Investigation into the effect of exercise on heart rate

Materials

• Fixed height step – to ensure continuity of step exercise
• Watch or clock with a second hand
• Metronome – to ensure continuity of exercise speed
• 3 volunteers to carry out procedures once each

Saftey Concerns

It should be ensured that

• All of the volunteers are fit enough to complete the test without risk to health i.e. that none of them suffers from asthma etc.
• Volunteers are wearing sensible footwear e.g. trainers
• The step is positioned safely i.e. that it is stable and on a level floor.

Test Procedure

Step Procedure

1. Set metronome to 120 clicks per minute.  Remaining parts of the procedure to be carried out one per metronome click during exercise period.  Thus, one cycle, step up and down, will take 2 seconds to complete.  
2. Place right foot completely onto step
3. Place left foot completely onto step next to right foot
4. Place right foot back onto floor.
5. Place left foot completely onto floor next to right foot.

Pulse Count Procedure

• Pulse checker to attempt to locate pulse on neck and wrist prior to start of test to establish which method is easiest and then to keep to that method for the remainder of the test.
• Pulse checker to count number of beats in 10 seconds and multiply by 6 (heart rate is number of beats per minute)

Investigation procedure

The following procedure should be repeated once each for 3 volunteers.

 

1. Volunteer to rest for 5 minutes.
2. Volunteer to stand for 1 minute – heart rate may change from sitting to standing.
3. Pulse checker to take pulse three times and calculate average for resting pulse value.
4. Step Exercise

1. Volunteer to perform 10 step procedures.
2. Pulse checker to count pulse rate and record in table.
3. Pulse checker to count and record pulse rate every 30 seconds until pulse returns to resting value.

5. Repeat Step exercise (part 3 above) for 20, 30, 40 steps

Results and Analysis

Table of results

Etc.

Graphs

In order to analyse data clearly, graphs will be plotted as follows:

• Graph type 1 – to show variations between volunteers

A single graph for each investigation (i.e. one graph for each of 10, 20, 30, 40 steps) with three lines plotted, one for each volunteer.

(note diagram is for illustration purposes only and is not representative of the expected outcomes)

e.g.

• Graph type 2 – to show variations between different amounts of exercise

A single graph for each volunteer showing a curve for each of the exercise amounts

(note diagram is for illustration purposes only and is not representative of the expected outcomes)

e.g.

Questions to consider

1. Does the difference between resting and maximum heart rate relate to the individual?
2. Does the time taken to return to resting heart rate relate to the individual?

Limitations and Possible Improvements

Data could be confirmed by repeating the tests for each student to correlate/validate results.

Method of exercise

• If a continuous method of exercise could be used, for example a treadmill, the effect of different levels of exertion could also be measured by setting different exercise rates, rather than quantities of exercise.  A continuous set of results could be taken over time with varying speeds of walking/running.

Method of data collection

• Accuracy of the results will be affected by the ‘human’ element.  Something like an electrocardiograph would give a more accurate measurement of heart rate and additional information.
• There will be gaps in the data owing to the method of manually counting heart rate.  An electrocardiograph would measure heart rate continually allowing smaller changes in rate to be observed and making it possible to see how the heart rate builds up as well as time to return to rest rate.