Sample Final Exam worth 30% of total assessment
INSTRUCTIONS
This paper has two questions worth a total of 100 Marks. Attempt ALL questions.
This paper contains the questions and the sources needed to answer the questions.
QUESTION 1 (30 marks)
Write a text summary of the results shown in Figure 1 and outline the main conclusions. (250 words +/- 10%) (30 marks)
QUESTION 2 (70 marks)
Discuss, compare and contrast the experimental results in Figure 1 with the information and evidence from the three excerpts provided and include in-text reference citations in APA format for these three. Do not use other references. Write a conclusion in your last paragraph. (500 words +/- 10%, not including the reference list.) (60 marks)
Include the reference list in APA Author – Date style format at the end of the file. (10 marks)
For QUESTION 1
Aim: To investigate the effect of different forms of 100 mg caffeine supplements, tablet, chewing gum or mouth rinse to change the perceived level of exertion in regular runners.
Method:
Subjects
Twelve healthy, regular runners (average age 23, average weight 65kg) were recruited to the study with informed consent and medical ethics approval. Subjects had not taken medications, tobacco or nutritional supplements in the three weeks prior to the start of the study. This study included a single group repeated measures design, each subject was tested in each of the experimental conditions. Seven days were allowed between each of the testing sessions. Participants were asked to abstain from any hard exercise during the 72 hours before each of the three main testing sessions.
Caffeine Supplementation
Participants ingested 100mg caffeine either in a tablet, chewing gum, mouth rinse or control tablet containing no caffeine one hour before and immediately prior to the start of the test.
Beep Test
Subject’s athletic fitness was challenged with the Beep test. This was done to push subjects to a high level of exertion. The Beep test is performed by running between two markers placed 20 meters apart, at an increasing pace as indicated by the beeps. The test starts with a speed of 8.5 km/h and increases every level thereafter by 0.5 km/h. The test ends when subjects fail to reach the opposite marker for two consecutive beeps. The subject’s final score is the last level completed before missing a beep.
Rating of perceived exertion (RPE.)
Subjects reported exertional ratings at the end of each test using the Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale. This measures a person’s perception of their effort and exertion. The RPE scale ranges from six (no exertion) to 20 (extremely hard).
Data Analysis
Averages and standard deviations were calculated for all subjects self-reported RPE values for each of the four tests.
Figure 1: Mean Rate of Perceived Exertion by runners undertaking the Beep test with different 100mg caffeine supplements
For QUESTION 2
Excerpt 1
Author/s: Wickham, K.A. and Spriet, L.L.
Article Title: Administration of Caffeine in Alternate Forms
Journal Title: Sports Medicine
Year Published: 2018
Volume Number:48
Issue Number:
Page Numbers: 79–91
DOI: 10.1007/s40279-017-0848-2
URL: https://doi:10.1007/s40279-017-0848-2
Caffeine is a socially acceptable drug that has been used as an ergogenic aid or performance enhancer in athletic circles. It is a currently legal method of enhancing performance in training sessions and athletic competitions as it does not appear on the World Anti- Doping Agency’s banned or restricted substances list.
The traditional form of caffeine administration in research and athletic settings has been to ingest tablets or capsules along with water or to drink coffee. Caffeine can also be delivered in other ways including chewing gum, bars, gels, mouth rinses, energy drinks and aerosols.
Caffeinated chewing gum is absorbed quicker through the buccal mucosa compared with capsule delivery and absorption in the gut, although total caffeine absorption over time is not different. Delivering caffeine in chewing gum improved endurance cycling performance, and there is limited evidence that repeated sprint cycling, and power production are improved.
The effects of caffeine mouth rinsing on repeated sprint cycling performance in 12 recreationally active males showed that short-duration, high-intensity, repeated sprinting is improved with caffeine mouth rinsing in normal and energy-depleted cyclists. Caffeine mouth rinsing has not been shown to have significant effects on cognitive performance. While energy drinks are not generally designed for use during sporting activities, they are used before, during and after physical activity. Studies with caffeinated energy drinks have generally not examined the individual effects of caffeine on performance, making conclusions about this form of caffeine delivery impossible.
Caffeine nasal and mouth sprays are the latest alternative method of caffeine supplementation. The nasal epithelium is an extremely permeable membrane that allows molecules with a small mass to rapidly access the brain via the blood stream. Early studies suggest that the effects of a caffeine nasal spray on the brain may be too small to significantly improve exercise performance and/or the dose of caffeine may be too small to elicit an ergogenic effect.
