Undergraduate Research team complete 2 research studies
Published September 12, 2023
The undergraduate research team of 15 students within Dr. Glass's lab completed 2 research studies, one of which was a student-initiated project. That study, initiated pre-COVID by Steven Zanders (class of 2020) was titles “Effects of pre-exercise warmup on muscle activation and jump power.” We specifically were studying the impact of a vibrating foam roller (a new device) compared to a standard foam roller as well as stretching. The study took 3 years to be completed due to COVID shutdowns, but data are now collected, and the students are in the process of computation of all data. The second study was a 2-week training study, examining the effects of instability training on improvements in muscle activation stability during a challenge. Subjects trained for 2 weeks with a “slosh tube”, a water-filled training device, while control subjects trained with just a tube (no water). Results showed significant improvements in stability after just 6 sessions of training. Students designed all of the treatment protocols and a method of accurately measuring jump height using high speed cameras. Future studies will use training devices currently in design in the lab for weaker and more clinical populations.