The original intention of the invention of the treadmill was not as a fitness machine, but as a torture tool used to transform stubborn idle prisoners.
Prisoners need to step on the spokes to drive huge paddle wheels for pumping water, crushing grain or driving the mill. This “treadmill” is named treadmill, which literally means step on the mill.
Prisoners are required to step on for more than 6 hours a day, and often people are pinched and injured by equipment due to physical fall.
Due to the extreme monotony and boredom of this activity, the prisoners suffered not only physical injuries but also psychological torture. Its cruelty has been strongly opposed by many religious and public interest people. Until 1898 Britain abolished the treadmill penalty.
The treadmill is too bulky and requires many people to drive it. In 1881 Nicholas Potter invented a miniaturized “treadmill”, of course, it is not for human use, and its user is a sheep. This “treadmill” is used to stir butter and flour.
