The History of Treadmills
Not a lot to report on the home front this week. I visited Zoom last Tuesday during a crazy rain storm. Dallas got hit with a monsoon! It was crazy. Anyhow, I took a tour of the facility and met with a trainer. He was very personable and answered lots of questions. They have a great set-up and serve lots of different purposes. They do rehabilitation, training for grade school through college athletes, corporate wellness, and they serve several professional teams too. They are housed in the practice arena for the Dallas Stars hockey team. I think there are two minor league hockey teams there too.
I'm going in this coming Tuesday for a session just to see how everything works. I'm already mentally preparing for how sore I'm going to be this week. They have this big treadmill that looked pretty intimidating. If you know me, then you know how much I abhor running. And yes, I typically use strong verbiage, such as abhor, when speaking of running. I don't mind sprinting though, and that is mainly what this treadmill is used for, I hope. Before moving down here, I'd never even ran on a treadmill. I typically steer clear and head towards the elliptical machine or bike at the gym. I always strangely admired all those people running nowhere but never felt the need to join them. I think I have this fear that I will just go flying off the back. I've never seen it happen at the gym, but all those years of America's Funniest Home Videos has taught me to be wary of these crazy machines.
This got me interested, so I did a little research. Would you believe that people have been using treadmills since 1817? I had no idea they went back so far, until I though about them as more than a piece of exercise equipment. Here's what I found out:
Fair warning:
I feel the need to warn you that I am a huge nerd. I mean, I am an engineer for crying out loud. I can spend hours watching shows on the History, Discovery, Smithsonian, or public broadcasting channels. I love technical shows like How It's Made. I think this look into treadmills is sweet, but if you do not, in any way, lean toward these tendencies, you may just want to watch the videos and skip the rest of this post. Now, to pass on my new found knowledge...
Here is the patent definition of a treadmill: The invention relates to a treadmill comprising a frame structure as well as roller parts supported against the frame structure, a belt part, and means for rotating at least one of the roller parts, whereby the belt part is arranged to rotate as an endless loop around the roller parts.
Human powered treadmills were first used in English prisons. In 1817, the idea was introduced, and it was meant to reform the offenders by turning their power for good. Americans caught on, and New York prisons used the human powered treadmill to have offenders grind grain for 10 hours a day. Ugh! I would definitely be reformed after that!
The next treadmill invention was brought about by a need for mobile power. These treadmills were an agricultural machine called “level power” treadmills. They were built in various sizes to accommodate various sized animals. The smaller treadmills were run by dogs and sheep to power attached butter churners. The bigger ones were run by horses to power threshing machines. That phrase, "Necessity is the mother of invention," is proved true get again.
Fast-forward to 1952 and the first medical treadmill. It was invented by cardiologist Robert Bruce, called the father of exercise cardiology, along with Wayne Quinton. Together, they developed the standard treadmill test to diagnose and evaluate heart and lung disease. Quinton later sold his interest to Stairmaster, who was subsequently bought by Nautilus.
The fitness equipment industry recognized the need for a smoother and more user-friendly treadmill. If you want good cardiovascular exercise, the treadmill is unsurpassed in providing the maximum benefit for your heart. Several companies competed for the right to “the best” treadmill of its time. Here are a few examples:
There are even outdoor treadmills now. This ranks right up there for the dumbest inventions of all time in my opinion. It's sort of like a bike powered by a treadmill. Either ride a bike or run on the ground! Here's their ridiculous sales pitch: "Lets gym rats see the outside world. If want to go out for a jog outside but don’t want to get your sneakers dirty, here’s a unique solution for you."
I love the article that read, "Now you can work out to your heart’s content on the new treadmill bike, a treadmill that has been rigged up to a bike–to offer a workout that can only be described as unnecessarily complicated."
Treehugger adds the bike is good for people who don’t actually like being outdoors."The Treadmill Bike’s hard wearing belt offers a sure grip while protecting your feet from dirt and other contaminants commonly found on the earth’s surface.” And by “contaminants on the earth’s surface,” they mean dirt and dust and in some cases, depending on where you’re running, horrifying crushed bugs. Who wants icky dust touching their pristine running shoes? Snark aside, it is a funny alternative to a bicycle. But it's not exactly cheap - priced at $2,500 Canadian. You could DIY one for cheaper, but it'd be quite a weekend project. I like that this company is mocking, skeptical, yet somewhat intrigued by this crazy contraption.
Even after all this development for the fitness industry, people are still using the treadmill with animals all over the world. I read one article about a cattle farmer in Northern Ireland who is putting his cows on treadmills. He calls is "Cow Power." He invented this new contraption called, "The Livestock Power Mill," which gives bovines plenty of exercise while providing green energy. He said that if the planet’s 1.3 billion cattle used treadmills for eight hours a day, they would provide 6 percent of the world’s power.
