Exercise for ground - bound masses is a choice , but for astronauts up there in the International Space Station ( ISS ) , it is anything but . Without usage in an environment with extremely low solemnity , theirbone density and brawn masswill rapidly lessen , so NASA mandate that their cosmonaut spend at least two 60 minutes per daytime working out . According to theHuffington Post , there are multiple ways in which they can do this in what is effectively a space gym .
The first contraption of eminence is a second - multiplication U.S. tread-wheel . The Combined Operational Load bear External Resistance Treadmill , or COLBERT , is named after the comic late - night talking show host . Being aspace gymvariant , this is of class no ordinary treadmill : It boast data assemblage client that track how much bone density and muscularity multitude is gained or lost during the astronaut ’s time away from Earth .
The COLBERT in action . NASA
The logo for the equipment , boast the eponymic talk of the town show host . NASA
The Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation System , or CEVIS , is another initially indecipherable - sound twist . Essentially a mechanically skillful bicycle nail to the “ level , ” it ’s the equivalent of cycling in mid - melody .
The mid - air cycling equipment CEVIS onboard the ISS . NASA
Next up is the Advanced Resistive Exercise equipment , or ARED , a slightly more visually odd tool for forcible exercise . Piston - drive vacuum cylinder act as grips that simulate the lifting of weights in “ normal ” solemnity .
The more strange - await ARED . NASA
The Russian segments of the ISS also check physical exercise instruments , including the salt mine BD-2 ( standardised to the COLBERT ) and the VB-3 , an dynamometer bicycle ( alike to the CEVIS ) .
The BD-2 . NASA
All the workout equipment on the ISS come with a harness to keep the users strapped in the microgravity environment .
The VB-3 . NASA
So if you ’re having a particularly otiose Clarence Day , you might want to think about the astronauts above your head , running up to 20 km per hour ( 12.4 mil per hour ) on a treadwheel , orbiting around the Earth at 7.7 klick per second ( 4.8 miles per secondly ) .
