Exercise Science Theses

Introduction: The importance of periodization variables in research for athletic populations is drastically overlooked. Proper periodization can allow for maximizing athletic performance as well as reduction of common injuries found in sport. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to compare the effects of exercise selection variation versus exercise load and intensity variation on absolute strength and power measures across a 4-week training block for in-season collegiate athletes. Methods: 14 Subjects both male and female on a division 2 collegiate track and field team participated in 4 weeks of exercise sessions with two groups being one where exercise load and intensity were used as a variable versus exercise selection being used as a variable of programming. Absolute strength measures were used by measuring a 1RM back squat using the GymAware device and power using a vertical jump, jump mat. Results: Results indicate that no significance was found between the change in vertical jump or back squat 1RM from pre-post of either group (p>.05). Informal statistics had shown slight improvements in means from the exercise load and intensity group but when numbers were made relative to the subject improvement, the exercise selection group had improved more. Discussion: The results lend to the idea that a block greater than 4 weeks may be needed in order to elicit training adaptations favorable to the outcome of one group over the other. In addition, both groups had improved which may also lend to the idea that variation in general is necessary and it does not matter which type of variation. Conclusion: In conclusion, no definitive method of introducing variation was found favorable over another in the research.

Introduction: Injury rates in all levels of baseball pitchers have increased over the last two decades, while the knowledge behind the mechanics of pitching has increased as well. In-game recovery techniques have often been overlooked as possible methods of maintaining pitching performance, reducing injury, and decreasing fatigue. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two recovery methods on pitching performance in male NCAA division II baseball pitchers. Methods: Five male subjects on the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania's pitching staff participated in 2 separate simulated bullpen sessions, where sessions were 7 days apart from one another. Recovery intervention consisting of Passive Recovery (PR) or Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) occurred after the first 15 pitches. Velocity, spin rate, and release height were measured by the Rapsodo 2.0 Pitch Tracker. Results: Descriptive statistics showed EMS better maintained mean velocity over 2 innings of pitching when compared to PR. The results demonstrated that a greater number of subjects and innings thrown would be necessary to show significance between recovery methods and pitching measurables. Conclusion: In conclusion, no definitive recovery method was shown to be favorable over another.

Introduction: There has been significant attention given to sleep deprivation in college students, especially within the student-athlete population. The demands of a competitive season coupled with academic responsibilities often lead to deprioritizing sleep. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to observe NCAA Division II male college wrestlers leading up to their national qualifying tournament to see what, if any relationship there is between their sleep patterns and their perceived level of performance during practice in order to evaluate how well they are recovering. Methods: This observational study used the Athlete Sleep Screening Questionnaire combined with two questions concerning their perceived level of performance and the perceived difficulty of practices throughout the week. These questions were answered weekly via online survey to record the sleeping habits of NCAA Division II college wrestlers (n=14) during the 6-week time period leading up to the Super Region National Qualifying Tournament. Results: Descriptive statistics from their sleeping habits were cross-referenced with their perceived performance and difficulty of the practices for that week to determine whether they were getting adequate recovery from sleep as it relates to performance. Conclusion: Entering the research, it was hypothesized that according to prior research that college students were not getting adequate rest and it would affect their performance; however, multiple Chi Square analysis in this study did not support that hypothesis. The amount of sleep, time to fall asleep, and whether they had trouble staying asleep appeared to have no statistical significance in the relationship to perceived performance.

Introduction: Human variability is defined as the possible values for any measurable inconsistent characteristics in human beings. New studies are showing that elite athletes are not able to perform skills without variability in their movements. Many coaching techniques stress repetitious training which can lead to overuse injuries. The discovery of variability in athletes form may help to change training techniques to exercises that will help promote variability in athletes form and prevent overuse injuries. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the variability in the shoulder biomechanics of DII college baseball pitchers during their pitching motion. Subjects: Five NCAA division II baseball pitchers (mean age: 19.4 ± 1.5 yrs; mean mass: 83.4 ± 3.3 kg) from a university in the northeast part of the United States participated in the study. Each pitcher performed between 12 and 15 pitches with their motion recorded using an 8-camera 3D system (Vicon). Three dimensional angles at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist were calculated and comparisons were made between maximal external rotation of the shoulder, maximal elbow flexion and maximal wrist flexion of each trial for each individual athlete. The average joint angles and standard deviations across the trials were then calculated. Results: The average values for maximal external shoulder rotation were greater than for both elbow flexion and wrist flexion for all subjects. The variability in the joint angles ranged from small (1.09 degrees) to large (4.87 degrees), with no joint demonstrating greater variability than any other across the five subjects. Similarly, each subject demonstrated their largest variation at a different joint. Conclusion: The existence of variability in the motion of these trained pitchers implies that consistency is not achieved in terms of the upper-body kinematics. Furthermore, each subject appeared to demonstrate an individual movement pattern despite the goal of the skill being consistent. This suggests that coaches should avoid relying on a single 'optimal model' when skill acquisition is required in multi-joint, ballistic movements.

