2.10. Statistical Analysis
fatigue
SECONDARY
All analyses were completed using Microsoft Excel (v2307) and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (v23; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). For all dependent measures, descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) were calculated. Data were first analyzed for normality, skewness, and kurtosis. All non-normal data were log-transformed prior to analysis. For all statistical tests, data were considered statistically significant when the probability of type I error was 0.05 or less. The primary endpoints for this analysis include the peak power, mean power, and total work completed throughout the sprint cycling protocol, while secondary outcomes were the RPE, fatigue VAS, lactate, and other blood gas parameters. Three-way (visit × group × sprint) mixed-factorial ANOVAs were first performed on peak power, mean power, and total work to rule out any confounding influence of performance differences prior to supplementation. If no three-way interaction was observed, two-way mixed factorial ANOVAs (group × sprint) were computed using just the post-supplementation data. A similar approach was used for the RPE, fatigue VAS, lactate, and all blood gas parameters wherein separate 2 × 2 mixed-factorial ANOVAs were completed first using all pre-supplementation values to evaluate if any between-group differences were evidenced prior to supplementation. If no significant group × time interactions were observed, then only the post-supplementation values were used for all subsequent statistical analyses and are reported throughout this paper. In all instances, when a significant group, treatment and/or interaction alpha was observed, Least Significant Difference (LSD) post hoc analyses were performed to determine where significance was obtained. When the sphericity assumption was violated, the Huynh–Feldt correction was used for all statistical determination when eta exceeded 0.75, and the Greenhouse–Geiser correction was used when eta was less than 0.60. Area under the curve values were computed using Microsoft Excel for the total work completed during all sprints.