Diligence in the Lab
Author: Kristin Garner | Major: Exercise Science
My name is Kristin Garner, and I am a senior Exercise Science major in the College of Education and Health Professions. I am an honors student working on my thesis under Dr. Brendon McDermott in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation. This fall 2021 semester is my second semester of research, but after having endless setbacks, we were able to complete data collection on the first cohort of participants.
This study examines the effect of waters with anti-inflammatory capabilities (WAC) on muscle soreness and inflammation. Exercise has been shown to improve many aspects of health and fitness, from disease prevention to weight management to better quality of life and many more. However, most individuals who begin an exercise program deal with muscle fatigue and soreness following the first few sessions. This can be a major detriment to exercise adherence, so this research could potentially offer a simple method for reducing the painful side effects of exercise. If the WAC beverage shows that it can reduce inflammation, muscle fatigue, and muscle soreness, this could allow people to begin exercise programs and stick with them so that they can reap the benefits that exercise has to offer.
Dr. McDermott and I met in the fall of 2020 when I was just finding out about my early graduation. My academic advisor had mentioned that I need to promptly find a mentor for my thesis project in order to maintain my honors status, so I reached out to Dr. McDermott. He was more than happy to let me work with him, and he very excited to bring me onto his team and guide me through the realm of research. In deciding a research topic, we discussed several studies he was currently working on in his lab. I instantly wanted to choose the WAC study because of the major health outcomes that could result from it, and it was the most relatable as someone who has always dealt with muscle soreness.
As an exercise science major, I have learned a plethora of information about muscle physiology and adaptations to exercise, but this working on this study has taught me more about the “human” side of exercise. I had read numerous articles about inflammatory markers and what current research has found about muscle adaptations, but I getting to work with the participants has opened my eyes more to what a person feels when they exercise. This has also played a role in what data we collected, in that we decided to add more questionnaires for participants to document how energized or motivated they felt, how much sleep they get, and if this influences how they report their muscular symptoms following the exercise program.
In addition, I have learned a lot about myself this semester. There is so much that goes into research besides just writing a paper. I helped screw bottle caps on water bottles with our beverage in it, learned how to centrifuge blood and separate the plasma, labeled each vial for each plasma sample, passed out boxes of our beverage to participants, and countless other tasks to help carry out the study. It isn’t always glamorous, but I learned that every little detail and task matters when it comes to research to ensure that everything runs smoothly. My mentor and his Ph.D. student, Aidan, guided me through every step of the process, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have them in my first research experience.
For this study, our next steps are to send all blood samples to a lab that will process them. From there, we will be able to get direct counts of inflammatory markers and begin analyzing the data. We will also begin a few more cohorts so that we end up with at least 40 participants for the study. At the end of next semester, we should have enough data to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the WAC beverage and publish the findings. As for me, next semester will be my final semester of my undergraduate degree, and I look forward for to all the experiences and opportunities that await.