Elizabeth Brandenburg

Bio 226

Mertens

17 March 2016

Muscular System Lab Report

INTRODUCTION

Muscular strength and muscular endurance are very important aspects of sport. It is important to

measure both of these things because they are fundamental to the practice of most sports, physical

exercise programs of different types, as well as to perform various daily activities (Serpyloni Cyrino et.

al, 2013). For everything you do in life, you need muscles. Anything from brushing your teeth to running

a marathon uses a variety of different muscles. Muscular strength and muscular endurance are two things

that will always be important to athletes. No matter what happens, these are things that athletes will

always be trying to improve in any way they can (Arazi et al., 2013). Muscular strength and muscular

endurance can be tested using a variety of methods. Grip tests are a popular method of measuring grip

strength; they do not require a lot of time, effort, or resources which makes it a popular type of test to

perform in the kinesiology world. The first test conducted in class was a grip test to determine which

position had a higher grip strength. Next, students grip strength was tested in three different positions

(neutral, extended, or flexed) to see which position yielded higher grip strength. Lastly, students were

asked to examine their own muscle fatigue by continuously opening a clothespin to investigate exercise-

induced muscle fatigue. When comparing the position of the hand when performing the grip strength test,

it can be hypothesized that the neutral grip would yield the highest amount of force due to the length-

tension relationship. The second test was a different type of grip test to examine muscle fatigue using a
clothespin. It can be hypothesized that the number of squeezed of the clothespin in the given time will

decrease overtime with more trials.

METHODS

When testing the grip force of all the participants, a hand grip dynamometer was used. This was

able to tell the researcher how much force was exerted by the participants hand. First, the participant held

the dynamometer in their dominant hand with their wrist fully extended. After being set to zero, the

participant squeezed the dynamometer with as much force as they could. The amount of force was

recorded and the dynamometer was set back to zero. The participant repeated this three times for each

position of the hand (extended wrist, neutral wrist, and flexed wrist). After all the measurements were

taken, the averages of each trial were calculated. When comparing male and female maximum grip

strength, the test results from the neutral hand grip test were used and compared instead of retesting the

entire class.

Muscle fatigue was tested using a clothespin. First, people were put into groups of two (one

person timed and recorded the results while the other person performed the test) and given a clothespin

and a timer. The clothespin was grasped between the thumb and index finger of the persons dominant

hand. When their partner said go they started squeezing the clothespin open and closed for fifteen

seconds straight while counting the number of squeezes. After the fifteen seconds were up and they

stopped squeezing the clothespin, the numbers were recorded in a table. The person squeezing the

clothespin had only five seconds of rest before they repeated the test over again. The test was repeated ten

times for each person.

RESULTS

When comparing the grip strength of the different hand positions, the class took the average of

the three trials of each position and entered it into the computer. It was hypothesized that the neutral
position would have the highest grip strength on average. A repeated measures ANOVA test was run in

Microsoft Word Excel. The following is a table with the results of the test:

SUMMARY
Averag Varian
Groups Count Sum e ce
1222.0 38.189 200.64
Neutral 32 5 06 79
28.232 110.65
Extended 32 903.45 81 62
20.950 52.758
Flexed 32 670.42 63 06

ANOVA
Source of
Variation SS df MS F P-value F crit
Between 4792.7 2396.3 7.12E- 3.0943
Groups 56 2 78 19.747 08 37
Within 11285. 121.35
Groups 93 93 4

16078.
Total 68 95

This table shows the means of the different hand/wrist positions that were tested as well as the test results

from the statistical analysis. The repeated measures ANOVA test determined that there is a significant

difference between the three groups. Since the mean of the neutral hand position is higher than the other

two positions, it can be assumed that on average, people could exert more force on the hand grip

dynamometer in the neutral position than while the wrist was flexed or extended.

When looking at muscle fatigue, a strength decrement index was used to examine muscle fatigue.

To calculate the strength decrement index, the number of squeezes from the trial being calculated is

subtracted from the initial amount of squeezes, and then divided by the initial amount of squeezes. When

graphing the strength decrement index, it causes a positive slope; the amount of fatigue increases with

each trial.
 Trial # of clothespin squeezes

Number
1 70
2 72
3 69
4 67
5 60
6 58
7 47
8 47
9 41
10 39

DISCUSSION

Muscular fatigue is caused by overusing the muscle in a certain period of time. The energy

system used for muscle contraction cant keep up if force keeps being exerted in a specific period of time.

That is why when squeezing the clothespin the participant was not able to squeeze it as many times in the

span of 15 seconds because the muscles were already working very hard in a continuous fashion. One of

the reasons that muscles become fatigued is because of a build-up of waste products after contracting the

muscle for an extended period of time. Lactic acid and hydrogen ions are produced by the muscles and

get in the way of the muscles ability to contract. Another reason fatigue sets in so quickly is has to do

with the size of the muscle and how often it is used. Since the muscles in your fingers are not used as

often as other muscles for an extended period of time, they are more likely to become fatigued quickly

when put under stress. This can account for the obvious level of fatigue among the participants.

In regards to the comparison of hand position and grip strength, the neutral hand position was

proven to be stronger than the other positions. This is due to the length-tension relationship. There is an

optimal length a muscle can have where it can exert the most force. This is because the actin and the

myosin have an optimal amount they can overlap before it interferes with the strength of the muscle. For

example, if the muscle is extended too much, there is not enough overlap to start the contraction of the

muscle because the globular heads cannot reach the actin to bind to it and start the contraction. Also, if the
muscle is too contracted there is nowhere for the myosin to bind to because the majority of the muscle is

already contracted. This is why it is harder to start a bicep curl and why you cannot go any further at the

top of the contraction. It is more difficult to start the contraction when your arm is fully extended because

there are not as many globular heads to attach to the actin. At the end of the contraction, it is hard to

produce a greater amount of force because the muscle is already fully contracted and has no other room to

contract any further.