Instead of milling around aimlessly in pens, as most cows do, William Taylor’s herd is put to work. As they eat, they walk on an electricity-generating treadmill. Cows walk as many as eight hours a day while grazing, and one day Taylor realized that he could turn that free motion into electricity. On his Livestock Power Mill, a cow stands on a non-powered inclined belt that the animal will slowly slide down unless it walks forward, turning the belt, which spins a gearbox to drive a generator. A feed box entices the cow to keep trekking. The one-cow prototype generates up to two kilowatts, enough to power four milking machines. A small farm could earn back a 50-cow system’s estimated $100,000 price in three years.
As a bonus, he speculates that it might cut cattle’s methane problem—cows burp up to 20 percent of the world’s emissions of this powerful greenhouse gas. Humans, he notes, tend to be more gassy if they lounge around. “Helping cows produce less methane while cranking out energy should get them better PR.” I wish I could meet this guy. He's funny and quite industrious, and I would love to visit Ireland!
I really feel like I should include a bibliography or something with this little history report. I copy and pasted everything from a bunch of websites, except for my few comments that are sprinkled around. I guess all those years of school and English papers wore off on me. I got most of my info from TheHistoryOf.net. One of the coolest sites ever! They have the history of thousands of different things you can learn about. Stuff you would never think of wanting to know about, but once you see the title you're hooked, or at least that's what happened to me. Like I said earlier, I'm a huge nerd.
To wrap this all up, I still have no desire to run on a treadmill for hours, but the history is pretty fascinating. I'll have something to think about while I'm running, trying not to fall off. I'll let you know how it goes next week. I will even, with some reluctance, share if I fall off. I wish I could use treadmills for something really cool, like OK Go does in this video.
This music video is still one of my favorites. You might have seen it a few years ago; they won some award for it and performed live. That would have been nerve wracking. Imagine falling off a treadmill, live in front of millions. If I remember correctly, they practiced for 2 weeks before they shot this music video. They only had a day or two to refresh for the awards show, that was months afterward. Impressive that no one fell off. This band makes crazy cool music videos that I never get tired of watching. Thank you Nicole Plank for introducing me freshman year to Damian Kulash and the boys of OK Go.
I'm going in this coming Tuesday for a session just to see how everything works. I'm already mentally preparing for how sore I'm going to be this week. They have this big treadmill that looked pretty intimidating. If you know me, then you know how much I abhor running. And yes, I typically use strong verbiage, such as abhor, when speaking of running. I don't mind sprinting though, and that is mainly what this treadmill is used for, I hope. Before moving down here, I'd never even ran on a treadmill. I typically steer clear and head towards the elliptical machine or bike at the gym. I always strangely admired all those people running nowhere but never felt the need to join them. I think I have this fear that I will just go flying off the back. I've never seen it happen at the gym, but all those years of America's Funniest Home Videos has taught me to be wary of these crazy machines.
This got me interested, so I did a little research. Would you believe that people have been using treadmills since 1817? I had no idea they went back so far, until I though about them as more than a piece of exercise equipment. Here's what I found out:
Fair warning:
I feel the need to warn you that I am a huge nerd. I mean, I am an engineer for crying out loud. I can spend hours watching shows on the History, Discovery, Smithsonian, or public broadcasting channels. I love technical shows like How It's Made. I think this look into treadmills is sweet, but if you do not, in any way, lean toward these tendencies, you may just want to watch the videos and skip the rest of this post. Now, to pass on my new found knowledge...
Here is the patent definition of a treadmill: The invention relates to a treadmill comprising a frame structure as well as roller parts supported against the frame structure, a belt part, and means for rotating at least one of the roller parts, whereby the belt part is arranged to rotate as an endless loop around the roller parts.
Human powered treadmills were first used in English prisons. In 1817, the idea was introduced, and it was meant to reform the offenders by turning their power for good. Americans caught on, and New York prisons used the human powered treadmill to have offenders grind grain for 10 hours a day. Ugh! I would definitely be reformed after that!
The next treadmill invention was brought about by a need for mobile power. These treadmills were an agricultural machine called “level power” treadmills. They were built in various sizes to accommodate various sized animals. The smaller treadmills were run by dogs and sheep to power attached butter churners. The bigger ones were run by horses to power threshing machines. That phrase, "Necessity is the mother of invention," is proved true get again.
Fast-forward to 1952 and the first medical treadmill. It was invented by cardiologist Robert Bruce, called the father of exercise cardiology, along with Wayne Quinton. Together, they developed the standard treadmill test to diagnose and evaluate heart and lung disease. Quinton later sold his interest to Stairmaster, who was subsequently bought by Nautilus.
The fitness equipment industry recognized the need for a smoother and more user-friendly treadmill. If you want good cardiovascular exercise, the treadmill is unsurpassed in providing the maximum benefit for your heart. Several companies competed for the right to “the best” treadmill of its time. Here are a few examples:
- Tunturi: Tunturi was founded in 1922 as a bicycle repair shop. In the late 1960s, they practically started the whole fitness equipment business with their legendary W1 exercise bike. Based in Finland, today they have the enviable reputation as being one of the leading and best-known manufacturers of high class fitness equipment, including exercise bikes, treadmills, steppers and rowers.
