Nothing like Early 1980s Exercise Equipment to Keep you in Shape and give you Nightmares

I remember visiting my sister when she was in High School. She showed me the gym, weight and exercise machine room. I guess the stuff was cutting edge when the school first opened, but to me at the time, it looked terrifying. Most exercise still terrifies me. Years later, when I attended the same school, some of that exercise equipment was still there. While others were kept in a storage closet collecting dust. A lot of it looked like the 1980s Exercise Equipment from this catalog page.
I am pretty sure I saw that Bruce Jenner exerciser being used and that rowing machine jogs some memories. The others do not, but I find them more intriguing because I never saw them in action. I have so many other questions after staring at this equipment.
How does a motorized exercise bike work? Does it work you out automatically?
What about that treadmill? Were you expected to stay bent over as you ran on the treadmill? Would it have killed them to make the bar a little higher? Or did you need to be bent over to get any traction?
I am not sure how “scientific” modern exercise equipment is nowadays, but I can’t help but think we have come a long way since 1980.