Sport: Exercise: Equipment: Treadmill: Material
Hydro-Treadmill   (+4)  [vote for, against]
Its like an endless swimming pool with a treadmill on the bottom.

You would be able to control the water flow and the tread speed separately, which would also allow you walk in it or swim (without wasting as much electricity).

The tread surface would be able to raise or lower to account for people of differing heights, and for different resistances.

It would probably be best to use two separate motors for reliability rather than just one.

The motors could possibly also be used to heat the water, especially if the thing is outside in the cold.

This device would (obviously) increase the resistance of walking. It would probably be impossible to run in it, unless maybe if there was some type of harness.
-- BJS, Jun 19 2007

Horsey Treadmill http://www.horsetreadmills.com/
Same thing, for quadripeds [Noexit, Jun 19 2007]

Endless Pool http://www.endlesspools.com/index.html
Not a treadmill exactly, same purpose. [Noexit, Jun 19 2007]

An incentive would be by using an inclined treadmill; Slow down and go under.
-- Ling, Jun 19 2007


Leave the water level where it is; raise the treadmill deck to the required level.
-- lurch, Jun 19 2007


Utterly baked for horses and for dogs. Also kinda baked for people.
-- Noexit, Jun 19 2007


I thought about moving the tread up and down instead of the water, but I decided to say in the idea to move the water, I think I will change it to moving the tread surface now instead, like lurch said.
-- BJS, Jun 19 2007


Christopher Reeve had one of these as part of his (apparently unsuccesful on a grand scale) rehab program.

Baked for hospitals, not at all baked for the common man.
-- shapu, Jun 19 2007


the endless pool-deal looks like it bakes it pretty well... except for the moving floor (treadmill)

I knew I'd seen something like this before.

but bun anyway :)
-- CaptainClapper, Jun 19 2007



random, halfbakery