William Staub, a man that had a dream for all of us to be in “the fitness category” by running an 8 minute mile everyday, died last week. In the 1960’s, Staub took the treadmill out of the doctor’s office and into the home.
Because of the great William Staub we are all able to exercise in the comfort of our own home by only sparing a small area for a compact machine, the treadmill.
History Lesson
Opposed to treadmills being used in pre-industrial times, treadmills of the early to mid 1900’s were used for stress tests by doctors. You would run or walk on a treadmill and the doctor would run some tests.
Those “treadmills” were pretty fancy and expensive. So William Staub ran with the idea and made the very first home treadmill out of 40 steel rollers covered by an orange belt, a gray cover over the motor, and orange dials to determine time and speed. Revolutionary.
Imagine a Life Without Treadmills
We think we have a problem with obesity now, what if William Staub had given up on his ideas, his dreams, and never made the home treadmill a reality? Thanks to him we are able to watch TV, view training exercises, and browse the web from a treadmill in the comfort of our own home.
Technology has allowed us to build on his ideas and principles and made the world a much healthier place.
Straut’s Goal: 1 Mile in 8 Minutes 4-5 Times a Week
Dr. Cooper, author of a book called “Aerobics,” said that if you ran a mile in 8 minutes 4-5 times a week, you will always remain in the healthy category. Do you know how many people are actually in the healthy category? Not very many. So I say we pay William Staub a little respect by taking 8 minutes out of our day to run 1 mile. Just one mile in at least 8 minutes 4-5 times a week.
Thanks to William Staub and home treadmills, 8 minutes really can be as easy as it sounds. If you had to drive to the gym or to the doctor’s office to run on a treadmill for 8 minutes, you would end up spending an entire day on a small exercise. Isn’t it nice that we have the option to get out of bed, walk down the hallway to the treadmill and bust out a run?
Of course, you don’t have to run on a treadmill for 8 minutes everyday to live up to Staub’s legacy. If you don’t have a home treadmill go for a run outside or around the block. A lot of people actually prefer to run outside as opposed to indoors.
William Staub’s goal was to get people moving, so do it anyway you want. I like to use a treadmill for many reasons but there are perks to running outside as well. Take the following infographic for example:
Staub Changed the World. So Can We
William Staub changed the world with his invention of the home treadmill, as can we if we stick to the same principles he did.
In the words of Staub himself, “I can afford 8 minutes.”