Discussion

    

    Important Findings

    Athletes are used to having to make quicker decisions in games so it was expected that they would be able to answer math questions more accurately than non-athletes.  However, this study showed that there was no significance between athletes and cognitive tests.  The study did show a large significance between being and athlete and the recovery heart rate.  These results are not what we expected and could be due to a small sample size.  

    Strengths and Limitations 

    Strengths of the study included a moveable setup.  The Apple Watch, electronic blood pressure monitor, laptop and step-up block allowed the study to be performed anywhere at anytime.  This allowed us to accommodate many athlete schedules.  A standard and randomized math test was used allowing the individual participants score to be analyzed before and after performing step-ups.  
    The study had to be performed in three weeks, putting a time constraint on the number of participants that could be used in the study.  As a result, 18 participants were used.  In the future, a larger sample size would be needed to obtain more accurate data and significance.  The testing conditions were not ideal as the study was performed in the lab and in the gym where there were numerous people, allowing for the participants to be easily distracted.  Ideally, the study would take place in a quiet room with just the participants and the researchers.  Furthermore, the study consisted of only females, which could introduce variability.  Some females were in season while others were out of season, which could affect the math score of each participant as they may be tired from games and busy schedules.  The exercise was only performed for two minutes and should be performed longer to get more accurate results.  In the future, a memory test should be used for a cognitive task and not math facts.  

Conclusion

    Ultimately, the data as a whole showed .  There is currently little literature on the effects of cognitive tasks between athletes, therefore this study is a significant contribution to the literature.