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LAB
How Does Fatigue Affect Muscle Performance?

Problem
A condition known as muscle fatigue occurs when certain waste products of
muscle activity (lactic acid) build up in the cells. Until these waste chemicals
are removed, the fatigue will continue.

Do the Following Activity:

Hold a spring-type clothespin between your thumb and index finger. Pinch the
ends together completely (until the two ends touch) and release them. Do this
as rapidly as possible for one minute. Record the number of times you could
squeeze the clothespin:
Hypothesis: Make a prediction of how many squeezes youll be able to do.
In this experiment, I predict that I will be able to squeeze the clothespin 20
times in one minute. I made this prediction because it looks easy to just
squeeze the clothespin.

Data/Results:

Trial # # of Squeezes in 1 minute

1 79
2 100
3 118
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4 120
Average 104.21

Conclusion: (Analyze your data and summarize your findings. Sate how the
results relate to the hypothesis.)

In this experiment we seen how many times can you squeeze the clothespin in
one minute. My hypothesis was wrong because i got to 120 but it's just i went
so fast. The boys average was 140.013 the girls got 155.3 .

Reflection Questions:

1. Could you do as many in a minute the fourth time as you could do the first
time? Provide a biological explanation for these results.

Yes because the first one i got was 79. The last one was 120.

2. What does an increased pulse rate indicate about the heart rate and flow
of blood in someones body?
It increases as the pulse rate your heart will increases.
It decreases as the pulse rate it will make heart slow down a bit.

3. If you want to increase your clothespin-squeezing rate, would you suggest

exercising or resting before you did it? Explain why you think your choice
is correct.
I would exercise before doing it then it will make
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4. What do you think would happen to the number of squeezes if you were
asked to do a 5th trial for clothespin squeezing?

I would get more than last time. I would go faster so we can beat the girls.

Boys (Average) Girls (Average)

140.013 155.3

5. What effect did muscle fatigue have on the action of your hand muscles?
That you had to keep opening your fingers just to get it right. Then had
to do it fast. Every time you did a trial you had to do it fast.