{"id":643345,"date":"2026-10-28T01:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T01:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/643345\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T01:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T01:58:11","slug":"houston-we-have-a-workout-watch-this-peloton-ride-with-astronaut-jessica-meir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/643345\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston, We Have a Workout: Watch This Peloton Ride With Astronaut Jessica Meir"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peloton instructor Robin Arz\u00f3n just took fitness out of this world and into space. Her new 20-minute class features astronaut Jessica Meir, who was broadcasting straight from the International Space Station when the ride was recorded. The class is available for free on Peloton\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a> or through the Peloton app. <\/p>\n

The ride starts with Arz\u00f3n introducing Meir, who shows riders her view of Earth from the space station\u2019s cupola, the dome-like observatory that many\u00a0astronauts use to photograph<\/a> Earth. Meir remarks during the ride that the view of our planet is magical and \u201cnever gets old.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meir joins the class on an exercise bike that resembles a minimalist, high-tech unicycle mechanism with no seat or handlebars, anchored to the wall, called the FERGO, or Flight Ergometer.\u00a0In microgravity, pushing down on a pedal would launch an astronaut backward to the ceiling. To stay in place, Meir wears a wide waist belt secured to rigid side struts, with her cycling shoes clipped into specialized pedals with straps.<\/p>\n

Meir talks about the importance of cardiovascular activity and \u201cliving happily in isolation\u201d in a short video during her prior stint on the ISS<\/a> in 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown. There, she and fellow astronaut Drew Morgan showed off an earlier model of the bike, called CERVIS (Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System), as well as a T2 treadmill for running that uses a harness and bungees to counter near-weightlessness.<\/p>\n

\"\"Unlike a terrestrial stationary bike, the FERGO lacks handlebars, a front frame, wheels or a standard seat. To stay in place while exercising in space, astronauts rely on a secured waist harness. Screenshot\/CNET<\/p>\n

A wild fitness ride through space<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t ride, it\u2019s worth watching the class to learn what it\u2019s like aboard the ISS. Meir addresses questions that anyone interested in fitness or space (or both) would appreciate: the importance of strength training for astronauts and the changes the human body undergoes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the loading on our muscles and our bones to keep our muscles and our bones healthy,\u201d says Meir. \u201cIf we didn\u2019t have that, we\u2019d lose a significant amount of muscle mass and also bone density. Up here, when you come into microgravity, your bones start leeching calcium just because they\u2019re not being loaded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meir says that astronauts commit 2.5 hours a day to exercise, spending a lot of time on the ARED, or the advanced resistance exercise device, doing everything from squats and deadlifts to bench presses and sit-ups. The machine, which she describes as an \u201cengineering marvel,\u201d can go up to 600 pounds. <\/p>\n

There were other fun moments in the video, including when Meir takes a drink of water by making a blob in midair from her water pouch and gently flinging it into the air before catching it in her mouth, a moment that seemed to genuinely delight Arz\u00f3n. Meir also talks about using a \u201cspace toilet\u201d (consisting of a \u201cbig pump\u201d that sucks everything down), and how the ISS recycles up to 98% of its water<\/a>, including processing urine. She quips that \u201ctoday\u2019s coffee is also tomorrow\u2019s coffee,\u201d or as astronauts like to say, \u201cfrom toilet to tap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exercising with astronauts<\/p>\n

CNET Senior Editor Laura Michelle Davis, an avid Peloton member who frequently chooses Arz\u00f3n as an instructor, found the ride both instructional and inspirational.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ride was full of information about the effects of microgravity and the importance of lifting weights when you\u2019re just floating around,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIt was also full of tech and engineering marvels, livestreaming a conversation from hundreds of miles above Earth\u2019s surface to a Peloton studio in NYC and eventually appearing on my bike monitor at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Physical activity is a common talking point<\/a> for astronauts. Sunita Williams was the first astronaut to run an entire marathon in space, syncing it with the 2007 Boston Marathon and completing the race in 4 hours and 24 minutes. Astronaut Tim Peake was the second astronaut to do so, running in the 2016 London Marathon, which he completed in 3 hours and 35 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For people on Earth, the Peloton video was a chance to get some reps in while learning a little bit more about the ins and outs of living in space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always easy to get lost in the experience when doing a Peloton ride,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThis ride kept my brain active, pushing me to think about what it\u2019s like to live (temporarily) in space and how astronauts\u2019 bodies have to adapt. It felt like my own intergalactic journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Joe\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJoe is a freelance journalist. It all started with a long-running affection for building his own PCs, which he did for the first time as a teenager. It evolved into a lifelong enjoyment of putting words on the internet about the subject. He’s written for CNET, PCMag, Mashable and SlashGear as a freelance writer, and worked as a Senior Editor at Android Authority for 10 years. When he’s not writing about tech and science, he’s learning the ins and outs of DIY home repair, gaming, playing his bass guitars and posting help on PC building and gaming subreddits. He is a staunch believer that orange juice should have pulp.
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