Tight on Space? Try the Space Station Workout!

Some days I think I have it hard deciding if I want to walk the dogs, go for a hike, bike ride, or even a run but have you considered what the astronauts do for exercise? I saw a CNN story here about a new exercise gym the space station is getting.

Astronauts have to workout in order to keep as much of their body mass as possible. Off the planet, weightlessness just does not work the muscles like gravity does for us. To combat the loss, astronauts try and workout a couple of hours a day. I found this video of the current (I think) gym on the space station.

According to the CNN story, much work is still needed to combat bone loss on longer space missions like for instance a mission to Mars and beyond. As a Star Trek fan, I hope that scientists figure out how to surpass the physical limitations of long space flights so man and woman can explore the stars!

The obvious solution would be to have artifical gravity such as a spinning space ring might create but it is good to know no matter how smart people get, we all still have to eat a balanced diet and participate in moderate exercise to stay healthy!

I feel lucky that we have it easy compared to astronauts because we have gravity! Why even while I am sleeping, my body is doing some work (hence burning some calories).

I would like to close with some good sound advice (the benefits of diet and exercise) that Dr. “Bones” McCoy gives Capt. Kirk when discussing some amazing immunizing agents found on some far off planet. Here is the clip.