Physiology of Exercise Lab

Use the data in the Excel file, Lab 4 Data that is posted on Moodle for this lab. This will be the final lab report that you are required to write for this class and it will be worth the most possible points (200 points). You will also have longer to write this report and you will be required to provide more detail, with the Introduction, Results, and Discussion sections being longer (no Methods section). With that being said, I expect you to use the comments that I have provided on previous reports, and turn in a well written, detailed report. Also, with this being the last and longest report the grading will be more difficult and strict. So, I hope that you take your time, put a great deal of effort into this project, and turn in your best work.
Introduction
I want you to provide background information on the following subjects: Low Frequency Fatigue (LFF), high frequency fatigue, and β-Hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB). This is going to require you to find resources in the form of peer-reviewed journals and cite them in your report. It is not expected that you include every resource on these subjects but, you must gather and use enough information for the reader to understand each subject. After you have described each of the subjects your introduction must end with a purpose statement. The purpose for this experiment was in general to determine the effects of HMB supplementation on LFF. You must write a more detailed purpose statement than this in your report.
Methods
A total of 26 subjects were used for this experiment. Make sure you describe the number of males and females and all of their demographic information in your report. This study was broken up into two different sections – Pre-supplement and Post-supplement and there were three testing sessions for each section (3 Pre-supplement measurement times and 3 Post-supplement measurement times) (Figure 1). The three Pre-supplement testing sessions were exactly the same as the three Post-supplement testing sessions. After the Pre-supplement measures the subjects completed three weeks of 3g/day HMB supplementation and were tested again in the Post-supplement section. This allowed a comparison between the Pre-supplement and Post-supplement measures to determine if HMB supplementation had any effect on the variables.
The variables that you will be concerned with are: MVC Torque, 10 Hz Torque, and 50 Hz Torque. The MVC torque is the Maximum Voluntary Contraction of the Tibialis Anterior muscle and it was an isometric contraction. This was a measure of voluntary contraction. The 10 Hz Torque was the amount of force the Tibialis Anterior muscle produced when electrically stimulated by a 10 Hz (10 cycles per second) stimulation. This variable was a measure of LFF and was involuntary. The 50 Hz Torque was the amount of force the Tibialis Anterior muscle produced when electrically stimulated by a 50 Hz (50 cycles per second) stimulation. This variable was a measure of high frequency fatigue and it was involuntary.
The baseline Pre-supplement and baseline Post-supplement testing sessions were the longest testing days. During these two testing days measurements were taken before exercise (Baseline) and then after four sets of fatiguing exercise (Fatigue 1, Fatigue 2, Fatigue 3, Fatigue 4). The fatiguing exercise was 4 sets of 25 maximal eccentric muscle contractions of the Tibialis Anterior muscle, through a 30 degree range of motion. Also, recovery measures were taken after the fatiguing exercise (2 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min) (Figure 2). Recovery measurements were also taken two and four days after the fatiguing exercise (48 Hour, 96 Hour). This allowed a comparison between the baseline measurement time and the fatiguing and recovery measurement times for both the Pre-supplement and Post-supplement limbs. By doing this it could be determined how the fatiguing exercise and the recovery time affected the variables.
Figure 1: Study Overview

Figure 2: Pre and Post- Supplement Baseline and Fatigue Protocol Session Overview

Results
Make sure you state your results in text form in this section. Provide a Table with the demographic information of the subjects. Compute averages and standard deviations for all of the variables during all of the measurement times (e.g. Baseline, Fatigue 1, Fatigue 2…). Provide theses averages and standard deviations in a Table. Provide Figures comparing the baseline measurement time with the fatiguing and recovery measurement times for each variable for both the Pre-supplement and Post-supplement limbs. Also, provide Figures comparing the Post-supplement and Pre-supplement limbs at the different measurement times. I would suggest you express the value of the variable at each measurement time as a percentage of the baseline measurement time (e.g. After the first set of the fatiguing exercise MVC torque was 98.5% of baseline for the Pre-supplement limb). You do not need to state each of these in the results section but, you need these values to discuss in the Discussion section. Also, you do not need to talk about each measurement time. Maybe after the fatiguing exercise (Fatigue 4), after the same day recovery time (20 min), after two days of recovery (48 Hours), and after four days of recovery (96 Hours).

Discussion
Start the Discussion with the main findings. Talk about how the Pre-supplement limb compared with the Post-supplement limb. Were there differences between the limbs? Did one limb recover faster than the other (e.g. Was one limb at a greater percentage of baseline at the 48 hour recovery time?). In other words did HMB supplementation have any effect on these variables? Regardless of the answer try to give some reasons why this might have happened. You can input some reasons why other studies think HMB works or does not work. You can also compare the findings in this study with other studies. But, remember if you use information from another study it must be in your own words and the research article must be correctly cited. Also, in this section you need to discuss what happened to the variables during the fatiguing exercise (Fatigue 1 – Fatigue 4) and what happened during the recovery period (2min – 96 hour). Did the variables decrease during the fatiguing exercise? Did they increase in the recovery period? Did they decrease in the recovery period? At what point did they return to baseline levels? Did they not change at all? These are just a few of the questions that you might want to answer in your Discussion section. Also, try to give reasons why the variables changed or did not change the way they did.
References
You will need to have a Reference section. I do not care how you cite your references but, it must be an accepted method. Each article that you use must be cited in the report where you use it and then match up with the reference in the Reference section.

I know that this might look like a huge project. But, if you start on it early and complete small sections at a time, it will not be as bad. You have ample time before this is due so, do not wait until the last minute. I will not read your report before you hand it in. But, you can ask me if you need to put in certain information or not. Also, if you would like me to look at your Tables and Figures before you hand it in, I will do that. If you have any questions or need help with any of this, please come and see me.