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The History of the Treadmill
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The History Of The Treadmill
- Introduced in the late 1st century in Ancient Rome as a Roman treadmill crane, the treadmill was initially used to lift or transport heavy objects.
- In the 19th century, farmers used a treadmill based mechanism to better utilize the pulling power of a horse(coining the term horsepower).
- Smaller versions of the horse treadmills were used by dogs, sheep and goats for churning butter, grinding stones, fanning mills and also for separation of creams.
- The Victorian Era saw prison treadmills where prisoners used to work the wheel to grind corn or pump water.
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Treadmills For Health And Fitness
- 1952: Dr Robert Bruce (The Father Of Exercise Cardiology) conducts research on patients using the first medical treadmills.
- 1960: Treadmills as aerobic exercise equipment at home and at the gym start to be in vogue.
- 1991: The first modern-looking model came into the market.
- 2003: Treadmills with LCD touchscreens and USB connectivity became popular.
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CrossFit definition
It's a training philosophy that coaches people of all shapes and sizes to improve their physical well-being and cardiovascular fitness through varied and challenging workouts.
Each day, t...
Scalable based on your skill
Every day there is a particular workout prescribed that is completely scalable based on your skill. For example, if the workout calls for barbell squats with 135 pounds but you can only do squats with the bar (45 pounds), then that’s where you’ll start.
CrossFit is perfect for...
- Beginners to weight training: If you have never weight trained before, CrossFit is a great place for you to start, provided you have a great coach.
- People looking for support and community: Every CrossFit gym has a really tight-knit community feel to it.
- Fitness fanatics: The general protocol is 3 days on, 1 day off, but many CrossFitters end up at the gym more frequently.
- Masochists: You’ll often be in situations where you use all your effort to finish a workout and continue to push yourself beyond.
- Former athletes: You get to compete with people in your class and go online to see how you did against the world’s elite CrossFit athletes.
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Exercise was not necessary until the mid-20th century
Most people didn't see exercise as necessary until the mid-20th century. Food scarcity meant people didn't overeat, and it didn't make sense to try to burn off the calories.
Ho...
The start of the exercise culture
The exercise culture in the U.S. only took off after World War II.
- After a 1955 report showed that 57.9% of American kids failed one or more of six physical fitness tests - versus about 8 % of European kids - an executive order was issued to create the President's Council on Youth Fitness.
- In 1960, President-Elect John F. Kennedy wrote that the increasing lack of physical fitness is a menace to society. This push for fitness led to an expansion of the President's Council on Youth Fitness.
Entrepreneurs played a key role in establishing the fitness industry
Some entrepreneurs and trainers played a vital role in the rising exercise culture.
- Health clubs were popularized by the Vic Tanny Gyms chain.
- Weight-lifting for women was popularized in the 1930s and 1940s by female-bodybuilder Abby "Pudgy" Stockton.
- In 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act paved the way for women to go out and sign up for exercise classes on their own.
- In the '60s and '70s, exercise became a more accepted and celebrated pursuit.
- The '80s and '90s saw the expansion of a conversation about diet and fitness.
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Exercise Defined
Exercise is a movement of the body to enhance physical fitness.
Most people know that exercise is important for the physical development of the self, yet a majority of them are sk...
Decrease in Human Strength
Historic evidence suggests that for many thousands of years, human beings were more active and stronger than today.
The early humans had increased movement and activity, like going for long and tiring hunts, walking long distances that took weeks, making the prehistoric humans fitter than the best athletes today.
Technology as the Culprit
Technological breakthroughs have reduced our activity to a great extent ( vacuum cleaners, washer-dryers, self-cleaning ovens, and even cars).
The rise of the internet gave us a whole lot of technology, curbing our need to move even more.