Want a free subway ride in Moscow? Get ready to do 30 squats. And make sure you drop it low, because the specially designed ticket vending machine can tell if you're cheating.
The health-conscious stunt was created to promote the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The number isn't arbitrary, either. A metro ride costs 30 rubles, so each squat is worth one.
The vending machine piece is just one element of a larger campaign to get Russians more involved in the sporting lifestyle. Moscow officials and the Russian Olympic Committee have installed a bunch of exercise-related, reward-based activities around the city. From turning bus handles into resistance bands to providing stationary bikes that also charge your cell phone, they're working hard to, in their words, "add elements of sport into daily life."
Hopefully, some of them will catch on in the long term. Olympics or not, we could all use a couple more squats in our daily commute.
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