| | Keeping fit the space way
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“Many of the effects of spaceflight, which include bone loss, muscle loss, a weakened immune system, and sensory disorientation, closely mimic the way our body degrades as it ages or is kept inactive. I learned how to fight these effects while I was living in the Space Station. And as a doctor, I want to use these lessons to help all Europeans.”
-- André Kuipers M.D., ESA astronaut, Chairman, ESA Health Care Network
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Exercise and fitness is part of every astronaut’s life before, during and after their flights. When it comes to fitness, it is merely the specialised support they receive when training for their missions that protects them from the adverse effects of microgravity.
 | | | ESA astronaut André Kuipers prepares for the International Space Station |
Active lifestyle
As Europeans are seeking to take better care of their bodies, ever more are joining gyms, athletic clubs and generally taking an overall interest in being more active.
Many use athletes as their inspiration, a trend reinforced by the advice available in many gyms. But athletes are exceptional.
Their natural genetic talent is boosted by a regimen that takes far more time and effort to stick to than most people are prepared to invest.
The result, all too often, is disappointment, a sense of failure, and early abandonment of over-ambitious training programmes.
Fitness solutions
Unlike athletes, astronauts are not physically exceptional beings. Like the rest of us, they just want to stay fit and healthy, nothing more.
That’s why the fitness solutions developed with ESA can be so attractive. They can inspire and appeal to all, young and old, sports-mad or not.
To find out how to innovate your fitness business, contact us today.
Last update: 17 October 2005 | |
