New approaches to the organization of locomotor training during long-term spaceflight

Introduction. In Russia, locomotor training is the key approach to mitigating the negative effects of weightlessness. Locomotor training is performed according to strictly defined protocols, without individualization and periodization of the training process. Objective. To study the effect of periodization of locomotor training on the performance of crewmembers during long-term space missions. Materials and methods. The study involved 12 cosmonauts, who were divided into two groups. The first group (BD, n = 6) included the participants who performed locomotor training in strict accordance with the standard on-board documentation system. The second group (ID, n = 6) included the participants who performed training using individual protocols and periodization of the training process. The assessment of physical performance was carried out according to the results of a regular stepwise locomotive test prior to a spaceflight (SF) mission and three times during SF. The test evaluated the achieved speeds at the most intensive stages of testing, the distance traveled during the test, and heart beats per distance (pulse value performance). Statistical processing was carried out in Statistica 10; nonparametric methods of descriptive statistics were used. Results. In the second part of SF, cosmonauts in the ID group reached higher speeds at the stages of medium and fast running and covered a greater distance by 18.5–20.7% ( p < 0.05) and 5–12% ( p < 0.05) compared with the BD group and with the baseline testing, respectively. The beats per distance in the ID group was lower throughout the SF compared to both the baseline values and the BD group in the 2nd and 3rd flight testing sessions. Conclusions. In the conditions of SF, locomotor training programs based on periodization and individualization demonstrate a greater preventive effectiveness compared to standard on-board training.