A Look At The History Of The StairMaster

The StairMaster, also known as the Stair Climber or Stepmill, is one of the handiest gym equipment to regularly use. It provides a low impact aerobic, lower body and core workout. It also offers a safer and better workout than simply going up and down the stairs.

The History Of StairMaster
 
StairMaster was founded by Lanny Potts, Jim Walker and George Schupp. It was introduced by Tri-Tech, Inc. of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1983 at the National Sporting Goods Association trade show.

The first model, the StairMaster 5000, was a rotating staircase machine. It was sometimes called a step treadmill, which employed a urethane centrifugal brake to control the speed of the staircase at a constant speed.

In March 1984, StairMaster invented a replacement of the Stairmaster 5000 called the StairMaster 6000.This new model now boasts of a display information. The StairMaster 6000 displayed workout information on a CRT, showed a workout summary on a thermal printer and also had a heart rate monitor.

In February 1986, the StairMaster 4000 PT was introduced in Nashville, Tennessee. This model was completely different from the previous step machines because it was invented with two pedals with independent motion. Instead of climbing up a flight of stairs, the user would step onto two pedals, which was similar to riding upright on a bike.

In 1987, Tri-Tech introduced Gravitron, which is now known as the Stepmill. Over the years, StairMaster has undergone a series of ownership changes. In May 2002, it was acquired by Nautilus, Inc., the company known for manufacturing Bowflex, Trimline, and Schwinn exercise machines.

Info source: www.gympros.com