We all know how important it is to exercise on a regular basis, using your favorite exercise equipment, especially with our lives being constrained by the pandemic. I know there are people who feel that all exercise is a form of punishment. Yes, it takes dedication.
My favorite form of exercise is swimming. Unfortunately, I’m not fond of cold water, so I have to wait for summer. I would also like to try ocean swimming, although I will also have to wait for warmer water. I’ve never tried it, so I’ll have to get some information about it.
For now, every morning for my exercise I walk around the property where I live for a total of 3-4 miles per day. It’s usually quiet, and very relaxing.
But I wanted to alter my routine, so I decided that I would try the gym. They have a nice assortment of equipment. They have Treadmills, with lots of bells and whistles to constantly tell you how you are doing. The workout was ok, but I was concentrating on how I was doing, and not being able to get lost in my thoughts as I do when I’m walking outside.
As I was using the Treadmill, one thought kept creeping into my head. Where have I heard about Treadmills in literature? I thought for a minute, and then it hit me. It was in Dicken’s story, “A Christmas Carol.” It’s in the beginning of the book, where Scrooge is asked to donate money for the poor at Christmas time. He famously asks if the prisons, the union work houses, and the treadmill is operating? The treadmill? What was the Treadmill in the 1600’s.
So, I looked it up, and this is what I found out. “The treadmill was a method of punishment in the Victorian era. The Poor Law ensured that the poor were housed in workhouses, clothed and fed. “Most prisons had a treadmill or tread wheel installed, where the prisoner simply walked the wheel. In some prison’s the treadmill generated energy to make flour to make money for the jail, that is how the prisoners earned enough money to pay for their keep. However, in later times, there was no pay for the prisoners and the treadmill was walked just for punishment.”
Then I thought, how about rowing? When I became a Red Cross Water Safety Instructor, I also became a Small Craft Instructor, with rowing and canoeing the focus. So, I bought a rowing machine. Now I can row at my leisure. Of course, it also was another form of punishment, all those galley slaves. Errol Flynn, and Charlton Heston, who portrayed them in films.
It reminded me of a joke. There were these two brothers from the old country, living and working as laborers in New York. After a year, the younger brother became homesick, and wanted to visit their mother. So, they started to search for the least expensive form of transportation. At last, they read an ad in the paper, about a ship, with luxury accommodations for only $39.95. What a bargain! So, they rushed down to the steamship office, and purchased tickets. As they left the office, they were jumped by several men, and rendered unconscious. When they awoke the next day, they found themselves chained to this giant oar. Facing them was this huge man, and he started pounding on this drum. After rowing for several months, they finally arrived, and were set free. As they were being released, the younger brother asked. “I’ve never traveled aboard a ship with luxury accommodations.’ ‘What do you tip the drummer?’”
Now when I use my rowing machine, all that I’m missing is good drum music
