I hate the gym. When I first joined one, my fit friends said I'd learn to love it, to the point of addiction. Wrong! At least now I'm halfway willing to go, thanks to a new feature at the Gold's Gym I belong to in San Francisco. And no, it's not Tae-Bo!

Recently, the Lifecycles in my gym were outfitted with free Netpulse Stations. It's still totally inappropriate to talk on your cell phone while pedaling away, but it’s apparently OK to trade stocks and answer email mid-workout. Each Netpulse Station features a Web browser, TV, and CD player, all controllable via a touch-screen that doubles as the Lifecycle's control panel. (Certain Stairmaster, Precor EFX, and Climbmax machines can be also be Netpulse-enabled.)

The first thing you're asked when you start a workout is if you'd like a Netpulse ID. In exchange for the standard data most "personalized" Web sites mine users for, you're able to store and track your workouts over weeks, months, or years in the Netpulse online database and keep tabs on your progress (or lack thereof). Another carrot that Netpulse dangles is "Frequent Fitness Points" earned by spending time on the machines and redeemable for frequent flier miles and $25 rebates at affiliated retailers. (No pain, no gain?)

Of course, even at your target heart rate, you're still a target for marketers. As you would expect, the Netpulse screen is cluttered with banner ads providing advertisers, the Netpulse Web site says, with an "opportunity to reach a great demographic at the point of sweat." (Thanks, I'll stick to tap water with the occasional Hershey's supplement.) A similarly annoying interface issue is that even if you hide the navigation buttons on each screen you view, you'll still have to scroll to read the content on most sites.

Lastly, I've shoulder surfed a few new users doing their email on Netpulse and the messages they write aren't usually much more than "Guess where I am!?" That's because having to lean in to the on-screen keyboard makes typing a real back-breaker, at least on a recumbent exercise bike. The first draft of this piece was actually written in a fury of sweat. Next, I’m going to struggle to type a few email messages to my health nut friends: "Guess what? I still hate the gym!"

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