The History of Treadmills

The earliest Treadmills date back as far as 1875, but it wasn't until the 1950s that they actually started to get utilised by humans. Up until the 1920s, they were intended only to be used by animals, making production more efficient for contraptions like butter churns, wheels, and water pumps. It was when they started to appear on factory floors as conveyer belts - used to transport parts and products with ease - that they began to get noticed.

First Treadmills

The first Treadmill intended for use by humans was conceived as a stress test, helping doctors of the time detect potential heart problems. It took very little time for investors and business types to work out that the Treadmill could be turned into a commercially viable product, to provide exercise in the household and at the gym, and so today's Treadmill was born.

Treadmills became a symbol of futuristic living, parodied in science fiction pop culture as a way to alleviate the inconveniences walking to get from place to place creates. As we move towards the future allowing machines to do more and more for us, the Treadmill - or conveyer belt in this sense - epitomises this. It is ironic then that we now use Treadmills more than ever to keep healthy, and that keeping weight off is now a fashionable thing to do.

Treadmills of Today

Treadmills have progressed a lot since their conception; it's now easy to find a Cheap Treadmill crammed with special features and built-in training programmes. Tunturi, now a well-known and reputed global manufacturer of Treadmills and Fitness Equipment, began as a bicycle-making business in Finland.

Treadmill Features

Many of the features modern Treadmills boast include MP3 functionality, meaning you can plug in your MP3 Player and listen whilst you workout, through built-in speakers. Integrated fans are also intended to keep Treadmill operators cool throughout their training. In addition to these luxurious comforts included are various technologies designed to actually aid and support the user's workout, including orthopaedic belts or shock-absorbing running decks. Varying speeds ensure you challenge yourself and open the Treadmill up to any level of fitness. Storage has also become easier as technology progresses, and they are now highly accessible and affordable.

The Future of Treadmills

Future technologies are making the potential of Treadmills all the more exciting. Anti Gravity Treadmills allow the user to workout inside a pressurised bubble that encases their body from the waist down, giving the sensation of running or walking through water. This sort of Treadmill would be beneficial for those undergoing rejuvenative physiotheraphy or who have joint problems. Vertical Treadmills are also being developed, which will allow you to climb up walls whilst remaining stationary and held in place. Knobs mounted on to the Treadmill belt will allow you to grapple your way up, and, to top it all off, you get a full body workout!

Treadmills have shaped and will continue to change the way we live, and, as the world gets busier - and fatter - and the chance of taking to the stars becomes more apparent, they've never been more relevant.

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Learn about the history of Treadmills and how ranges likeReebok Treadmills came to be.

Author (JamieHanson). Submitted on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 Time: 7:16 PM

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