Nycthemeral Variation in Intra-aural Temperature and Attention/Memory but not in Physical Vigor of Assiduous Members of a Fitness Club

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a daily (nycthemeral) variation of physical vigor in regular members of a fitness club. Physical vigor was quantified as the maximal number of repetitions of movements in a strength-training machine. For comparative purposes, intra-aural temperature and performance in an attention/memory task were also evaluated. All three variables were measured at 5 different times of day on different days in 25 members of a fitness club. Intra-aural temperature and attention/memory, but not physical vigor, were found to show significant variation across the five times of day. Analysis of the statistical power of the experimental design indicated that the lack of significant nycthemeral variation in physical vigor was due to the small effect size of the variable rather than to low statistical power.