My aim is to investigate the effect of different amounts of a full body exercise (star jumps), on the pulse rate.

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The Effect of Exercise on the Pulse Rate

Aim

My aim is to investigate the effect of different amounts of a full body exercise (star jumps), on the pulse rate.

Background Theory

The heart is a four-chambered muscular organ, which pumps blood around the body. It is one of the most important organs in the body. The heart is made of special cardiac muscles, which continuously pump blood around our body for the whole of our lives. Blood enters via the vena cava, to the right atrium. It is passed to the right ventricle, through the tricuspid valve, and pumped to the pulmonary artery to the lungs. The blood is then oxygenated in the lungs and returns to the left ventricle from the pulmonary vein. It is passed into the left ventricle through the bicuspid valve and pumped to the rest of the body via the aorta. This is a double circulation because 2 laps of the body are done in each pump. This also keeps the blood pressure at a particular level. Figure 1 is a diagram of the heart.

There are 3 main vessels in the circulatory system. These are the arteries, veins and capillaries. The artery is the vessel that takes blood away from the heart. It has a relatively thick wall compared to the veins and capillaries and is elastic to withstand pressure. It has a fairly narrow passage for the blood, but is able to expend, this is useful when a large volume of blood is pumped out of the heart. The flow of the blood in the arteries is fast and irregular with a high blood pressure. The veins are different. They carry blood towards the heart. They have fairly wide passages for the blood, with thin walls because they do not need to withstand any pressure. Veins also have valves, which keep the blood flowing in the same direction. The blood in the veins is slow and regular with a quite a low blood pressure. The capillaries carry blood through organs and allow the exchange of gases and food from the body cells and blood. Capillaries have very narrow passages, blood cells need to ‘squeeze’ through. The walls of the capillaries are only one cell thick and materials are exchanged with local cells through the spaces between the cells. The blood flow in the capillaries is very slow, because of the limited space, and the blood pressure is falling, from the value in the arteries, to the value of the vein pressure. Figure 2 shows a cross section of each vessel.


The heart rate is controlled by the electrical activity of the sinoatrial node (pacemaker) in the heart. The sinoatrial node is a mass of specialised cells in the wall of the right atrium, which maintain the heart rate by their rhythmic and spontaneous contractions. The cells themselves are controlled by the autonomic nervous system. The contraction of the heart is called systole, and the relaxation is called diastole. The heart rate changes when we do exercise or when we feel certain emotions for example fear or excitement. It can also change when we get a fever and a number of other sicknesses.

The demand of exercise on the body is high. Exercise is important for keeping fit and healthy. With exercise our muscles work hard, and in turn stay healthy. Our heart rate also increases and the cardiac muscles work harder to pump blood around the body. During exercise, the heart needs to pump a larger volume of blood at a faster rate to all the muscles in the body so that they have sufficient oxygen and glucose for respiration and energy production. Using this theory about the heart rate increasing with exercise, I will plan my experiment.

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The pulse is the rhythmic expansion and contraction of the walls of the arteries, caused by the pressure of the blood pumped from the heart. The pulse rate reflects the heart rate and can be easily felt under the skin. The pulse is irregular because it expands as diastole occurs, and relaxes as systole occurs, so it shows the opposite of what the heart is doing at that same time. There are two main points on the body where the pulse can be taken, the chorotic pulse and the radial pulse. The average pulse in a human is between ...

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