Introduction: Over the past 20 years, the literature has demonstrated that military members are prone to exertional heat illness due to a combination of heavy loads and physical exertion. Precooling is a relatively new idea where an individual ingests a substance preemptively to lower core temperature before an activity. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a precooling protocol employing ice slurry (0±1°C) vs. cold water (4°C) on core body temperature and time to exhaustion during a simulated military full combat gear foot march in males aged 18 to 35 years. Methodology: The researchers used a precooling protocol of 7.5g/kg of bodyweight of both water (control) and ice-slurry (experimental) administered over a 30-minute period. Following the precooling protocol, the participants self-selected a pace from 3.0-4.0 MPH and walked for up to 90 minutes or until volitional fatigue inside a heat tent while wearing full Army combat gear. Core temperature, heart rate and RPE were collected every 5 minutes. Blood pressure was collected pre and post exercise. Results: There was no difference in time to exhaustion (p = 0.227), heart rate (p = 0.763) or core temperature (p = 0.876) between conditions. Conclusion: Precooling protocol was ineffective at lowering core temperature vs. control and thus did not increase time to exhaustion. Additional research on precooling with military equipment is needed to further elucidate the potential benefits of precooling on exercise performance and decreasing the risk of exertional heat illness.

Previous studies have shown that focus of attention, in the form of instruction and feedback, is highly effective in increasing learning (Shafizadeh, 2013). Cues facilitate the learning of motor skills (McCullagh, Stiehl, & Weiss, 1990; Masser, 1993; Zetou, Tzetzis, Vernadakis, & Kioumourtzoglou, 2002) because they direct the performer's attention to regulatory conditions in the environmental context and also to the key movement components of a skill (Shafizadeh, 2013). Cueing technique has frequently been shown to be effective in overcoming the potential problems associated with visual modelling in novice performers (Shafizadeh, 2013). This is also shown in verbal analogies as well. The purpose of the analogy is to make the performer focus on the movement instead of individual body parts such as the elbow or wrist during a throw. Studies demonstrated that focusing attention on movement goals (external focus) rather than on movements themselves (internal focus) led to faster learning (Shafizadeh, 2013). The current investigation is designed to analyze the learning benefits of visual and verbal external cueing incorporated into the overhand throwing routine of a novice while also examining kinematic changes and confidences of throwing. The investigation will include 15 male and female subjects, aged between 19-28 years of age. The testing involves 45 throws, as well as confidence scoring, over 3 testing days. 15 throws will be performed each testing session and separated into 3 sets of 5 throws with a 2-minute rest period between sets. The first session will serve as a pre-test, the second session will serve as the testing session, and the third session will serve as the retention test 48 hours following the second session. The retention test allows to establish whether learning has occurred over the course of the investigation.

The ability to produce consistently high average sprint time over a series of sprints separated by less than or equal to 60 seconds of recovery is vital for sports. Muscle and core temperature is a major contributor to fatigue. Precooling has shown to be and effective means of lower the body's core temperature. Purpose: The aim of this study was to look at the effect of an ice slurry beverage in a precooling protocol on peak sprint time, mean sprint time, RPE and fatigue index during a repeated sprint protocol (5 x 40m shuttle sprints with 30s of passive recovery). Fifteen healthy recreationally active °college aged 18- 24 males. A precooling protocol of 7.5g/kg of bodyweight either water or ice slurry administered over a 30 minute period in ten minute intervals. Following the precooling protocol subjects completed a 5x40m sprint protocol with 30s of passive recovery. RPE, core temperature and sprint time were all recorded after every sprint. There was no significant difference in sprint times (p= 0.750), RPE (p = 0.588) and core temperature (p = 0.908). There was a significant difference in pre- cooling core temperature between conditions (p = 0.02). Precooling protocol consisting of an ice slurry approximately 1°C was effective at lowering core temperature vs control condition. This did not yield any significant difference in sprint time, RPE or core temperature during the sprint protocol. Additional research is needed to exhibit the benefits of precooling during repeated sprints.

