2.5.1. Endurance Test

Treadmill running was conducted once a week for 2 weeks during the physical activity adaptation phase and thrice per week for 2 weeks during the physical activity phase. The prepared materials, including S. officinalis extract (10 or 50 mg/kg) or taurine (500 mg/kg), were orally administrated to the mice for 4 weeks (thrice per week). The endurance test was assessed after 2 h of fasting. The test was started at a speed of 10 m/min, and the speed was increased by 3 m/min every 3 min until the final speed of 25 m/min was reached. The mice were considered exhausted and scored according to the speed after 10 s, no longer following the treadmill speed. Furthermore, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 points were given according to the exhaustion times of 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, and 25 m/min. Consequently, 6 points were given if no exhaustion was noted.