Treadmill Trivia
Treadmills, or at a minimum, machines similar in concept to the contemporary treadmill, have been in use for close to two hundred years. The original design and application of a treadmill was as an energy source, with the power being supplied by either animals or people. The machines were engineered to mechanize drudgery tasks which was previously performed by humans, such as grain grinding and pumping water. Oddly enough, the treadmills were also employed in jails as a disciplinary measure, following the precept that physical effort would quiet the mind and quell the inclination toward violence.
Two hundred years back, there were many machines being designed (once the initial treadmill concept was invented) that used “treading” as a way to produce energy. The most typical of these involved animals walking in a wide circle around a center pole. The revolution of the pole drove gears and mechanized many tasks such as churning butter, making cheese and flour and moving water into irrigation troughs.
It was actually the invention of the electronic motor that revolutionized the application of the treadmill into what it is today, and made it possible for it to split off into a large number of handy applications, for example escalators and the moving walkways that are now common in airports.
Eventually, in the mid 1900s the treadmill began to be used as a tool for performing medical diagnoses and from there it also came into use as a workout machine. The treadmill was so helpful for medical applications because it gave a way for doctors to look at the reactions of the heart and lungs while both were being challenged by exercise.
The move from only medical use for diagnosis and research into the extensive use as a workout machine was a natural one, since the medical applications of the treadmill ended in the discovery that it provided a very effective kind of physical exercise. Once the treadmills went into mass production, the purchase price became accessible for the public and the treadmill industry swiftly became the competitive one that we know today, with multiple brands and many new designs springing up, including the Sole F80 Treadmill and many others.
Joshua Mathiason is a workout coach and fitness trainer. He concentrates on matching indivuals to the best exercise program for their needs, and as an element of that work he reviews workout machines and workout programs. You can read some of his reviews at the Sole F80 Treadmill Review website. He enjoys creating articles that help people get more out of their exercise routines like his treadmill review about how to shed weight using a treadmill.