Less than half of the U.S. adults meet the current exercise recommendations for cardiorespiratory exercise. Exercise has been shown to positively impact cardiometabolic risk factors and mental well-being in adults. However, there is currently limited research on the impacts of a walking intervention on cardiometabolic risk factors and mental-wellbeing. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of six-week moderate-intensity walking intervention on cardiometabolic disease risk factors and mental wellbeing in East Stroudsburg University students and staff. The participants were involved in three separate lab sessions to test cardiometabolic risk factors and mental-wellbeing scores. The participants were involved in a six-week walking intervention prescribed at individual moderate heart rate intensities. Results from the study showed that there were no significant changes among all the variables tested. Despite these findings, it is still suggested that adults should obtain 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise per week.

Previous research has indicated that resistance training utilizing accentuated eccentric loading patterns augments concentric outputs. Mechanical stretch coupled with eccentric overload may potentiate the concentric phase of the back squat. Therefore, it is important to understand the various mechanisms involved and their potential relation to increased concentric back squat performance. Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine the differences in power output in college aged resistance trained males performing traditional and AEL back squats. Subjects: Eight male volunteers (N= 8) agreed to participate in the present study (age: 23.8 ± 1.6 years, mass: 84.3 ± 11.7 kg, height: 174 ± 9 cm). All subjects had previous experience in resistance training and were free from musculoskeletal injuries for up to one year. The subjects were asked to complete three experimental conditions during which kinetic data was collected. The three conditions were: Traditional (80/80% 1RM), AEL1 (105/80% 1RM), AEL2 (110/80% 1RM). Two repetitions were performed for each condition. Average power output was collected immediately following each repetition during the back squat. Results: The results showed a significant difference (p = 0.002) between the conditions. There was a significant (p = 0.009) decrease in average power output from the AEL2 condition compared to the traditional and AEL1 condition. Conclusion: Utilizing AEL patterns did not have any advantage over traditional loading patterns in terms of enhancing average power production. The eccentric overload prescribed in the AEL2 condition may have been too much for the current population noted by the decrease in performance. Future research is warranted on finding the optimal eccentric load to enhance concentric performance.

This study investigated the effects of acute ingestion of sodium bicarbonate on fatigue and power output during a repeated-sprint cycling protocol (10 x 6 second sprints interspersed with 30 seconds of passive recovery) in college-aged males. Nine males participated, but one was dropped. Following the completion of two familiarization sessions, participants were randomly assigned, in a counterbalanced fashion, to begin in the experimental group (NaHCO3) or placebo group (NaCl) utilizing a crossover design format, so that all participants engaged in both conditions. Participants supplemented with 0.3 g/kg of sodium bicarbonate and / or 0.1 g/kg of sodium chloride 60 minutes before exercise and were administered in a double-blind format with the ingestion of a 1.5 g/kg fixed carbohydrate meal and 7 ml/kg of fluid to help minimize possible GI upset. There were no significant findings for: Average Mean Power Output (AMPO), Average Peak Power Output (APPO), Average Delta Blood Lactate (ADBL), Average Heart Rate (AHR), Average Rating of Perceived Exertion (ARPE), and fatigue. The mean and standard deviations are listed for the placebo vs experimental conditions: AMPO (907.44 ± 166.86 vs 921.10 ± 162.91 Watts), where (f = 2.062, p = 0.37). APPO (1180.59 ± 242.56 vs 1196.34 ± 239.46 Watts), where (f = 0.667, p = 0.737). ADBL (8.03 ± 1.84 vs 9.13 ± 3.05 mmol/L), where (t = -1.856, p = .113). AHR (161.89 ± 6.94 vs 164.00 ± 8.11 beats per minute), where (t = -1.202, p = 0.268). ARPE (15.25 ± 1.06 vs 14.93 ± 1.15), where (t = 1.075, p = 0.318). Fatigue (10.48 ± 3.17 vs 9.88 ± 4.28 percent), where (t = .780, p = .461). Amount of supplement ingested, and training status likely influenced results. Acidosis may only play a minimal role in fatigue and decline in sport performance during repeated sprint activities in this population. Further research is recommended to investigate the causes of fatigue and the role it plays in repeated sprint ability (RSA).