The History Of Treadmills

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

First Treadmills

The first Treadmill developed for use by humans was designed as a stress test, assisting doctors of the time detect potential heart problems. It took very little time for investors and business types to realise that the Treadmill could be turned into a commercially viable product, to allow exercise in the household and at the gym, and so the modern Treadmill was created.

Treadmills became an icon of futuristic living, satirised in science fiction pop culture as a way to alleviate the inconveniences walking to travel from place to place produces. As we move forward allowing machines to do more and more for us, the Treadmill - or conveyer belt in this sense ...
... - epitomises this. It is interesting then that we now utilise 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 an affordable Treadmill crammed with special features and built-in training programmes. Tunturi, now an established and reputed worldwide manufacturer of Treadmills and Fitness Equipment, started out as a bicycle-making business in Finland.

Treadmill Features

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

The Future of Treadmills

Emerging technologies are making the prospects 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, producing the sensation of running or walking through water. This sort of Treadmill would be beneficial for those undergoing rejuvenative physiotheraphy or who have joint issues. Vertical Treadmills are also in development, which will let you climb up walls whilst remaining stationary and held in place. Knobs mounted on to the Treadmill belt will let you grapple your way up, and, to top it all off, you give yourself a full body workout!

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

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