![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/7062a513-44db-439f-945c-9369b45015df.jpg\")
Getty IMAGES<\/p>\nNow that the Artemis II crew are back on Earth, more work \u2014 or at least workouts \u2014 will commence. In space an astronaut\u2019s body is tested to new limits. Time spent in the low gravity of space can wreak havoc on unchallenged \u201cantigravity\u201d muscles in\u00a0the limbs, back and neck\u00a0which, along with bones, shrink in size and get weaker. Balance and co-ordination are derailed, cartilage is broken down and the heart, which doesn\u2019t work as hard in space, can become smaller. Many astronauts return with poor posture and back pain.<\/p>\n
Presumably most of us will never experience the after-effects of floating around in space. And yet the physiological outcomes are relevant to everyone\u00a0as they are not dissimilar to the outcome of inactivity or long daily hours of sitting.\u00a0Nick Caplan, a professor of aerospace medicine and rehabilitation at Northumbria University, where some research for the\u00a0European\u00a0Space\u00a0Agency (ESA)\u00a0is conducted, says\u00a0changes that happen in space are akin to accelerated ageing on Earth. \u201cMuch of what we have learnt from studying the effects of space travel on the human body applies to everyday life, particularly to people who have enforced bed rest or lead very sedentary lives,\u201d Caplan says. \u201cWith long-term inactivity our bodies become weakened in a similar way to those of astronauts and it gets worse the longer it goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Artemis II mission involved a relatively brief excursion\u00a0into deep space, lasting just ten days, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) can sometimes be in space for six months. Exercising for at least two hours a day in space is essential to mitigate the loss of muscle and bone mass that occurs with\u00a0time spent in low gravity.\u00a0\u201cThe crew had a treadmill with a harness that held them down to simulate some gravity and that provided some loading of bones and muscles in legs,\u201d Caplan says.\u00a0\u201cThey also do cycling and squats, lunges, bench presses on equipment developed by Nasa which allows them to replicate strength training.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even this wasn\u2019t enough to counteract all the negative effects of microgravity on the body.\u00a0By splashdown the astronauts will have returned to embark on an intense programme of rehabilitation involving special workouts, medical and performance testing, and scientific tests. \u201cWhen astronauts come back down to Earth their bodies are very deconditioned,\u201d Caplan says. \u201cWork begins to restore some of the losses.\u201d\u00a0Many of the strategies astronauts adopt to reverse further decline can be adopted to keep the rest of us fit and healthy. Here\u2019s how to work out like a space traveller:<\/p>\n
Stand on one leg every day to recalibrate balance<\/p>\n
Getty IMAGES<\/p>\n
By the time Artemis II astronauts splashed down<\/a> on April 11 the crew found their balance affected. As the crew stepped off the rescue helicopter and on to the ship\u2019s deck, all four astronauts appeared unsteady and were supported by aides.\u00a0Proprioception \u2014 the body\u2019s ability to sense its own position in space \u2014 relies on feedback from the inner ear and the eyes, and from sensory receptors in muscles and joints, all of which are affected by microgravity. <\/p>\n \u201cAstronauts who are in space for a long time can be very unsteady when they return because their sense of balance is affected,\u201d Caplan says. \u201cThere are huge changes in their balance systems.\u201d They will embark on strategies to restore equilibrium. And the rest of us need to work on balance regularly too as it diminishes with age. <\/p>\n Single-leg balances are the best way to start. Do it with eyes open to start, then eyes closed and gradually add movement such as squats and bends as you balance. \u201cStanding on one leg immediately recruits deep hip and ankle stabilisers,\u201d Caplan says. \u201cEven carrying weight, such as heavy shopping, on one side rather than symmetrically challenges the lateral trunk muscles that help to keep us upright.\u201d<\/p>\n Do Pilates twice a week to target your \u2018forgotten\u2019 core<\/p>\n Space medicine has taught us a lot about what Caplan calls the \u201cforgotten core\u201d,\u00a0the deep-lying muscles that sit behind our visible abs and act as stabilisers for the lumbar spine. \u201cAstronauts are constantly pulling themselves around in space so their upper limbs do retain strength,\u201d Caplan says. \u201cBut the muscles around the pelvis and spine are not worked in space and reduce rapidly at a rate of 2-3 per cent per week, more acutely in the first few weeks, so those on the Artemis II mission will come back with some deconditioning.\u201d <\/p>\n We should take heed as the same postural muscles are prone to shrivelling when we sit for too long each day \u2014 and it can lead to back pain.\u00a0\u201cPilates, particularly on a reformer machine, targets the deep stabilising muscles of the spine and hips that conventional exercise tends to miss,\u201d Caplan says. \u201cThese are the very same muscles that floating in microgravity and sitting in chairs effectively switches off.