Conclusions & Implications Effects of Mouthguards and Type of Mouthguard on Maximal Isometric Movements Such as The Seated Row Ryan Braich, Ravi Brar, Andrew Mckenna Douglas College – Sports Science Department It has been reported that wearing a mouthguard significantly increases strength and power because the act of jaw clenching can result in an ergogenic advantage for athletes (Cetin et al, 2009). The Jendrassik Maneuver is a prime example that jaw clenching can lead to an increase in the strength of reflexes when using remote voluntary contractions(Ebben et al, 2008). Introduction . Figure 7: Average Newtons for all participants for all conditions. Results Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate clenching vs. not clenching on a commercially available boil-and-bite performance mouthpiece and a traditional, boil-and-bite mouthpiece and the effects on measures of power and strength, specifically seated row peak force in comparison to no mouthpiece use in recreationally trained athletes. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the performance mouthguards will have greater positive effects on a maximal isometric contraction compared to no mouth guard and the boil and bite mouthgaurd. Purpose & Hypothesis Figure 5: Average Newtons for all participants for all conditions Condition Comparison P - Value No MG vs Cheap 0.96 No MG vs Performance 0.75 Cheap vs Performance 0.79 Method & Materials Figure 1: Overview of experimental design Figure 2: Warm up Protocol Figure 3: Boil and Bite Mouthguard Figure 4: Performance Mouthguard Participants: 16 males, age 20-27 yrs, height 5’8 – 6’4, weight 150 – 240 lbs Experimental Design: Participants attended the lab 1 time to complete all three conditions Minimum 5 minute rest in between trails (3) + conditions (3) Each condition was randomly selected Each trial = 3-5 seconds of seated row using maximal strength Conditions: No mouth-guard Boil and Bite Mouth-guard Performance Mouth-guard Figure 8: Protocol for the maximal isometric seated row movement Seated Row 3 Trials (Best was taken) 5 min rest to recover *** 3rd Condition 3 Trials (Best was taken) 5 min rest to recover *** Testing Day 5 min Warm Up on Bike Dynamic Stretching Fitting for mouth-guard or not 1st Condition Seated Row position 3 Trials (Best one was taken) 5 min rest to recover 2nd Condition Mouthguards were to be fitted during rest periods depending on next condition Figure 6: P – Values for all Conditions vs. each other (An insignificant value may have been the result of a low sample size and/or the experience level of the participants) Figure 9: Underarmour Armourbite Performance Mouthgaurds Discussion Research shows positive findings in anaerobic fitness centered on strength and power when using mouthgaurds (Dunn-Lewis et al, 2012). Previous studies were centered around competitive elite level athletes rather than the general public. Some of our subjects admitted to not being familiar with the machine where as some informed us they were. Leading us to collectively account the findings to various athletic ability that each recreational athlete tested displayed. We concluded that elite athletes or athletes who were familiar with the equipment would generate greater force. Further, with a small sample size (n=16) generalizations on findings was difficult to claim. There is a correlation between using different types of mouthguards for maximal isometric movements although the data is not significant. Although the information was insignificant it was evident that the average of all participants force production was higher when using a performance mouthguard. Further research is needed with elite level athletes or an increased number of participants to evaluate the significance of using mouthguards. This study was conducted to help athletes such as power lifters assess the need of a mouthguard to increase power and strength. Conclusions & Implications Equipment: Power lab 5.2 Bio Amplifier Force Transducer Fox 40 Master Mouthguard Underarmour Armourbite Guard Kettle (boiling water) Hydrogen Peroxide + Alcohol (cleaning) Stationary Bike (warmup) References Ebben, W. P., Flanagan, E. P., & Jensen, R. L. (2008). Jaw clenching results in concurrent activation potentiation during the countermovement jump. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 22(6), 1850-1854. Cetin, C., Keçeci, A. D., Erdoğan, A., & Baydar, M. L. (2009). Influence of custom‐made mouth guards on strength, speed and anaerobic performance of taekwondo athletes. Dental traumatology, 25(3), 272-276. Dunn-Lewis, C., Luk, H., Comstock, B. A., Szivak, T. K., Hooper, D. R., Kupchak, B. R., Watts, A. M., Putney, B. J., Hydren, J. R., Volek, J. S., Denegar, C. R., & Kraemer, W. J. (2012) The effects of a customized over-the-counter mouth guard on neuromuscular force power production in trained men and women. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 20, 1085-1093. Figure 9: Cleaning equipment used to disinfect mouthgaurds