To find out how different exercises affect your pulse rate.

Apparatus: 

• Stopwatch
• Metre rule for measuring out 50m
• A person to do the exercising
• A pen

Diagram:

Method: First obtain all the equipment as stated above. With the metre rule, measure out 50m with a pen – marking out the start and finish. Next think of a list of exercises and create a results table with them. Start off with the least strenuous exercise (resting). Now, beginning with the first exercise, carry it out using the marked out 50m if necessary. For those exercises not needing the 50m, do 30 of the exercises (e.g 30 press ups). When you have finished the exercise, find your pulse and with the stopwatch time your pulse for 6 seconds. Multiply this by 10 and record it in your results table. Now, rest for a minute before continuing to exercise. Repeat the above process for the remaining exercises. Also, remember to include the 1 minute rest after each pulse recorded. Record all of your results in your table to see the pulse rates for the different exercises.

Graph:

Conclusion:

My prediction was correct. I stated “the more strenuous the activity, the higher the pulse rate will rise”

Your pulse rate is the measure of your heartbeat per minute. Average pulse rate is about 70 beats per minutes which was correct for the resting period. Blood carries oxygen to all the cells of your body and the rate at which you breathe depends on how fast your body is using up the oxygen supplied. During exercise you muscles have to work harder, as you use up oxygen at a faster rate. Your rate of breathing goes up to provide the body with more oxygen and the pulse rate goes up as the blood is pumped faster around the body to take the oxygen to, where it is needed, the muscles. So both the pulse and breathing rate will go up immediately after exercise and will gradually return to normal as the body recovers. During vigorous exercise lactic acid may be produced as a result of anaerobic respiration. You will continue to breathe hard until the oxygen debt is repaid. As a general rule the fitter you are the lower your resting pulse rate and the quicker you will recover after exercise.

Evaluation:

Our experiment was a fair test as we rested for a minute after each exercise. This ensured our oxygen levels would decrease to those of the resting period. Therefore each exercise was done after a rest. Also we used the same length to do the exercise in or the same amount (30). We started off with the least strenuous exercises to represent everyday life. We could improve the experiment by achieving more accurate results. We only held our pulse for 6 seconds and multiplying by 10 to give minute. This only gave us multiples of 10. We could have measured the pulse for the whole minute.