted the pilot program called “Pedal Vision” at Tent City Jail in Phoenix, Arizona, where inmates already live in harsh conditions in army surplus tents, sweltering in summer temperatures as high as 122F (50C) and freezing in winter.
Under the programme inmates pedal customized stationary bikes that generate 12 volts of electricity, with one hour of pedalling equaling one hour of television.
Sheriff Arpaio was thought to have been inspired to create the programme when he noticed that many of the inmates were overweight.
"I started with the females because they seemed more receptive to the idea," Arpaio said.
"The only exercise the females get right now is speed-walking around the tents yard and few are doing that. This gives them a reason to get moving and a way to burn up to 500 calories an hour. They won't be charged a monthly gym fee but they will have to sign a contract."
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