Looking for Thesis Ideas.

So the time has come to decide what to do my thesis on. For all the blokes out there this would be called a dissertation. I’ve already got some ideas, but I thought I’d run it past you guys to see if there is anything more exciting or whatever I haven’t though of.

I guess this is sort of like Bushy’s experiments thread, but my only limitations of research are no illegal/controlled substances (apparently ethics and fun don’t go together) and no muscle biopsies. I can do just about anything else scientifically imaginable.

However, I can use ergogenic aids, and in fact my major professor encourages it as this is his primary area of research. I going to try to get Modafinil to pass through the review board, but it might be tricky. There is plenty of research to deem it safe, but it might be a longshot. Anyway…

So… if you’re willing to throw out ideas that would be great! But they need to follow one simple rule of academia:

The research much progress science in some manner. This means I can’t do something that’s already been done, and the research must be applicable to real world applications. You wouldn’t think this would be hard, but some people just don’ get it.

Another thing, my field is exercise physiology. I can do anything imaginable within this field. It doesn’t have to be supplement/drug related, but if there are good ideas here that qualify I will consider them.

It can be something simple like training and blood pressure regulation in elderly adults, or something like caffeine supplementation and ratings of perceived exertion. Variables can include diet, training, age, whatever. Imagination. I don’t have one so I’m asking you guys for more interesting ideas.

Thanks in advance to those who will contribute. I’m thinking most won’t, but I’m throwing this out there anyway.

I see you’re in Germany. Did you know that Type 2 Myotonic Dystrophy is most prevalent in people with German ancestry?

Why not study the effects of ergogenic aids on muscle weakness or generalized weakness on myotonic dystrophy? Perhaps you are near a large Medical University hospital that can provide medical records and history of their patients who are willing to volunteer.

If it were me I would do something with one armed chinups!

How about determining beyond any doubt which is more effective:

Full body OR body part splits???

Inquiring minds want to know! 8^D


Seriously, it’s a tough question. I’ll think it over and help you out with some idea if I can. Good luck with whatever you choose.

[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
I see you’re in Germany. Did you know that Type 2 Myotonic Dystrophy is most prevalent in people with German ancestry?

Why not study the effects of ergogenic aids on muscle weakness or generalized weakness on myotonic dystrophy? Perhaps you are near a large Medical University hospital that can provide medical records and history of their patients who are willing to volunteer.[/quote]

This is very interesting. Thanks for the heads up. I do more with performance enhancement, but I will take this into consideration. I may be able to use this at some point.

[quote]InTheZone wrote:
I’ll give it some thought and try to come up with something, for what that’s worth bro…

          good for you btw...hard work pays off eh?

                 ToneBone[/quote]

Thanks. You’ve always got positive insight.

[quote]biggun7997 wrote:
If it were me I would do something with one armed chinups![/quote]

As said:

The research much progress science in some manner. This means I can’t do something that’s already been done, and the research must be applicable to real world applications. You wouldn’t think this would be hard, but some people just don’ get it.

The research would have to answer a question, something like “unilateral chinups vs. bilateral chinups for strength/muscle gain,” however the unilateral/bilateral thing has mostly been exhausted.

[quote]Schwarzenegger wrote:
Yo Momma wrote:
I see you’re in Germany. Did you know that Type 2 Myotonic Dystrophy is most prevalent in people with German ancestry?

Why not study the effects of ergogenic aids on muscle weakness or generalized weakness on myotonic dystrophy? Perhaps you are near a large Medical University hospital that can provide medical records and history of their patients who are willing to volunteer.

This is very interesting. Thanks for the heads up. I do more with performance enhancement, but I will take this into consideration. I may be able to use this at some point.[/quote]

Be sure to reference me as a co-author :^)

So I’m leaning towards testing the acute effects of Modafinil administration on football combine performances in trained college level football players under normal and sleep deprived conditions. I figure I’d do control, placebo, and Modafinil groups testing physical performance under normal and sleep deprived conditions.

I’m hoping the review board will accept the proposal, as Modafinil has been used in the past few years for athletic testing and has been proven quite safe, but they’re pretty strict about this sort of thing. Just throwing this out there. What do you guys think?

