Muscle volume, strength, endurance, and exercise loads during 6-month missions in space.
BACKGROUND
Decrements in muscular strength during long-duration missions in space could be mission-critical during construction and exploration activities. The purpose of this study was to quantify changes in muscle volume, strength, and endurance of crewmembers on the International Space Station (ISS) in the context of new measurements of loading during exercise countermeasures.


METHODS
Strength and muscle volumes were measured from four male ISS crewmembers (49.5 +/- 4.7 yr, 179.3 +/- 7.1 cm, 85.2 +/- 10.4 kg) before and after long-duration spaceflight (181 +/- 15 d). Preflight and in-flight measurements of forces between foot and shoe allowed comparisons of loading from 1-g exercise and exercise countermeasures on ISS.


RESULTS
Muscle volume change was greater in the calf (-10 to 16%) than the thigh (-4% to -7%), but there was no change in the upper arm (+0.4 to -0.8%). Isometric and isokinetic strength changes at the knee (range -10.4 to -24.1%), ankle (range -4 to -22.3%), and elbow (range -7.5 to -16.7%) were observed. Although there was an overall postflight decline in total work (-14%) during the endurance test, an increase in postflight resistance to fatigue was observed. The peak in-shoe forces during running and cycling on ISS were approximately 46% and 50% lower compared to 1-g values.


CONCLUSIONS
Muscle volume and strength were decreased in the lower extremities of crewmembers during long-duration spaceflight on ISS despite the use of exercise countermeasures. in-flight countermeasures were insufficient to replicate the daily mechanical loading experienced by the crewmembers before flight. Future exercise protocols need careful assessment both in terms of intensity and duration to maximize the "dose" of exercise and to increase loads compared to the measured levels.
Department of Biomedical Engineering , Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Raghavan
R
Gopalakrishnan
Kerim O
KO
Genc
Andrea J
AJ
Rice
Stuart M C
SM
Lee
Harlan J
HJ
Evans
Christian C
CC
Maender
Hakan
H
Ilaslan
Peter R
PR
Cavanagh
D000328:Adult; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000502:physiology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000209:etiology; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D013026:Space Flight; D014893:Weightlessness