Exercise affects all people differently, specifically a person’s heart rate and blood pressure. After exercising your heart rate should increase and your blood pressure should decrease (Blood Pressure Association, 2008). The purpose of this lab was to determine which level of exercise would have the greatest impact on affected pulse and blood pressure. In this lab we tested how exercise affected heart rate by testing a random group of people with different body types and exercise levels to see how different types of exercise would affect their pulse and blood pressure.
We had 11 subjects randomly placed into four different groups. Group 1 had to do a slow easy exercise, group 2 did a fast easy exercise, and group 3 did a slow hard exercise while group 4 did a fast and hard exercise. My hypothesis is that group 4 would have the greatest increase in heart rate and the biggest difference in blood pressure. I think this because the more you exercise the more your heart needs to pump to allow for more gas exchange because your body is creating CO_2 at a faster rate therefore needing to get it out faster and furthermore needing more?
O? _2. For our experiment we had 11 subjects placed at random in four different groups, each with a different level of exercise. First, we had our subjects fill out a survey asking for age, gender, height using a measuring tape if needed, weight using a scale if needed, if and what they ate for breakfast, how often they exercise and if yes then what. We then took the pulse of each subject using a timer set for 30 seconds to get the resting pulse. At random, we chose one subject from each group to measure blood pressure using a blood pressure gauge.
After the initial data was gathered we had the groups perform the exercises. Group 1 did jumping jacks at 42 bpm for 1 minute while group 2 also did jumping jacks but at 84 bpm for 1 minute. Group 3 had to go up and down stairs at 72 bpm for 1 minute while Group 4 also went up and down stairs but at 144 bpm also for a minute. We had one person clapping the beat using an online metronome while the other had a timer. After the groups performed their exercise we recorded the participants pulse post exercise and took the blood pressure of the participants that had their blood pressure taken before the exercise.
This graph shows the participants resting pulse compared to the pulse taken after exercising. This graph shows group 1 (in red), is consistent in pulse before and after exercising. Group 2 (in yellow) shows scattered results with every persons before and after pulses being different. While group 3 (in green) had a consistent increase in heart even though each person started with a different pulse. Group 4 (in blue) was similar to group 3 but had a greater increase in pulse after the exercise. This graph shows the increase in breathing from before exercising to after.
Group 1 (in red) shows little increase in breathing between -1 and 3, while group 2 (in yellow) shows the widest range of increases in pulse between 2 and 23. Group 3 (in green) shows an increase in pulse between the 11 and 20 range and group 4 (in blue) has the highest increase in pulse at 24 and 27. It also compares each individual’s level of exercise to their increase in pulse. The data shows that group 4 had the greatest increase in pulse than any other group. While group 1 had the lowest increase in pulse than any other group.
The average in change in pulse for group 1 was 0. 66, for group 2 it was 12. 6, for group 3 it was 14. 66 and group 4 was 25. 5. This is what was expected from this experiment because the harder you work out the greater increase in heart rate. Group 1 had the easiest and slowest exercise and the smallest difference in pulse, while group 4 who did the hardest fastest workout had the largest increase in pulse. The data also shows a correlation between gender and heart rate. On average males had a higher resting rate than females specifically in group 2 and 3. Individuals 4, 7 and 8, all female, had a lower resting pulse then individuals 5, 6 and 9, who were all male.
This trend was reversed in group 1 because the males, individuals 2 and 3, were lower than the female, individual 1. In group 4 this trend is nonexistent because individuals 10 and 11 were both girls. With our data there was no correlation between blood pressure and the level of exercise the individual did. There was no consistent increase in blood pressure as the exercise got more intense. The results were very random within the group therefore is not connected to level of exercise in this lab.
