There is a torture device that all of us here have experienced at least once in our lives….and something most people in the world have experienced as well without even knowing. What do you think this is ?
Treadmills.
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” Treadmills of Torture ” – Episode Credits
Hosted By Mark Tauriello, Jen Wilson, & Marc Bluestein.
Original Story / Episode Concept By Mark Tauriello.
Show Notes By Mark Tauriello.
Audio/Visual Production By Marc Bluestein.
Original Episode Art By Mark Tauriello.
” Treadmills of Torture ” – Episode Show Notes
THE TREADMILL
Intro:
There is a torture device that all of us here have experienced at least once in our lives….and something most people in the world have experienced as well without even knowing. What do you think this is ?
Treadmills.
The treadmill happens to be the worlds most popular piece of gym equipment with quite an off putting history.
The word treadmill is consisted of 2 parts….tread and mill. The definition is – a device formerly used for driving machinery, consisting of a large wheel with steps fitted into its inner surface. It was turned by the weight of people or animals treading ateps.
-an exercise machine, typically with a continuous belt that allows one to walk or run ins place.
History:
This goes back into the Victorian era to the year 1800 in England. At the time, there were over 1200 criminal offenses that were punishable by death. Some of the laws were so ridiculous that you could be punished by death for being in the company of gypsies for one month…. Stealing rabbits, cutting down young trees, and more.
Most famous was the author Oscar Wild who was imprisoned and sent to the treadmill for being send to prisoner in 1895 for being a homosexual.
The criminal justice system was so strict it was called “the bloody code”
Because of the high volume of “crimes”, there was a dramatic rise in state prisons. They started to stray away from death , focusing more on incarcerations.
As criminals waited in jail, people started to think that these prison sentences weren’t enough to change their ways…
They viewed is more or less as a “rest” for the criminals rather than an actual punishment.
This captured the interest of an Engineer by the name of William Cubitt. He visited the Bury St. Edmunds jail and was outraged to see the idleness of the prisoners and felt like it was a waste and not effective punishment
He originally came from a family of Millers, and wanted the prisoners to experience hard work since he thought they were lazy.
His solution was THE TREADMILL;..
However… it wasn’t like the treadmills we are all familiar with. The design was much diffetent.
The design consisted of giant rotting wheel with large flat spokes that the prisoner would have to climb…. Similar to an endless stair case.
The largest treadmills could accommodate 40 prisoners at once, and Cubit realized that he could harness the energy to do useful things like pump water, circulate air, and grind corn. In some cases…. The energy wasn’t used at all which is a complete waste and cruel. This is where the term “Grinding the Wind” came from.
If you were over the age of 16 and in prison in England during this time… you would be forced to be on the treadmill 7 days a week for anywhere between 6-10 hours a day.
There was no return on their physical investments. Most of these machines were designed to make the experience as grueling as possible. Most of these machines were designed with enclosed stalls with partitions…. So they would have no choice but to look at a blank wall for the entire duration nor could they see their other inmates or converse.
The food given to the prisoners was not enough to supply them with the energy to dothis. They would often collapse on the machines, especially in the heat.
Prison guards were in favor of the treadmills beause the prisoners were so exhausted after their shifts that they would be quite/ go right to bed. There would be less trouble among the inmates.
By the end of the 19th century, over 40 of these machines were in use and it became very popular.
Thankfully over the years, it was ruled that using these treadmills to mentally and paysically torture inmates was unneccesary
The treadmill was eventually banned in England by 1902.
60 years later , William Staub , an American engineer, found out about this machine and came up with his own version for home fitness.
At the time, these treadmills were only used by doctors to capture patients heart rates .
But it was Staub who saw a gap in the market for a running machine that could be used at hiome.
The treadmill is there most commonly used piece of work out equipment ever made, and made over 3 billion dollars in 2020
Conclusion:
It’s interesting that a common every day object can have such a bizarre past. In my opinion, all forms of working out is torture. I hate it. I especially hate treadmills, and felt like there is something so demotivating about being on one.
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