AstroPower Wiki

Equipment and exercise protocols designed to provide astronauts with aerobic and resistive training stimuli, essential for maintaining health and performance to successfully complete mission tasks.

How often exercise sessions occur within a given period, typically measured per week.

Duration of each exercise session, influencing endurance and calorie expenditure.

The total amount of work done, combining frequency, time, and intensity.

Gradual increase in exercise demands to promote adaptation and improvement.

Real-time or post-exercise insights to guide technique, intensity, or effort adjustments.

Tailoring exercise routines to individual needs, abilities, and goals.

A structured plan outlining specific exercises, sets, and goals over a period.

Recommended exercise regimen, often based on health assessments or fitness objectives.

Short bursts of intense physical activity followed by rest periods, effective for preserving muscle strength in astronauts and older adults.

Simulating Earth-like gravity in space through centrifugal forces as a countermeasure for the effects of microgravity.

The process of recovering lost muscle mass and cardiovascular function after returning from space.

Exercises that use resistance tools, such as weights or resistance bands, to build and maintain muscle strength and endurance, essential for counteracting muscle atrophy in low-gravity environments.

Exercises focused on cardiovascular health, such as cycling or running, which improve heart and lung efficiency—crucial for maintaining endurance during prolonged space missions or for elderly populations with cardiovascular risks.

Bodyweight exercises, including push-ups and squats, aimed at building coordination, balance, and strength without specialized equipment, beneficial for astronauts and older adults alike.

Individuals whose physiological responses to exercise are minimal or atypical, possibly due to genetic factors, highlighting the need for personalized exercise regimens to achieve health and fitness goals effectively

A simulated microgravity condition used to study the effects of inactivity on the body, mimicking prolonged weightlessness.

Exercise performed while standing after a prolonged period of bed rest or immobility, aimed at reconditioning the cardiovascular and muscular systems. This type of exercise helps the body re-adapt to gravity, preventing dizziness and improving blood flow regulation.

Assesses lower back and hamstring flexibility, reflecting joint and muscle health.

Measures agility, coordination, and speed, essential for maintaining mobility in aging and physical readiness in microgravity.

Tests muscle endurance, crucial for maintaining functional strength.

Assesses maximal upper body force, a key indicator of muscle health.

Measures lower body force production, vital for mobility and balance.

Indicates core strength, essential for stability and injury prevention.

A training method aimed at increasing the ability to generate force rapidly, typically involving explosive movements like plyometrics and Olympic lifts to enhance performance in activities requiring quick, powerful actions.

High-intensity movements designed to increase power by rapidly stretching and then contracting muscles, often involving jumps, bounds, or explosive push-offs. These exercises improve muscle elasticity and speed, enhancing overall strength and agility.

It is a critical mechanism in muscle power production and involves a rapid transition between eccentric and concentric phases.

High-intensity sprinting combined with resistance (like sleds or bands) to boost speed, power, and endurance, counteracting muscle power loss in low-gravity settings.

The ability of muscles to stretch and quickly contract to produce force, leveraged in plyometric training.

the ability of muscles and tendons to temporarily store mechanical energy when they stretched or lengthened under tension.

A temporary increase in muscle force output following a high-intensity contraction. It is essential for assessing fast-twitch fiber activation.