State your hypothesis pertaining to the topic for the week:
Untrained Native American male runners aged 20-25 years old will experience quicker relief from muscle pain following a 4 mile run after using cooling therapy (20 minute cycles of cooling for 2 hours) than runners aged 20-25 years old that do not use cooling methods.
Cite the information for the basis for your hypothesis.
Heat and ice have both been shown to be highly effective in the treatment of muscle soreness, stretching, injury and pain (The Centers for Advanced Orthopedics, 2016). However, they both serve different purposes. It has been shown that 20 minutes on and off cycles of heat application to sites of pain and soreness caused by chronic overstretching or use can be highly effective at reducing pain; likewise, ice is also highly effective at reducing pain but is most effective after an injury occurs, such as after a sprain or strain or muscle injury to immediately reduce inflammation (The Centers for Advanced Orthopedics, 2016).
Identify your control group and your experimental group-make sure you are specific on who/what is in your groups. Example: age/sex/ethnic groups/etc.
Control group: Untrained Native American male runners aged 20-25 years who will execute a 4 mile run with no post-exercise cooling therapy.
Experimental group: Untrained Native American male runners aged 20-25 years who will execute a 4 mile run with post-exercise cooling therapy for 2 hours and adhering to 20 minute on, 20 minute off cooling cycles.
What are you testing with the two groups and how?
Both groups are being put through a long bout of endurance exercise (4 mile run) that will induce minor to moderate muscle pain in participants. The control group will not undergo any form of cooling therapy to reduce pain and the experimental group will be manipulated by way of cooling therapy post-run lasting 2 hours with a 20 minute on and 20 minute off cool-rest cycle. Individuals in both groups will be questioned using a 1-10 numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) to quantify the present level of pain.
What results would support your hypothesis?
The group that utilized post-exercise cooling therapy will have notably reduced NPRS ratings in comparison to their control group counterparts.
What results would disprove your hypothesis?
If the control group had similar NPRS ratings as the experiment group, indicating no effect from the cooling therapy.
OR
If the control group had lower NPRS ratings as the experiment group, indicating cooling therapy was counter productive to the recovery process.
If your hypothesis is disproven, how would you change it? What are your new control
Control group: Untrained Native American male runners aged 20-25 years who will execute a 4 mile run with no post-exercise heat therapy.
Experimental group: Untrained Native American male runners aged 20-25 years who will execute a 4 mile run with post-exercise heat therapy (heating pads near skin) for 2 hours and adhering to 20 minute on, 20 minute off heating cycles.
