The effects of dextro-amphetamine sulphate on mice when used during the training period for a sustained swimming performance

In light of the review of the literature and the theoretical considerations, the present study will investigate whether amphetamines will affect an endurance type of performance. Stated as a formal hypothesis: 1. Subjects, under the influence of amphetamines, will perform for a greater length of time in a single bout of exercise requiring endurance than will controls. As pointed out in the review of the literature, no studies were found which investigated the effect of amphetamines used during a training period preceeding an endurance performance. The same reasoning for the improvement of a single performance presented in the theoretical consideration section can be extended to a training period situation. It would be logical to expect that an individual taking amphetamine would be less susceptible to fatigue and thus be able to perform under a greater stress during each training session. This greater stress would thus result in a greater physiological adaptation and thus superior endurance performance at the end of the training period as compared to controls who trained without the drug. Stated formally this is the second a priori hypothesis: 2. subjects using amphetamines during the period of training for an endurance task will perform for a greater length of time on the task at the end of the training period than controls, In accordance with the theoretical considerations it would seem reasonable to assume that the performance of subjects injected with a physiologically optimal dosage of amphetamine during the training period would exceed the performance of an experimental group injected with less than a physiologically optimal dosage of the drug. Stated formally this is the third a priori hypothesis: 3. experimental subjects receiving a physiologically optimal dosage of amphetamine during the training period will perform for a greater length of time on a final all-out endurance task than will the experimental subjects who receive 1/2 optimal dosage of the drug during the training period.