Reaction Time to Auditory Stimulus
Muscle Fatigue
Electromyography
Discussion
The reaction time to visual stimuli for subjects 1 through 11 supported the hypothesis because the reaction time decreased for each subject. The percent change was calculated for each subjects reaction time, with the baseline trial being the trial without pre-workout. All positive values were recorded for the percent change. The results showed a .0025 p-value, showing statistical significance of our data.
The reaction time to an auditory stimulus after taking pre-workout supported the hypothesis as well, with majority of the subjects recording a faster reaction time. The percent change was calculated and eight out of the eleven subjects showed faster reaction time, and one subject showed no change. A p-value was calculated comparing the two trials, and it was .0146. The p-value was statistically significant and supported the hypothesis. For both reaction times experimenters seemed to see noticeably increased focus from the subjects. This may have led a slight placebo effect after taking the supplement, believing that one should do better may increase focus and effort in order to do so. Other studies have shown support in reaction time studies, however most often this was done with a single-blinded study through the use of a placebo. The literature suggests that there may be a placebo effect correlation between taking pre-workout and having increased focus (Smith et, al. 2010).
When testing muscle fatigue using the dynamometer our results contradicted our hypothesis that muscle fatigue would be reduced after taking pre-workout. Percent change was found and 7 out of the 11 subjects showed increased muscle fatigue after performing the task a second time with the pre-workout supplement. A t test showed that data was not significant with a p-value of .8720. Other research needs to be done to find other aspects to prove the effectiveness of pre-workout, as both our study and many others were not conclusive in supporting decreased muscle fatigue. A larger research effort using a pre-workout supplement was unable to find significant evidence of lower muscular fatigue over the placebo given (Magrini et, al. 2016). In both Magrini et, al. and Outlaw et, al., researchers claimed that power output and production was another claim that needed further research as opposed to muscle fatigue and endurance.
The average frequency found using electromyography did not show a decrease when using pre-workout and therefore did not show less fatigue. This went against our hypothesis. When the frequencies were compared, 50% of the frequencies with pre-workout were lower and the other half were higher, with one frequency being the same for without and with pre-workout. A t test was performed to find a statistical significance, and a p-value of .6656 was found. The value was not significant and therefore doesn't support our hypothesis. Time until failure while holding the weight was also recorded to compare with other literature. It was found that 63% of subjects had longer time until failure after taking the pre-workout.
Conclusion