The constant thud underneath your feet, the constrained space, and the monotony of going nowhere fast. It feels like hours have gone by, but it's only been eleven minutes, and you wonder, "Why am I torturing myself? This thing has got to be considered a cruel and unusual punishment."
Stalno udaranje pod stopalima, ograničen prostor i monotonija toga da nigde ne idete brzo. Imate osećaj da su prošli sati, ali prošlo je samo 11 minuta i pitate se: "Zašto mučim sebe? Mora da je ovo oblik okrutne i neobične kazne."
Actually, that's exactly what it is, or was. You see, in the 1800s, treadmills were created to punish English prisoners.
Zapravo, baš to i jeste, ili je bilo. Vidite, 1800-ih godina, trake za trčanje smišljene su da se kazne zatvorenici u Engleskoj.
At the time, the English prison system was abysmally bad. Execution and deportation were often the punishments of choice, and those who were locked away faced hours of solitude in filthy cells. So social movements led by religious groups, philanthropies, and celebrities, like Charles Dickens, sought to change these dire conditions and help reform the prisoners.
U to vreme, engleski sistem zatvora bio je katastrofalno loš. Najčešće kazne bile su egzekucija ili deportacija, a oni koji su bili zatvoreni, provodili su sate samoće u prljavim ćelijama. Društvenim pokretima koje su vodilе verske grupe, filantropi i poznate ličnosti poput Čarlsa Dikensa, pokušalo se s promenom ovih teških uslova i reformom zatvorenika.
When their movement succeeded, entire prisons were remodeled and new forms of rehabilitation, such as the treadmill, were introduced.
Kada je pokret uspeo, celi zatvori su obnovljeni i uvedeni su novi oblici rehabilitacije, poput trake za trčanje.
Here's how the original version, invented in 1818 by English engineer Sir William Cubitt, worked. Prisoners stepped on 24 spokes of a large paddle wheel. As the wheel turned, the prisoner was forced to keep stepping up or risk falling off, similar to modern stepper machines. Meanwhile, the rotation made gears pump out water, crush grain, or power mills, which is where the name "treadmill" originated.
Evo kako je funkcionisala prvobitna verzija, koju je 1818. izmislio engleski inženjer, ser Vilijam Kjubit. Zatvorenici su koračali na 24 stepenice velikog točka sa lopaticama. Kako se točak okretao, zatvorenik je bio primoran da nastavi da korača ili da padne, slično modernim mašinama za hodanje. U međuvremenu, od rotacije su zupčanici pumpali vodu, mrvili zrnevlje ili pokretali mlinove, odakle je nastao engleski naziv "treadmill".
These devices were seen as a fantastic way of whipping prisoners into shape, and that added benefit of powering mills helped to rebuild a British economy decimated by the Napoleonic Wars. It was a win for all concerned, except the prisoners.
Ove sprave su smatrane sjajnim načinom da se zatvorenici drže u formi i dodatna prednost pokretanja mlinova pomogla je da se povrati britanska ekonomija nakon Napoleonskih ratova.
It's estimated that, on average, prisoners spent six or so hours a day on treadmills, the equivalent of climbing 5,000 to 14,000 feet. 14,000 feet is roughly Mount Everest's halfway point. Imagine doing that five days a week with little food.
To je bilo korisno za sve, osim za zatvorenike. Procenjuje se da su zatvorenici u proseku provodili oko šest sati dnevno na traci za trčanje što je jednako penjanju na visinu od 1500 do 4250 metara visine. 4250 metara je oko pola visine Mont Everesta. Zamislite da to radite pet puta nedeljno sa veoma malo hrane.
Cubitt's idea quickly spread across the British Empire and America. Within a decade of its creation, over 50 English prisons boasted a treadmill, and America, a similar amount.
Kjubitova ideja brzo se raširila po Britanskom carstvu i Americi. U deceniji od njenog nastanka, preko 50 engleskih zatvora koristilo je traku za trčanje, a u Americi je bio sličan broj.
Unsurprisingly, the exertion combined with poor nutrition saw many prisoners suffer breakdowns and injuries, not that prison guards seemed to care. In 1824, New York prison guard James Hardie credited the device with taming his more boisterous inmates, writing that the "monotonous steadiness, and not its severity...constitutes its terror," a quote many still agree with.
Ne čudi da su od napora u kombinaciji sa lošom ishranom mnogi zatvorenici patili od povreda i iscrpljenja, mada čuvare to nije naročito pogađalo. Čuvar zatvora u Njujorku, Džejms Hardi, 1824. je tvrdio da je ova naprava zaslužna za smirivanje revnosnijih zatvorenika, tvrdeći da je: "monotona čvrstina, a ne teškoća ono što je čini strašnom", sa čime se mnogi još uvek slažu.
And treadmills lasted in England until the late 19th century, when they were banned for being excessively cruel under the Prison's Act of 1898.
Trake za trčanje postojale su u Engleskoj do kraja 19. veka, kada su zabranjene zbog izrazite okrutnosti Zatvorskim aktom iz 1898.
But of course the torture device returned with a vengeance, this time targeting the unsuspecting public. In 1911, a treadmill patent was registered in the U.S., and by 1952, the forerunner for today's modern treadmill had been created.
Naravno, naprava za mučenje se vratila uz osvetu, ovog puta sa metom na bezazlenoj javnosti. Patent za traku za trčanje prijavljen je 1911. u SAD i do 1952. nastala je preteča moderne trake za trčanje.
When the jogging craze hit the U.S. in the 1970s, the treadmill was thrust back into the limelight as an easy and convenient way to improve aerobic fitness, and lose unwanted pounds, which, to be fair, it's pretty good at doing. And the machine has maintained its popularity since.
Kada je pomama za džogingom nastala u SAD '70-ih godina, traka za trčanje vratila se u centar pažnje kao lak i zgodan način da se unapredi fizička sposobnost i izgube neželjeni kilogrami, u čemu je, ruku na srce, prilično dobra. Naprava je od tada održala svoju popularnost.
So the next time you voluntarily subject yourself to what was once a cruel and unusual punishment, just be glad you can control when you'll hop off.
Sledećeg puta kada svojevoljno sebe podvrgnete onome što je nekad bila okrutna i neobična kazna, samo odahnite jer možete da utičete na to kada ćete sa nje sići.