Excerpt 2
Author/s: Guest, N.S., VanDusseldorp, T.A., Nelson, M.T., Grgic, J., Schoenfield, B.J., Jenkins, N.D.M., Arent, S.M., Antonio, J., Stout, J.R., Trexler, E.T., Smith-Ryan A.E., Goldstein, E.R., Kalman, D.S. and Campbell, B.I.
Article Title: International society of sports nutrition position stand: caffeine and exercise performance
Journal Title: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
Year Published: 2021
Volume Number:18
Issue Number:1
Page Numbers: 1-37
DOI: https://10.1186/s12970-020-00383-4
URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-020-00383-4
Caffeine is the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive substance and naturally occurs in dozens of plant species, including coffee, tea and cocoa. Caffeine is ingested most frequently in the form of a beverage such as coffee, soft drinks and tea, although the consumption of many beverages, such as energy drinks, has been on a rise in the past two decades. Caffeine has become ubiquitous in the sporting world, where there is keen interest in better understanding the impact of caffeine on various types of exercise performance.
Supplementation with caffeine has been shown to enhance aspects of exercise performance in many studies. Small to moderate benefits of caffeine use include, muscular endurance, movement velocity and muscular strength, sprinting, jumping, and throwing performance, as well as of aerobic and anaerobic sport-specific actions. Aerobic endurance appears to be the form of exercise with the most consistent benefits from caffeine use, although its effects differ between individuals. Caffeine has consistently been shown to improve exercise performance when consumed in doses of 3–6 mg/ kg body mass. Minimal effective doses of caffeine currently remain unclear, but they may be as low as 2 mg/kg body mass. Very high doses of caffeine (9 mg/kg) are associated with a high incidence of side-effects and do not seem to be required to elicit an ergogenic effect. The most commonly used timing of caffeine supplementation is 60 min pre-exercise. Optimal timing of caffeine ingestion likely depends on the source of caffeine. For example, as compared to caffeine capsules, caffeine chewing gums may require a shorter waiting time from consumption to the start of the exercise session. The rate of consumption, temperature, and source (coffee vs. energy drink) may be associated with slight differences in pharmacokinetic activity.
Inter-individual differences in sport and exercise performance as well as adverse effects on sleep or feelings of anxiety following caffeine ingestion may be attributed to genetic variation associated with caffeine metabolism, and physical and psychological response. Alternative sources of caffeine such as caffeinated chewing gum, mouth rinses, energy gels and chews have been shown to improve performance, primarily in aerobic exercise. Energy drinks and pre-workout supplements containing caffeine have been demonstrated to enhance both anaerobic and aerobic performance. Anti-doping rules apply to most sports, leading to a renewed interest in the use of caffeine by athletes. The International Olympic Committee continues to recognize that caffeine is frequently used by athletes because of its reported performance-enhancing or ergogenic effects.
Excerpt 3
Author/s: Doherty, M., Smith, P.M., Hughes, M.G and Davison, R.
Article Title: Caffeine lowers perceptual response and increases power output during high-intensity cycling
Journal Title: Journal of Sports Sciences
Year Published: 2004
Volume Number:22
Page Numbers: 637-643.
Caffeine has been one of the most widely studied ergogenic aids by sport scientists. During this time, there has been an almost unequivocal support for the beneficial effects of oral caffeine ingestion (3–9 mg per kg) on prolonged submaximal exercise.
The main finding from this study was that after the ingestion of caffeine (5mg.kg-1) cyclists’ power output during the final 1 minute of a 3 minute test was increased by approximately 45 W compared to controls who did not consume caffeine.
Research has shown that exercise to exhaustion during cycling and running, lasting approximately 105– 220 s, can be improved by as much as 8–15% following caffeine ingestion. A possible explanation for the enhanced power output in the present study was the reduction in ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). During the 1-min all-out effort where a significant improvement in performance was demonstrated, the participants with caffeine may have been able to maintain higher motor unit activation and/or were willing to better tolerate the discomfort associated with short-term high- intensity exercise.
Many endurance-based caffeine studies have observed a reduction in RPE at the same standardized exercise intensity following caffeine ingestion. This study provides further evidence that caffeine’s ergogenic effect during short-term high-intensity exercise may also manifest itself via a dampened perceptual response.
Studies have suggested that the reduction in exercise RPE (or the increase in work accomplished at the same RPE) following caffeine ingestion could be caused by a decrease in the neuronal activation threshold of motor neurons and/or alterations in muscle contraction force. In addition, any explanation of caffeine’s attenuation of the perceptual response to exercise should not discount its analgesic properties.
In conclusion, this study has provided evidence that a moderate amount of oral caffeine can have an ergogenic effect during the last minute of a cycle test in trained participants. The improvement in performance may be related to a reduction in RPE.