Although we were looking at what level of exercise affected pulse and blood pressure, ur data showed a relationship between exercise levels of the individual and an increase in heart rate. The greatest variety of data came from group 2. The lowest increase of pulse in the group was 2, from individual 4, and the highest was 23, from individual 5. This is because individual 4 was more fit then individual 5 doing 10-15 hours of exercise a week while individual 5 only did 0-2 hours of exercise a week. Individual 4 also ate breakfast that morning which increased their energy while individual 5 did not have breakfast.
It is because individual 4 worked out on a weekly basis and ate breakfast that their pulse was much lower than individual 5 who barley worked out and didn’t eat breakfast. In graph two Difference in Pulse Before and After Exercise and Number of Hours of Exercise per Week, there is a direct correlation between hours of exercise and the increase in pulse. The data showed that the more you worked out, the lower an increase in blood pressure. This is mainly seen in groups 1 and 2 for they were doing the easier exercises.
Individuals in group 1 all worked out for 10+ hours a week and all had a very low increase in heart rate. While group 2 clearly showed that with more exercise there is a lower increase in heart rate. In group 3, individuals 7 and 8 worked out 3-6 hours a week while individual 9 did not work out and had the highest increase in heart rate. In group 4 individual 10 worked out for 15+ hours a week and still had a higher increase in blood pressure then individual 11, who did not work out. Individual 10 also had breakfast and individual 11 did not, so it wasn’t energy levels that caused this uncorrelated data.
My hypothesis that group 4 would have the greatest increase in heart rate and the biggest difference in blood pressure was somewhat confirmed true. It was confirmed that group 4 did have the greatest increase in heart rate but there was no correlation between the data to prove that group 4 had the biggest difference in blood pressure. To further our data we would look deeper into the correlation between the fitness level of the participants and the difference in their heart rate. For some individuals in our data exercise affected their heart rate, but not as much for others.
This is seen in group 4, where individual 10 worked out and still had a higher difference in heart rate then individual 11. Some errors that could have occurred to result in this data could’ve been individual 11 not following the claps to know when to take another step and fell behind causing their heart rate to not increase as much. Another error that could have occurred is that the pulse was counted incorrectly and the counter missed beats, or that the heart rate was taken too long after the initial exercise that the pulse was able to slow down with the individual resting.
If this experiment was to be repeated, a larger sample size of people would make for more precise data. Another thing would be to evenly divide the groups based on gender, height, weight, and amount of exercise, as this would allow for more average data and make it easier to find trends within the data because the data would be consistent. As well, having the exercises for a longer time frame would make it easier to find the trend between heart rate and length of exercise. Also, learning how to take blood pressure properly to get proper data on blood pressure would improve the data regarding a connection between exercise and blood pressure.
This lab relates to the real world because it shows a trend between exercise and heart rate as well as how higher fitness levels lowers your heart rate after exercising. This lab could be used for future experiments on a larger scale to see trends connecting heart rate to different levels of exercise. A similar study was done that connected physical activity to coronary heart disease where they had 3328 participants (Rennie, et al. , 2003). They recorded the heart rate and heart rate variability while resting and compared it to the amount of exercise the individual did (Rennie, et al. , 2003).
They found that participants had a higher heart rate variability and a lower heart rate when they exercised moderately and vigorously (Rennie, et al. , 2003). This is connected to our lab because it also connects heart rate and physical exercise. When you exercise your heart needs to pump blood faster to allow for CO_2 to leave the body quicker and O_2 to enter the body quicker. This is why your heart rate increases the more you exercise compared to when you are resting. Your body is creating more CO_2 because it is making more energy to use because it is using more energy when you exercise so it is creating more waste as a result.
Your body also needs more O_2 to be able to create the energy that is required. In conclusion group 4 had the greatest increase in heart rate, while group 1 had the lowest. This was tested through each participant getting their resting heart rate and then performing a specific exercise and then after taking their heart rate again. We did this lab to find a correlation between heart rate and blood pressure and the level of exercise an individual does. As a result we discovered that exercises affects everyone’s heart rate differently.
