Dr Jonathan Scott, Medical Projects and Technology Team Lead in the Space Medicine Office at the European Space Agency, explains why treadmill running will play a crucial part in Tim Peake’s daily exercise regime on board the International Space Station (ISS):

“It’s essential that astronauts stay fit and healthy to counter the effects of living in microgravity. If Tim did no exercise when he arrived on the ISS, he could lose as much as a quarter of his aerobic capacity after just two weeks of his mission. His heart, and his muscles and bones, would weaken, as they do not have to work as hard in microgravity to pump blood or support him.

“It’s the job of the Space Medicine Office Team to keep this ‘space adaptation’ to a minimum so that an astronaut’s health is not compromised when they return to Earth. We will design a programme for Tim that has the right frequency, duration and intensity of exercise to stimulate his muscles and bones in a way that will offset the effects of microgravity.

“Tim will run on the treadmill to train for the Digital Virgin Money London Marathon as part of this daily fitness routine. Running in microgravity is very different to running on Earth. Running in gravity is physically demanding because you have to support and transfer your body weight as you move, whereas on the ISS you have no bodyweight, so if you were to try to run on the treadmill you would simply float off it.

“Tim will wear a harness around his upper body and shoulders when he runs on the treadmill. The load through the harness can be adjusted to increase the physical demand of treadmill running, but if too much load is applied, it can become uncomfortable after about 30 minutes, so we have to find the right balance between loading, to create sufficient exercise intensity, and comfort to allow him to run for long periods of time.

“Tim is a very physically fit guy who loves to run and we know that on Earth he could run a fairly fast marathon, but there are lots of things that we need to consider before we plan his strategy for the Digital Virgin Money London Marathon, including the fact that he’s not on the ISS just to run a marathon.

“So in the months and weeks leading up to his marathon, we’ll find time for Tim to complete some longer runs so that he can find out how the harness feels after one or two hours. Once we know how he responds to the harness, we will use a combination of running speed and harness loading to create an abbreviated version of marathon training for him. Although he does have his weekends free, the ISS is a work-intensive environment so we need to find the right balance to ensure that he gets enough rest from his ‘day job’, but also that he completes some longer runs before Race Day.

“As Tim will be participating as a volunteer in a number of human physiology science experiments whilst on ISS, it’s also important that his overall exercise volume is not significantly greater than that of the other participating astronauts so, if they are running 10 to 15 miles a week across three or four sessions, we can’t have Tim running 30 to 40 miles.

“Astronauts are no different from regular people; some enjoy exercise and some less so. You can’t force someone to like exercise, but you can find ways to make exercise more enjoyable and engaging. In preparation for, and during the Digital Virgin Money London Marathon, Tim will use the RunSocial App, which contains videos of running routes here on Earth, including the London Marathon course, and it will give us a chance to look at this software and get his feedback on it.

“We will aim to create a marathon strategy for Tim that’s challenging, but not so gruelling that it compromises the other key elements of his mission. We can’t have him running a marathon that’s so intense it takes him two weeks to feel better again because he will have to work again on the Monday morning.”

Source: Virgin Money London Marathon