If you have gained a few pounds over the festive period and don't have a gym membership, then this gadget could help ease off those excess pounds. Called the Geek-a-Cycle, the device combines a normal computer with an exercise bike.

According to the website, the Geek-a-Cycle can help computer users work off those excess calories while surfing the web or typing a letter.

"While you work, you pedal. Set the drag on the magnetic resistance to light. As you think, pedal. When you type, stop pedalling," said the makers on the website. The manufacturers said that over the course of a day, users will they have pedalled miles without even realising it. "At the end of the day you have completed your work and you have completed your exercise."

However, it said that the energy generated by someone cycling isn't enough to power a computer.

"A normal human cannot generate enough electricity to power a computer for a sustained length of time," the website said. It added that PCs require over 100 Watts of electricity to operate, while laptops require less.

"Although the human body does consume and generate energy, the problem is converting that internal body energy into useful energy available for outside-the-body work," it added.

Although you won't be able to power the computer, wouldn't it be great if all those exercise machine were connected up to the national grid, that might have some effect on climate change.