Simple technique to evaluate on the ground the energetic expenditure of physical exercise carried out in weightlessness

A simple method is described to evaluate the energetic expenditure of graded muscular exercises carried out on the ground in such a way as to approximate the state of space microgravity. Consumption of O₂ measured at different rates of execution is shown as well as a tentative computation of the mechanical work on the basis of the accelerations impressed alternately on the mass of the trunk and upper limbs. The practicability of the method proposed under space conditions is pointed out; it does not require any ergometer, in fact, but only the fixing of the subject's feet to the floor of the vehicle.