I recently discovered that the gym equipment I exhaust myself on daily is much older than I could have imagined. In 1815, a group called the Prison Discipline Society began to meet in England. Their mission was to develop the sort of devices and punishments that would inspire dread in the populace at-large, and thus deter potential criminals from committing dastardly deeds. The piece de resistance was in fact a treadmill, which was invented by a certain Colonel Chesterton and nicknamed the "everlasting staircase." It was devised to cause fatigue and despair in the inmates. According to Joseph Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, use of the treadmill in English prisons was discontinued when it was proved to cause physical injury and a number of psychological disturbances, including anger, resentment, and depression.

What's the take-home point here? Some things that are considered to be good for us are actually torture. Remember that, the next time some pony-tailed charlatan tries to sell you a "fitness machine" that plays Jenga with your spinal column.

Tags: popculture