Modifying NetLogo muscle development simulator for 3-day workout, 1-day rest cycle
Miles Gloekler
I'm working with the NetLogo muscle development simulator, which is part of the NetLogo library of simulations. My goal is to modify this simulator to reflect a common workout routine: 3 days of working out or lifting followed by 1 day of rest, and then repeat this cycle.
The original simulation runs on a continuous daily loop, factoring in variables like muscle fiber size, anabolic and catabolic hormones, and various activities that influence muscle growth. I would like to introduce a mechanism that divides this loop into a 4-day cycle, with exercises performed on the first three days and rest on the fourth day, and also (if possible) for it to automatically stop the simulation at 720 hours (1 month worth of simulation).
Here's the challenge: I have no prior coding experience, and while I have tried to read and partially understand the code, implementing this specific modification is quite daunting.
Could someone guide me on how to integrate this workout/rest cycle into the existing code? Any suggestions on where to start, what parts of the code to focus on, or even a snippet of code to demonstrate this concept would be immensely helpful.
I understand that the go procedure is where the main daily activities are executed, so I'm guessing this is where I should implement the changes. However, I'm not sure how to track the days and conditionally execute the workout and rest activities. The original code of the program is the following:
breed [ muscle-fibers muscle-fiber ]muscle-fibers-own [
fiber-size ;; different from built-in "size" because it uses different units
max-size
]
patches-own [
anabolic-hormone ;; muscle building hormone
catabolic-hormone ;; muscle breaking down hormone
]
globals [
muscle-mass ;; stores sum of muscle-fiber sizes
;; hormone bounds to ensure a realistic environment
anabolic-hormone-max
anabolic-hormone-min
catabolic-hormone-max
catabolic-hormone-min
;; the rate at which hormones from one fiber diffuse to others
hormone-diffuse-rate
]
to setup
clear-all
set-default-shape muscle-fibers "circle"
initialize-hormones
new-muscle-fibers
set muscle-mass sum [fiber-size] of muscle-fibers
reset-ticks
end
to initialize-hormones
;; constants chosen align the model time frame for muscle development
;; with realistic values
set hormone-diffuse-rate 0.75
ask patches [
set anabolic-hormone-max 200
set catabolic-hormone-max 250
set anabolic-hormone-min 50
set catabolic-hormone-min 52
set anabolic-hormone 50
set catabolic-hormone 52
]
regulate-hormones
end
to new-muscle-fibers
ask patches [
sprout-muscle-fibers 1 [
set max-size 4
;; create a normalized distribution of maximum muscle fiber sizes
;; with median dependent on % of slow twitch fibers.
repeat 20 [
if random-float 100 > %-slow-twitch-fibers [
set max-size max-size + 1
]
]
;; provide non-uniform starting sizes for varied results, everyone's different
set fiber-size (0.2 + random-float 0.4) * max-size
regulate-muscle-fibers
]
]
end
to go
;; note the use of the LOG primitive in the procedures called below
;; to simulate a natural system's tendency to adapt less and less
;; to each additional unit of some biological substance
perform-daily-activity
if lift? and (ticks mod days-between-workouts = 0)
[ lift-weights ]
sleep
regulate-hormones
develop-muscle
set muscle-mass sum [fiber-size] of muscle-fibers
tick
end
to perform-daily-activity
;; simulate hormonal effect of lifestyle
;; activities like watching TV and working
ask muscle-fibers [
set catabolic-hormone catabolic-hormone + 2.0 * (log fiber-size 10)
set anabolic-hormone anabolic-hormone + 2.5 * (log fiber-size 10)
]
end
to lift-weights
;; simulate hormonal effect of weight training
ask muscle-fibers [
if( random-float 1.0 < intensity / 100 * intensity / 100 ) [
set anabolic-hormone anabolic-hormone + (log fiber-size 10) * 55
set catabolic-hormone catabolic-hormone + (log fiber-size 10) * 44
]
]
end
to sleep
;; simulate hormonal effect of sleeping
ask patches [
set catabolic-hormone catabolic-hormone - 0.5 * (log catabolic-hormone 10) * hours-of-sleep
set anabolic-hormone anabolic-hormone - 0.48 * (log anabolic-hormone 10) * hours-of-sleep
]
end
to develop-muscle
ask muscle-fibers [
grow
regulate-muscle-fibers
]
end
to grow ;; turtle procedure
;; catabolic hormones must prepare the fibers for growth before the
;; anabolic hormones may add mass to the fibers
set fiber-size (fiber-size - 0.20 * (log catabolic-hormone 10))
set fiber-size (fiber-size + 0.20 * min (list (log anabolic-hormone 10)
(1.05 * log catabolic-hormone 10)))
end
to regulate-muscle-fibers ;;turtle procedure
;; simulate the body's natural limits on minimum and maximum fiber sizes
if (fiber-size < 1) [ set fiber-size 1 ]
if (fiber-size > max-size) [ set fiber-size max-size ]
set color scale-color red fiber-size (-0.5 * max-size) (3 * max-size)
;; base the visible size of the turtle on its fiber-size
set size max list 0.2 (min list 1 (fiber-size / 20))
end
to regulate-hormones ;;patch procedure
;; hormones spread to neighboring fibers
diffuse anabolic-hormone hormone-diffuse-rate
diffuse catabolic-hormone hormone-diffuse-rate
;; if there are to many or to few hormones in an area,
;; the body will try very hard to restore a balance
ask patches [
set anabolic-hormone min (list anabolic-hormone anabolic-hormone-max)
set anabolic-hormone max (list anabolic-hormone anabolic-hormone-min)
set catabolic-hormone min (list catabolic-hormone catabolic-hormone-max)
set catabolic-hormone max (list catabolic-hormone catabolic-hormone-min)
;;color patches based on hormone concentrations
set pcolor approximate-rgb ((catabolic-hormone / catabolic-hormone-max) * 255)
((anabolic-hormone / anabolic-hormone-max) * 255)
0
]
end
; Copyright 2002 Uri Wilensky.
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