The constant thud underneath your feet, the constrained space, and the monotony of going nowhere fast.
你脚底不停的摩擦声，受限的空间，还有哪都去不了的单调感。
It feels like hours have gone by, but it's only been eleven minutes,
你感觉时间正在飞速流逝，但其实只过去了11分钟，
and you wonder, 'Why am I torturing myself?
你不禁好奇，“我为什么要这样折磨自己？
This thing has got to be considered a cruel and unusual punishment.'
这难道不是残忍而不正常的惩罚么？”
Actually, that's exactly what it is, or was.
实际上，这就是它为何存在的原因。
You see, in the 1800s, treadmills were created to punish English prisoners.
在18世纪，跑步机是为了惩罚英国犯人而发明的。
At the time, the English prison system was abysmally bad.
在当时，英国的监狱制度极其糟糕。
Execution and deportation were often the punishments of choice,
死刑和驱逐出境是最常见的处罚，
and those who were locked away faced hours of solitude in filthy cells.
而那些被禁锢在肮脏牢房里的犯人面临着漫长的孤独。
So social movements led by religious groups, philanthropies, and celebrities, like Charles Dickens,
所以那些由宗教团体，慈善家和像查尔斯狄更斯这样的名人发起了一场社会运动，
sought to change these dire conditions and help reform the prisoners.
试图去改变这些悲惨的状况，并帮助犯人从良。
When their movement succeeded, entire prisons were remodeled
当他们的运动成功时，整个监狱系统都被改造了，
and new forms of rehabilitation, such as the treadmill, were introduced.
而跑步机作为帮助犯人重新提高生产力的新方式，也被引进。
Here's how the original version, invented in 1818 by English engineer Sir William Cubitt, worked.
这是跑步机诞生的原始版本，英国工程师威廉·库比特在1818年发明了它。
Prisoners stepped on 24 spokes of a large paddle wheel.
犯人们踩着有着24条轮辐的巨大桨轮。
As the wheel turned, the prisoner was forced to keep stepping up or risk falling off, similar to modern stepper machines.
当轮子转动的时候，犯人们不得不加快步伐以免摔倒，就像现代的步进机器。
Meanwhile, the rotation made gears pump out water,
同时，轮子的转动使机器能够抽水，
crush grain, or power mills, which is where the name 'treadmill' originated.
碾磨玉米，或者发电，这就是“跑步机”名字的起源。
These devices were seen as a fantastic way of whipping prisoners into shape,
这些装置被当成是严格管教犯人的一种绝妙方式，
and that added benefit of powering mills helped to rebuild a British economy decimated by the Napoleonic Wars.
同时又能为发电厂增加收益，帮助重建被拿破仑战争摧毁的英国经济。
It was a win for all concerned, except the prisoners.
这是全方位的胜利，除了对犯人们来说不是。
It's estimated that, on average, prisoners spent six or so hours a day on treadmills,
据估计，犯人们每天平均花费大约6小时在跑步机上，
the equivalent of climbing 5,000 to 14,000 feet.
等于走了1524到4267米。
14,000 feet is roughly Mount Everest's halfway point.
这距离相当于到珠穆朗玛峰的半山腰。

Imagine doing that five days a week with little food.
想象一下，一周五天这样的高强度运动而仅有少量食物。
Cubitt's idea quickly spread across the British Empire and America.
库比特的想法很快传遍大英帝国和美国。
Within a decade of its creation, over 50 English prisons boasted a treadmill, and America, a similar amount.
在十年之内，英国约有50个监狱设置了跑步机，在美国，差不多也是这个数字。
Unsurprisingly, the exertion combined with poor nutrition
不出意料，这种缺乏营养支持的苦力劳作
saw many prisoners suffer breakdowns and injuries, not that prison guards seemed to care.
使很多犯人体力不支和受伤，而监狱看守对此并不关心。
In 1824, New York prison guard James Hardie credited the device with taming his more boisterous inmates,
在1824年，纽约一名叫詹姆斯·哈迪的监狱看守赞扬这些装置驯服了他粗暴狂躁的犯人，
writing that the 'monotonous steadiness, and not its severity...constitutes its terror,' a quote many still agree with.
他写道：“是始终如一的单调乏味，而不是多艰苦的劳作使人觉得恐怖，”这句话依然为不少人赞同。
And treadmills lasted in England until the late 19th century,
而跑步机继续在英国被应用直到19世纪末，
when they were banned for being excessively cruel under the Prison's Act of 1898.
因其导致的影响太过恶劣，在1898年颁布的《监狱法》中被禁止。
But of course the torture device returned with a vengeance, this time targeting the unsuspecting public.
但当然，这折磨人的装置最终强势回归了，这一次，它的主要目标是普通民众。
In 1911, a treadmill patent was registered in the U.S.,
在1911年，跑步机在美国注册了发明专利，
and by 1952, the forerunner for today's modern treadmill had been created.
到1952年，现代跑步机的雏形已经出现。
When the jogging craze hit the U.S. in the 1970s,
在20世纪70年代，慢跑热席卷美国，
the treadmill was thrust back into the limelight as an easy and convenient way to improve aerobic fitness,
跑步机又成为人们关注的焦点，作为一种简单方便的有氧健身法，
and lose unwanted pounds, which, to be fair, it's pretty good at doing.
也能减掉多余的脂肪，坦白讲，效果非常好。
And the machine has maintained its popularity since.
跑步机至今仍然大受欢迎。
So the next time you voluntarily subject yourself to what was once a cruel and unusual punishment,
所以下一次你自愿臣服于这样一台曾被用来残忍的惩罚犯人的跑步机时，
just be glad you can control when you'll hop off.
应该感到庆幸能决定什么时候离开。