Gym Uses Midgets as Human Dumbbells

Central London fitness centre Gymbox has come up with some killer PR: don't bother with weights made of iron and steel - just use humans of differing weights.

"Creating a mental image or intention of what you want to happen or feel is proven to improve physical and psychological performance," said Gymbox owner Richard Hilton. "The human-weight lifting apparatus we have installed is the ultimate embodiment of visualisation theory."

Two of the "dumbbells" are dwarfs - 32-year-old Arti Shah, who weighs just 4.5 stones (30kg) and 64-year-old Mike Edwards, who weighs 8 stones (55kg) (src).

The human dumbbells wear lycra outfits with their weight displayed, and will sit on specially crafted machines - presumably shouting encouragement (or abuse).

Funny? Yeah - and also exploitative. Presumably the rule about not dropping dumbbells still applies here.