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TRAINERS » Out of this World
Exercising back on Earth
“Working back up to a normal work-
out, I spent two hours a day with the rehab specialists who eased me back into using exercise using…a floating treadmill. I wore a pair of rubber shorts that slipped into a big rubber balloon. By inflating it, they could control how much of my weight my legs needed to support while running. Aſter two months, when I finally
Fitness Evaluation December 21, 2012 - Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Chris Hadfield performs a fitness eval- uation on the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation System (CEVIS) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.
NASA photo A two-hour daily exercise routine and
a well-controlled diet mean that most astronauts return to Earth with a higher percentage of lean mass and with a lower percentage of body fat. However, after an extended time in
weightlessness, the immune system weakens, the heart shrinks (because it doesn’t have to strain against gravity), eyesight weakens, the spine lengthens as the vertebral discs expand, and bone mass decreases as the body sheds calcium. Once back on Earth, it takes most
astronauts three to four months to feel adapted to gravity and at least one year for their bones to regain their former density.
got the okay to go for a run outside, my legs felt heavy and slow…as I awk- wardly, clumsily pounded along. My CV response, too, was disappointing– my feet were still apparently top pri- ority for blood flow, and my forgetful veins and arteries were still in no big rush to pump anything up to my lungs and head. I realized that for at least six months I simply wouldn’t be able to do activities that might involve sudden CV demands…my bones couldn’t handle any shocks or stresses.” Colonel Chris Hadfield
Excerpt reprinted with permission: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Colonel Chris Hadfield, published by Macmillan Publishers
Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk exercises June 27, 2009 - Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk exercises with the Interim Resistive Exercise Device (IRED) equipment in the Harmony node of the International Space Station.
32 Fitness Business Canada March/April 2014
NASA photo
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