How do astronauts stay healthy in space?

The exercise area in the core module is equipped with space treadmills and space bicycles for daily exercises of astronauts.

Why is there a special training area in the precious space of the capsule?

In fact, maintaining exercise in space is extremely important for astronauts:

After an astronaut enters space, the body will undergo a series of adaptive changes. The most important changes are changes in the cardiovascular system, muscle atrophy, and bone loss.

As the flight time increases, the situation will become more and more serious.

Exercise is an indispensable way to help astronauts reduce muscle atrophy and bone loss.

Therefore, astronauts in space must perform scientific physical exercises every day.

01 ,Weightlessness

Exercise is a necessary means to stay healthy

Living on the earth, human muscles and bones always have to constantly fight against gravity. However, in space, due to total weightlessness, bones and muscles will be greatly affected.

Under conditions of weightlessness, osteoporosis is very severe, and bones will become very fragile within a few months, and it will be difficult to recover when they return to the earth.

In order to prevent the loss of calcium from osteoporosis when astronauts stay in space for a long time, they must insist on strength training.

In addition, gravity is a necessary condition for maintaining the skeletal and muscle shape of the human body. Without gravity, muscles will atrophy, bone mass will be reduced, and calcium will be lost, so exercise must be done.

Therefore, the fitness function has become the standard configuration for the long-term life of the space station.

02 ,How to run fitness in space?

So how can astronauts run in space?

Here comes the problem! Due to weightlessness, as long as a small force, its reaction force will make people float in the opposite direction, that is to say, as long as the first step on the treadmill, the person will float away from the treadmill, how can they run?

The solution is actually very simple. In order to prevent people from floating as soon as they run, they have to use ropes to fix the astronauts on the treadmill. Isn’t it fun?

Doesn't this put people firmly on the treadmill?

Of course, running in space, because the human body does not need to overcome gravity at all, it will be easy to run. Therefore, theoretically, you can adjust the speed fast, as long as your pace is upside down, so that it can stimulate the heart and lungs enough.

03 ,How do astronauts in space proceed

Strength Training?

We all know that strength training is mainly against resistance, whether it is body weight training or barbell exercises, it is against gravity.

But because of the absence of gravity in space, it is obviously impossible to do traditional resistance training. The barbell and dumbbells have no weight. How can they resist resistance?

Astronauts use special strength equipment, such as bicycle training, to achieve the effect of exercise by increasing the resistance of the wheels.

In addition, some strength equipment uses vacuum pressure to help astronauts perform strength training, and can simulate free weight-bearing equipment to help astronauts exercise their whole body muscles.

04 ,"Use advances, discards, retreat" tell us

Only through exercise can we avoid functional decline

In a special environment such as space, due to weightlessness, insufficient physical activity, muscle contraction is significantly reduced, bones are not strong, and the cardiopulmonary function is degraded, muscle atrophy, and osteoporosis.

In the same way, although we living on the earth are affected by gravity, if we sit still for a long time, it will also cause overall degradation of our functions.

Human aging is actually not the natural aging of aging to a large extent, but the lack of exercise.

Regular exercise can make middle-aged you have a stronger heart, muscles and bones than young people. This is entirely possible. On the contrary, "the four bodies are not working" may "have all kinds of diseases" and make you "decay before you get old."

Exercise is one of the most effective means of "anti-aging" and the best weapon against time, and everyone can "use" it effectively!

What reason do you have to refuse?