Treadmill Information

When you use treadmills as exercise equipment, you usually use it indoors. An individual can walk or run while using this stationary machine. Traditionally, "treadmill" has referred to mills operated by walking on-or treading on-the steps of a wheel used to grind grains.

Most of the machines are run by electric motors and belt system. When the treadmill is switched on, the belt connected to the machine and motor rotates from top to rear which then allows the runner to run at an equal speed to the belt rotation. Thus the speed of the run can easily be set or measured (the rate at which the belt moves is the rate at which the runner moves.) The more expensive, heavy-duty versions are motor driven. For a less expensive treadmill that is simple and light, go with a passive version. It is not mechanized, and it is powered by the exerciser and just offers resistance to motion.

The Historical Background of Treadmills.

The treadmill was invented in 1875. The first treadmill was a piece of equipment used for agricultural purposes, and was called a "level power" treadmill. To accommodate various sized animals they were in various sizes. The smaller treadmills were run by dogs and sheep to power attached fanny mills or butter churners. The bigger ones were run by horses to power threshing machines.

Original Healthcare Treadmill.

In 1952 the first medical machine was invented by UW cardiologist Robert Bruce, called the father of exercise cardiology, along with UW staffer Wayne Quinton. Jointly, they developed the conventional stress test to identify and estimate heart and lung pathologies. Stairmaster was the one that received Quintons share, which was later bought by Nautilus.

Tunturi.

Tunturi treadmill, started as a bicycle repair shop, that was founded in 1922. Because of their innovative W1 exercise bicycle, this company is often regarded as a pioneer in the physical fitness equipment business. Based in Finland, today they have the enviable reputation as being one of the leading and best-known manufactures of high class fitness equipment, including exercise bikes, steppers, and rowers.

Aerobics, Incorporated.

In the late 1960's Bill Staub noticed that treadmills were very expensive and were used mainly as medical testing machines. Staub was a medical engineer, this helped him to economically construct a home treadmill. He shipped Dr. Cooper a model, and it impressed him so much that he was able to sell the initial batch of several hundred to people referred to him. 40 years ago, Dr. Cooper's company, Aerobics, Inc, began full scale production of PaceMaster. Since that time, they have evolved from manufacturing basic treadmills to manufacturing apparatus with computerized and automatic functions.

NASA.

The U.S. space program used treadmills onboard Skylab to keep the astronauts in good shape, while they were in a gravity free environment. The first treadmill used in outer space was initially a plate coated with Teflon on which an astronaut ran while tethered to bungee cords.