Muscle Fatigue and Lactic Acid Lab Write-Up February 2, 2018

Muscle Fatigue and Lactic Acid Write-Up 

By Mariah Lopez

The conclusion of the Lactic Acid Lab was that  lactic acid that the muscle built up causes the number of squeezes done to the racquetball to decrease due to muscle fatigue. This occurred because of the high energy demand that we need to complete the task of squeezing a racquetball for 30 seconds. Lactic acid was then formed and built up in the muscle because of irregular rising requirement of energy and the insufficient supply of oxygen (02). The evidence shows that the in the initial trial the most squeezes occurred and in our case of number was an average of 28 squeezees on the first trial. As time progress, the built up of lactic acid caused muscle fatigue and over time the number of squeezes gradually decreases. By the end of the ten trials our average was 19 squeezes. This was a  vast difference from the initial number. The concluding graph also showed a gradual decay in squeezes as an average.  When you work your muscles a lot in a short amount of time, your muscles cannot get the oxygen they need for aerobic respiration. Instead, your muscles undergo anaerobic respiration and produce lactic acid. When the lactic acid builds up, you get a burning sensation followed by pain in that muscle. I knew that some type of fatigue would occur because the energy it took to squeeze the racquetball rapidly for 30 seconds with a 30 second break. It felt as if there was not enough energy required to complete the difficult task because, as time progressed my muscle became tired and the ball felt stronger.