Billionaires in space is a thing. But, let’s be frank, they didn’t do anything when they go up there other than just look out the window and take selfies. Which seems like a wasted opportunity.
Billionaires in space is a thing. But, let’s be frank, they didn’t do anything when they go up there other than just look out the window and take selfies. Which seems like a wasted opportunity.
So, we’d like to throw this out there in the hopes that the next one going up, probably Elon Musk, takes up the challenge and makes a significant contribution to world hamstring development.
If you are going to go into space, now that the record of being first up there is done and dusted, how about breaking the world deadlift record which, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, stands at 501 kg (1,104.5 lb), and was achieved by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Iceland) at Thor’s Power Gym, Kópavogur, Iceland, on 2 May 2020.
A post shared by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson)
Before you go all nerd on me and claim that it’s zero g up there and it would be easy to pull a heavy deadlift, let’s do the math, the NASA way. The gravitational constant, g, is different the further you go away from the earth.
On the earth’s surface it is dependent on the mass and radius of the planet. If you go up to about the height the Space Shuttle would be, 200 miles above the earth’s surface, an object would weigh 0.907 times what it weighs on the surface of the earth.
If Musk can make it about 10,000 miles off the surface of the earth, g would be about 0.08 which would make a 1,300 lbs deadlift feel like 106 lbs, and Musk has got to be able to do that. And here’s the kicker, there are no standards or rules for a strict g value when going after the deadlift record.
Otherwise, all deadlifts would have to be performed at the exact same point on the surface of the earth to be created equal or at the same elevation above sea level or something like that. So much math!
In space everyone can lift over 1,000 lbs and that is probably the only reason to get excited about space tourism. Don’t get us started on kipping pull ups versus strict pull ups in the absence of strong gravitational forces. CrossFitter would probably ruin the space craft dropping stuff anyhow.