- Aerobics, Inc: Also in the late 1960s, following up on Dr. Ken Cooper’s book Aerobics, Bill Staub noticed that treadmills were very expensive and were used mainly as medical testing machines. Staub, a mechanical engineer, built an affordable home treadmill. He sent Dr. Cooper a prototype, who was so impressed, he created the first few hundred sales through his referrals. In 1968, Dr. Cooper’s company, Aerobics, Inc, began full-scale production of PaceMaster treadmills. They’ve since grown from making a simple mechanically-controlled treadmill to their award-winning Pro Series, featuring computerized electronics and automated controls.
- Woodway: Woodway’s history began in 1974, when Willi Schoenberger, a technical director in charge of planning a fitness center, noticed that the treadmill wasn’t very sound mechanically, and didn’t really meet human needs. He wanted to create a comfortable surface that didn’t interfere with the natural biomechanics of running or walking. His machine was well-named – from the German term “wald weg” or “way of the woods” – the feel of running on a soft pine needle-covered path in the forest. Licenses to manufacture Woodways were granted to Japan in 1983, and the U.S. in 1988. Woodway USA is now the primary manufacturer of Woodway Treadmills worldwide.
- NASA: The U.S. space program saw the opportunity to make use of treadmills aboard Skylab. Their first model was merely a Teflon-coated plate that allowed the feet to slide as an astronaut ran in place with bungee cord tethers.
- Trackmaster: Since 1978, long before most current treadmill companies began, Trackmaster built treadmills widely regarded as the absolute quality benchmark, being very tough and durable – great for fitness institutions.
- Star Trac: Star Trac has combined computer technology with their treadmills. They invented the first treadmill to exchange workout data with Palm OS handhelds. This opened up all kinds of possibilities, like custom-made workout regimens, and soon, downloadable programs from their website along with professionally-designed workouts based on individualized fitness goals.
I love the article that read, "Now you can work out to your heart’s content on the new treadmill bike, a treadmill that has been rigged up to a bike–to offer a workout that can only be described as unnecessarily complicated."
Treehugger adds the bike is good for people who don’t actually like being outdoors."The Treadmill Bike’s hard wearing belt offers a sure grip while protecting your feet from dirt and other contaminants commonly found on the earth’s surface.” And by “contaminants on the earth’s surface,” they mean dirt and dust and in some cases, depending on where you’re running, horrifying crushed bugs. Who wants icky dust touching their pristine running shoes? Snark aside, it is a funny alternative to a bicycle. But it's not exactly cheap - priced at $2,500 Canadian. You could DIY one for cheaper, but it'd be quite a weekend project. I like that this company is mocking, skeptical, yet somewhat intrigued by this crazy contraption.
Even after all this development for the fitness industry, people are still using the treadmill with animals all over the world. I read one article about a cattle farmer in Northern Ireland who is putting his cows on treadmills. He calls is "Cow Power." He invented this new contraption called, "The Livestock Power Mill," which gives bovines plenty of exercise while providing green energy. He said that if the planet’s 1.3 billion cattle used treadmills for eight hours a day, they would provide 6 percent of the world’s power.
As a bonus, he speculates that it might cut cattle’s methane problem—cows burp up to 20 percent of the world’s emissions of this powerful greenhouse gas. Humans, he notes, tend to be more gassy if they lounge around. “Helping cows produce less methane while cranking out energy should get them better PR.” I wish I could meet this guy. He's funny and quite industrious, and I would love to visit Ireland!
I really feel like I should include a bibliography or something with this little history report. I copy and pasted everything from a bunch of websites, except for my few comments that are sprinkled around. I guess all those years of school and English papers wore off on me. I got most of my info from TheHistoryOf.net. One of the coolest sites ever! They have the history of thousands of different things you can learn about. Stuff you would never think of wanting to know about, but once you see the title you're hooked, or at least that's what happened to me. Like I said earlier, I'm a huge nerd.
To wrap this all up, I still have no desire to run on a treadmill for hours, but the history is pretty fascinating. I'll have something to think about while I'm running, trying not to fall off. I'll let you know how it goes next week. I will even, with some reluctance, share if I fall off. I wish I could use treadmills for something really cool, like OK Go does in this video.
This music video is still one of my favorites. You might have seen it a few years ago; they won some award for it and performed live. That would have been nerve wracking. Imagine falling off a treadmill, live in front of millions. If I remember correctly, they practiced for 2 weeks before they shot this music video. They only had a day or two to refresh for the awards show, that was months afterward. Impressive that no one fell off. This band makes crazy cool music videos that I never get tired of watching. Thank you Nicole Plank for introducing me freshman year to Damian Kulash and the boys of OK Go.