[quote]Schwarzenegger wrote:
I’ve already got some ideas, but I thought I’d run it past you guys to see if there is anything more exciting or whatever I haven’t though of.
[/quote]

Haha so you want us to give you the idea for a project to publish in a journal? For free? This must be a joke.

Maybe if you put up some of your ideas first so that we can know what you are thinking about doing? Then you would get feedback, which would probably be very helpful and make for a better discussion.

nevermind

modafinil? so what is the goal of the study then?

sounds like if the modafinil groups do better, it would just be added to the banned substances lists (if not there already). unless you’re a modafinil drug rep. trying to show its safety for athletes?

[quote]Rusty Barbell wrote:
nevermind

modafinil? so what is the goal of the study then?

sounds like if the modafinil groups do better, it would just be added to the banned substances lists (if not there already). unless you’re a modafinil drug rep. trying to show its safety for athletes?

[/quote]

The goal of the study would be the assess the impact of Modafinil on anaerobic performance in trained men. There are a couple studies on aerobic performance and general physiological responses to exercise, but nothing with anaerobic performance. I would throw in a sleep deprivation trial to assess the drug’s intended goal of promoting wakefulness. Plus there is a ton of research on the cognitive and mood enhancing effects of Modafinil, especially while sleep deprived, which can have an impact on the psychology of sport. My research wouldn’t focus on psychology (though it is a factor), though it may open the door to future studies.

There are a handful of other drugs being developed that work similarly to Modafinil (namely by Vanda Pharmaceuticals), but currently it is the only drug of its kind. It is banned by the WADA, NCAA, NFL, and USOC. I’m not sure about other US sports, but there are many countries worldwide that have lax supplement/drug use in sports. Regardless, it or similar drugs (once developed) will be used, and my research can be used to further psychostimulant research for military applications, which contributes most of the performance-based research on Modafinil.

All in all I’d say this topic is worth studying.

Hmmm… is this a Doctoral dissertation? Seem like since your here, you could have done something on steroid use in normal males or non-competitve bodybuilders. There is very scant infomation about AAS in the literature. I particpated in survey several months ago on steroid use. Good luck to you…

Schwarz,

Are you in medical school? What is field are you in?

[quote]Diana Bolann wrote:
Schwarz,

Are you in medical school? What is field are you in?[/quote]

Exercise physiology.

[quote]Rusty Barbell wrote:

Haha so you want us to give you the idea for a project to publish in a journal? For free? This must be a joke.
[/quote]

You are seriously mistaken about how research is done. It’s not like a successful business idea where you’re going to get rich. The process is basically just reviewing the literature and seeing what has been done, then seeing how to further knowledge through subsequent research.

If someone grabs up your idea and has done it already, just take the next step from what that guy found. It’s not rocket science and you can almost always find someone to fund the research. Simple enough.

I also wasn’t asking for specific ideas, but more for ideas that I could use to see what can be done with that topic.

[quote]Rusty Barbell wrote:
nevermind

modafinil? so what is the goal of the study then?

sounds like if the modafinil groups do better, it would just be added to the banned substances lists (if not there already). unless you’re a modafinil drug rep. trying to show its safety for athletes?

[/quote]

Didn’t see you posted again, but yeah. I guess I should read ahead.

[quote]Over40 wrote:
Hmmm… is this a Doctoral dissertation? Seem like since your here, you could have done something on steroid use in normal males or non-competitve bodybuilders. There is very scant infomation about AAS in the literature. I particpated in survey several months ago on steroid use. Good luck to you…[/quote]

Problems arise with finding specific populations to use, and anything I would do with AAS would likely produce complex results and require more people/resources than I have available.

I also need the research to apply to something useful. Finding out optimal dosing or whatever for athletic purposes certainly wouldn’t advance science in the way the review board would like. There are no beneficial applications to mankind or whatever they’re looking for.

I did get a sort of pre-approval for Modafinil use in my research, though I’ve got to show it’s safety (very easy to do) and it’s application to furthering science and human application. I’m going to have to use a more military angle, testing it’s anaerobic performance capabilities. Should be easy enough, but I’ve got to make it sound convincing.

Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of AAS studies outside of the medical realm because of university review boards. Now if I lived in the old Soviet Union or Nazi-era Germany I would have no problem, as that’s when most of the athletic-based research has been done.