Thirty recreationally active individuals, 16 males and 14 females, participated in the study to examine the effects of policosanol supplementation on reaction time, force production and the blood lipid profile. The subjects were matched based on height, weight. gender, current physical activity level and body fat percentage. The matched subjects where randomly assigned to either the policosanol or placebo group. Supplementation period lasted 8 weeks with reaction and decision time measurements taken at baseline, weeks 2, 4, 6 and 8. Force production was evaluated with the Cybex Dynamometer at speeds of 60, 120, 180 and 240 degrees/second at baseline, weeks 2, 4, 6 and 8. Blood was drawn and analyzed at baseline, weeks 4 and 8. A two way repeated analysis of variance was used to analyze differences between pre and post measurement at a significance level of p <_ .05. There were no significant changes in reaction ordecision time between groups. Force production significantly increased in both groups however, there was no significance between groups. The blood analysis demonstrated significant changes in total cholesterol and triglycerides. No differences were found in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or liver function measurements. It was concluded that further research in needed to examine the effects of reaction time in older individuals with possibly slower reaction times. The increase in force was due to a training effect and not from policosanol supplementation. However, future research with policosanol and strength needs to incorporate a training protocol. The trend observed with the blood parameters was concluded be a normalizing effect rather than a lowering effect. / School of Physical Education
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/187314 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Fleenor, Bradley S. |
| Contributors | Pearson, David R. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | viii, 66 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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