Hate Treadmills? This Video Explains Everything

If you think time on the treadmill counts as cruel and unusual punishment, you'll get a kick out of this TED video that breaks down the history of this common gym machine. You probably don't know that its initial intended purpose was not to blast calories, but to rehabilitate English prisoners. To power mills, inmates would walk on a treadmill for approximately six hours a day, five days a week, clocking somewhere between 5,000 to 14,000 feet per day. Press play to learn how this machine that was deemed a torture device in the late 1800s turned into the much loathed (or loved!) cardio staple we know today.