\u201d<\/p>\n Jump 10-20 times twice a day to regenerate cartilage (and boost bones)<\/p>\n Healthy cartilage cushions joints and reduces bone-on-bone friction. But researchers have shown that prolonged periods of inactivity \u2014 whether from bed rest, chronic sitting or space travel \u2014 can accelerate the breakdown of cartilage. <\/p>\n For astronauts, space radiation can accelerate this effect, with studies by ESA scientists showing evidence of cartilage degradation in astronauts who spend several months aboard the ISS. But a simple jumping strategy could protect cartilage degradation, according to astrophysicists at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. Last year they reported that\u00a0jumping exercises should be included to prepare joints for space travel \u2014 and said that jump-based training might also boost cartilage health in people at risk of osteoarthritis. Their next study will look at whether daily\u00a0jump training could reverse cartilage loss and help astronauts to restrengthen their cartilage after a space flight.\u00a0Aim for 10-20 jumps a day, which researchers have previously shown to provide enough beneficial loading to strengthen bones.\u00a0<\/p>\n Add high-intensity training to boost heart health<\/p>\n Heart health deteriorates in space.\u00a0Each time a person sits or stands on Earth, gravity draws blood into the legs. \u201cThe heart\u00a0works continuously against gravity to maintain circulation throughout the body, and to ensure that oxygen-rich blood is pumped upwards to the brain,\u201d Caplan says.\u00a0Removing these gravitational influences causes the heart to shrink.\u00a0\u201cOn a longer space mission the mass of the heart reduces by approximately 10-15 per cent,\u201d Caplan says. When astronauts return to Earth the heart is temporarily underequipped to meet the circulatory demands of gravity. \u201cThis is why they experience dizziness when first standing upright after landing, a condition called orthostatic intolerance.\u201d It typically resolves within days to weeks. <\/p>\n However, researchers have been studying how best to maintain heart function in space. And findings apply to maintaining cardiovascular health on Earth. In a paper for the American Heart Association\u2019s journal Circulation, researchers reported that brief\u00a0bursts of repeated high-intensity activity\u00a0during short space missions may help to keep a heart healthier than lots of low-intensity, longer-duration exercise. Last year a review confirmed that adding short \u201csprints\u201d of effort lasting as little as 30 seconds to regular aerobic activity as \u201can effective and safe exercise for improving cardiovascular health\u201d for non-astronauts.<\/p>\n Invest in a wobble cushion to challenge underused postural muscles<\/p>\n Postural instability is a big issue when astronauts hit Earth. \u201cThe exercises they do in space really do not work muscles in the lumbar pelvic region, which become very underused in a short time,\u201d Caplan says. \u201cThe effect can be a downturn in posture or back pain.\u201d Sitting down in a chair all day switches off these postural muscles in the same way. \u201cYou need to get up and move about to switch on these muscles,\u201d Caplan says. \u201cStanding or exercising on a simple balance board or wobble cushion can provide an added challenge for these muscles.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Try exercising on a vibration platform to strengthen bones<\/p>\n Astronauts typically lose 1-2 per cent of bone mass a month and methods of preserving bone health is a prime focus of space scientists. For the rest of us, bone density declines after the age of 30, with accelerated losses in\u00a0women around the menopause, when levels of bone-protective oestrogen drop. According to the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), about\u00a03.5 million people in the UK have osteoporosis and half of women and 20 per cent of men over 50 will break a bone because of the condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some space travellers use whole body vibration (WBV) platforms \u2014 about the size of a set of bathroom scales \u2014 to boost bone mass. Originally developed by space scientists who found that astronauts could regain some bone loss by using them for 10-20 minutes each day, WBV plates, such as Power Plate<\/a>, Galileo and Reviber, are now a familiar presence in gyms.\u00a0Standing, squatting or exercising on a platform as it delivers intense vibrations at frequencies of 10-40Hz stimulates muscle fibres up to 60 times a second, causing them to tug on bones, which strengthens the skeleton.\u00a0<\/p>\n They are not a magic bullet \u2014 you still need to incorporate other weight-bearing activity for bone health and\u00a0the ROS says \u201csome studies have even seen an increase in bone mineral density for some people [using WBV] but others have not\u201d. But they might be worth a try. A 2023 review involving more than 1,000 people found that regular WBV therapy \u201ccan provide a significant improvement in reducing bone loss in the lumbar spine in postmenopausal women\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now that the Artemis II crew are back on Earth, more work \u2014 or at least workouts \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-530205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2c61054b-9f44-46b8-97e0-4615a8008997.jpg\")
Jump or skip 10 to 20 times twice a day GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n