In all the experiments done in this lab, the subjects were comparable to the standardized

norms. For the hand position on grip strength it was hypothesized that the neutral grip would produce

the most force because of the amount of globular heads that are available to attach to the actin in the

muscle when contracting. Some factors that can contribute to muscular strength in general are the size of

the muscle and how trained you are. If a person consistently trains their body to produce force, that

person will be able to produce more force than someone who does not train. Just like muscular strength,

muscle fatigue could also be affected by the amount of training a person has. Since muscular strength and

muscular endurance come from two different energy systems (ATP-phosphocreatine or oxidative),

performance of muscular strength and muscular endurance depends on how well a person trains each

system.

DIRECTIVE QUESTION

Multiple sclerosis is a type of progressive central nervous system disease. It is characterized by

exacerbations and remissions of widespread, varied neurological dysfunction (Meissner, 1994). Many

people do not know the exact cause of this disease, however some theories include a slow-acting viral

infection, an autoimmune response to the nervous system, or an allergic response to an infectious agent.

The disease causes spasticity in the muscle. Spasticity happens because there is an imbalance in the

electrical signals coming from the brain and spinal cord. Often times, multiple sclerosis has damaged

these nerve; the unevenness makes your muscles contract on their own and makes them tense. Treating
multiple sclerosis are to repair the neurological deficits so a patient can resume a normal life. Other goals

include keeping them as mobile as possible and keep them leading a normal life. There are certain drugs

and treatment plans that could help alleviate some stress on the patient. One treatment plan is having a

daily routine to maintain optimal functioning. However, the treatment plan depends on the severity of the

disease and the patients symptoms.

References
Arazi, H., Rahmati, S., Zaheri, s. (2013). The effect of two sequence patterns in resistance training on

strength, muscular endurance and circumference in novice male atheltes. Croatian Sports

Medicine Journal. 287-13.

Meissner, J. E. (1994). Caring for patients with MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS. Nursing, 24(8), 60-61.

Serpeloni Cyrino, E., Pereira da Silva, d. R., Grizzo Cucato, G., Casonatto, J., Avelar, A., de Costa

Trinde, M. C., & Amarante do Nascimento, M. (2013). Comparison between two motor tests used

for muscular strength/endurance analysis in Young women. Brazilian Journal Of

Kineanthropometry & Human Performance, 15(3), 315-325.

ABSTRACTS

1. This study investigated the effects of two sequence patterns in resistance training. A sequence push with pull
exercise (SPS /PL) and an alternative push with pull exercise (APS/PL) were employed to study their effects
on strength in large and small muscle group. For this purpose, 24 healthy male athletes were recruited to
participate in this study. Subjects (age 20.45 1.99 years; height 173 3.87 cm; Body fat 14.54 2.52%) had a
history of at least 3 to 6 months resistance training. The subjects were randomly divided into 3 groups; a control
group (n=8), and two resistance training groups: a group using the sequence push with pull exercise pattern (n=8);
and a group using the alternative push with pull exercises pattern (n=8). The subjects trained for 10 weeks with
similar volume as the first two weeks with 60% 1RM (12 repetitions) that were terminated by the fifth two weeks
with 80% 1RM (8 repetitions). 3 sessions per week consisted of 6 exercises leg extension, leg curl, rowing, bench
press, biceps curl, and triceps extension. Before and after 10 weeks muscular endurance and strengthwere
measured. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). When appropriate, Scheffe post hoc test
comparisons were used to determine pair wise differences. Significance in this study was set at (P < 0.05). The
results did not indicate any significant differences between the two training groups in strength and endurance on
upper and lower body muscles. Also, there were no significant differences in weight, arm and thigh circumference
(p 0.05). Only differences were significant for biceps endurance and triceps endurance (P < 0.05). So, it can be
concluded that both the training patterns cause to increase strength in sequence push with pull exercise and
alternative push with pull exercises. However, probably alternative push with pull exercise is more appropriate
than sequence push with pull exercises for increasingmuscular endurance in biceps and triceps. ABSTRACT
FROM AUTHOR
2. Focuses on the care of patients with multiple sclerosis. Definition of multiple sclerosis; Common complications;
Signs and symptoms; Treatment; Interventions.

3. The aim of this study was to compare motor performance in modified pull-up (MPU) and flexed knee push-up
(FKPU) tests in young women. Thirty-five apparently healthy women (20.12.2 years) were submitted to each one
of the tests at an interval of 48 hours in a random balanced design. Most individuals performed between 0 and 10
repetitions (86%) of the MPU test, and approximately 17% did not perform even one repetitions. On the other
hand, the highest prevalence of outcomes for the FKPU test was between 16 and 35 repetitions (71%). The
Wilcoxon test identified statistically significant differences (p<0.01) on motor performance in the tests analyzed
(FKPU > MPU). A moderate agreement (kappa =0.40) was found between the performance in both tests. Negative
correlations of low magnitude (r=-0.23 to 0.46) were found between morphological variables (body weight,
height, fat mass, and lean body mass) and motor performance in both tests. The results suggest that the FKPU test
is presented as a better indicator of muscular endurance levels, whereas the MPU test seems to better
discriminate muscularstrength in young women. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR