When the heart is at a resting rate oxygenated blood is being pumped around the body for a stable state of aerobic respirations. Resting rates vary between different people. The lower the heart rate of the person the healthier the person is. Anaerobic respiration is the release of energy from glucose in the presence of oxygen. In order our body tissues glucose can be broken down to release energy, which may be used for bodily functions such as muscle contractions. The general equation for the process of anaerobic respiration is:
Glucose + oxygen = Carbon dioxide + Water + energy
Anaerobic respiration takes place in all living things. The waste products of this process are carbon dioxide, excess water and energy. Carbon dioxide and water can easily be excreted and the energy is used up in the body where desired. If there is a shortage of oxygen we respire an aerobically which looks like this
Glucose Lactic acid + (less) energy
During the exercise we conduct the heat rate increases. Anaerobic respiration will prolong if the necessary amount of oxygen and helps produce enough energy for the muscles to continue functioning. Anaerobic respiration occurs when muscle cells do not receive enough oxygen to produce the energy the energy needed. This occurs during vigorous exercises. The heart can’t pump enough oxygenated blood to the muscles when they become exhausted. The heart rate increases in an attempt to send more oxygen to the muscles but when it fails anaerobic respiration takes place.
There are more toxic waste products as a result of anaerobic respiration than there is a result of aerobic respiration. Lactic acid is an organic acid, which is produced as a waste product during anaerobic respiration. Lactic acid is toxic if it remains in the body and it can cause cramps and other muscle pains. Lactic acid can be broken down by oxygen. When anaerobic starts to take place energy are taken from glucose without using oxygen to break it down. This creates an oxygen debt which paid back oxidizes lactic acid to carbon dioxide and water.
When the heart rate is at its maximum it is pumping as much oxygen to the muscles as possibly it can. After exercises the heart will take a while to return back to its resting rate. In this time the oxygen debt is paid back so that any lactic acid is oxidized. Our body contains plasma, which carries just about everything around the body, but most importantly for respiration oxygen carrying red blood cells. When we start exercising our heart, beats faster as we do more exercise to get the oxygen and glucose to the muscles cells where it is needed so that respiration can take place. We then need to breath at a more rapid rate to provide more oxygen so that it can be absorbed into the blood stream and carried to where it is needed. This is how respiration is linked to pulse rate.
Athletes spend a great deal of time training. It allows their body to adapt its basic response to exercise and to improve athletic performance. Training can:
- Make our muscles perform better.
- Improve the efficiency of oxygen delivery to the working muscles.
- Get the athlete adapted to the competition environment.
From the pervious scientific knowledge I have predicted that while carrying out the exercises the body’s temperature, breathing rate and the heart rate will increase. I predict this because I predict this because when muscles are in use they produce heat. It is this heat that affects the body’s temperature. The body will also try to keep the original heat and will sweat to cool the body down. Muscles need oxygen and glucose to work properly. The formula for respirations tells us that glucose and oxygen are taken in and energy and carbon dioxide are given out. The muscles will need more oxygen and glucose as they work harder, therefore the breathing rate should rise to allow a bigger intake of the two. For this now larger intake the heart must pump this oxygen and glucose, situated in the blood, to the muscle cells more rapidly. This means that the heart rate would increase. The fitter the body the slower the heart rate and breathing rate would increase.
I have tested my exercise again to make sure I gain more accurate results. As you can see below I have done the same exercise again which includes same exercise, same amount of time and also same place.
I have found out that the longer the exercise you do the faster your heartbeats. I have also learned that there is a certain amount of recovery time for example if your exercise is long then it would be long to recover but if your exercise is short the quicker your recovery rate. The pattern in my results shows that as the exercise increases my pulse rate will increase; also my breathing would be faster.
From my results I can make a conclusion is the pulse rate increases during the exercise. If you do exercise like walking it would not affect your pulse rate a lot but if you do jogging it would effect increase your pulse rate more. The longer the exercise the more oxygen you will need and also I have noticed during the exercise your mouth goes dry. I have learned that you would will have energy at the first exercise but not a lot at the last exercise, this is because you have used it during the exercise. When I was resting before the exercise my pulse rate was 44-45(1min). The walking did not affect my pulse rate a lot only it went up by one. When I was running it was 114, which is nearly 3 times higher than my normal rate. It took me 1 min to recover, which shows I am fit because my heart can get oxygen back quick. I found the pulse rate test very good and useful because I know understand how my pulse rate increases and decreases during the exercise. I have also learned what happens in your body during an exercise.
The scientific explanation for my conclusion is the more exercise you do the more glucose and oxygen you will need because your body needs to supply oxygen to the working muscles. The longer exercise you do the more oxygen you need. Energy is very important because if you do not have enough energy you could not do the exercise properly and long. The energy is released from respiration. My heart has to work harder to get the glucose and oxygen in to the muscles. Most people’s heart takes a while to recover because the muscles have respiring anaerobic –ally. The glucose was broken down to give energy with out oxygen it is lactic acid. Lactic acid is poisonous and it makes your muscles ache, it can also give you a stitch. To get rid of lactic acid you need to get extra oxygen to the muscles. The oxygen is used to break down the lactic acid into carbon dioxide and water, which is paying back the oxygen debt.
My simple comment about the plan and method is I have understood how exercise affects the body and what changes during an exercise in your body. I have understood how pulse rate increases and decreases. All the type of exercise I done increased as I predicted.
I know the apparatus I used gave me an accurate result because the equipment I used was working and fine.
I could have used a heart monitor (stethoscope) because to see when my pulse rate increases and it would be much clearer. The anomalous results in my investigation were all the results I done was what I expected. I recovered quickly because I am fit which shows my heart is healthy.
The problem with the method or plan was there was no problem only if I had used a stethoscope it would be better for the exercise and accuracy. I would also see when the pulse rate increases.
If I did the investigation again I would make it better by doing the exercise because I am fit. I would use a stethoscope because t would be easier and I will know what is happening and safe.
Evaluation: I think my results are quite accurate although we have an anomalous result for our 12-minute exercise, which we marked on the graph. You can see they are quite accurate by looking at an bar chart and also scatter diagram graph this is another reason that we knew that one of the results was anomalous. If I was to do this investigation again I would gather more results as it would lead to a better average as was proven with our anomalous result which brought the average down so did not give us as accurate results as I would of hoped but they still showed us what needed to be shown. Overall I am happy with the way this investigation went, as my Hypothesis was correct.