Unit II Lab Project: Exercise Physiology

My goal for this lab was to measure my pulse, respiration, and blood pressure after doing three different activities. In order to get a clear idea of how these activities might alter each rate, I first took the measurements after resting at least ten minutes at various times. The fifth reading was taken early in the morning before I did anything.

For my three activities I chose drinking coffee, one hour of general housework, and twenty minutes of moderate-high impact aerobics. I was most interested in testing myself after drinking coffee in the morning. I usually have 2-3 cups before I really get going for the day. Twice I have had a doctor's appointment in the morning shortly after my coffee fix and on both occasions my blood pressure was elevated, which is unusual for me. My suspicion was that because caffeine is a stimulant, it affected my blood pressure briefly.

Below is the table containing my hypothesis for this assignment. I knew that physical activity and working my muscles would create the need for more oxygen, causing my heart to work faster. I also know that certain stimulants can cause changes in heart rate and blood pressure. So I based my hypothesis on what I knew.

I expected my heart rate and blood pressure to increase slightly after drinking at least two cups of coffee. I expected my respiration to remain basically the same. After doing one hour of basic housework (vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, dusting, picking up, etc.) I predicted that my pulse and respiration would increase somewhat while my blood pressure increased only slightly, if at all. Lastly I predicted that my heart rate and respiration would increase significantly during aerobic exercise and my blood pressure would increase only slightly.

Hypothesis table

To gather my data I used a sphygmomanometer. We have one that my husband uses to check his blood pressure. I also used a stop watch for testing my pulse and respiration (30 seconds). I took my pulse at the radial artery. I also carefully watched the clock during my activities like housework and aerobics in order to get an accurate reading. I took my blood pressure about ten minutes after drinking two cups of coffee.

Taking my pulse.


Measuring blood pressure, I always used my left arm.



Drinking my coffee, the mug says "Goodbye God, we're going to Bodie."

I do a lot of housework and I wanted to know if I was reaching a training level with my heart rate.

Sweeping the front porch wearing my favorite Ramones T-shirt.

Aerobics with my daughter. I did a 20 minute workout that included a warm up, cool down and one and a half minute anaerobic drill.

Above you will find the actual results.

I was the most accurate in predicting respiration, there were no real surprises there. I was also fairly close on the pulse measurements although I anticipated a higher pulse after aerobic exercise than the actual results. My blood pressure was higher than the baseline after drinking coffee, but not as high as my prediction.

I was the most off the mark in regards to my blood pressure after aerobic exercise. I predicted that it would rise slightly when in actuality it decreased significantly. I know that if a proper cool down is not done after exercise blood pressure can drop and cause fainting (vagal response). I did do a five to eight minute cool down but wondered if I did not do it right, however I did not feel faint or sick. I did a google search on this and I found this statement:

Dynamic activities depend mainly on energy derived from consuming oxygen (aerobic). Thus they increase the body’s need for oxygen. Because blood delivers oxygen to the body, aerobic activity challenges the heart and circulatory system to meet this increased need. In dynamic exercise, oxygen consumption and heart rate increase in relation to the intensity of the activity. Systolic blood pressure rises progressively, while diastolic blood pressure stays the same or decreases slightly. Pulse rate rises, and blood flow to the muscles increases. Thus, aerobic exercise exerts primarily a volume load on the heart.

-http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3034814

Anyway, I am physically active but not necessarily physically fit (I do low impact aerobics three times a week for sixty minutes and walk a total of 150 minutes per week). So maybe I should try an easier routine next time.

Below are the charts for each measure:

Pulse rates for each activity. Of course the highest result is after aerobic exercise.




Respiration rates. Notice no change between baseline and coffee, probably because I was just sitting there watching the news (sometimes when John McCain or Sarah Palin are on my respiration and BP go up).

Looking at this graph it would appear that coffee does increase my blood pressure slightly. I have read that it is a temporary increase. The highest increase is after exercise, I predicted the highest rate to be after I drank coffee.

Here you can see the significant change in my diastolic rate after aerobic exercise. I do not think it is a dangerous level, but it is significant nonetheless. The highest rate was after drinking coffee which is as I thought it would be.



Conclusion

Obviously what we do or don't do affects our metabolic rate. Physical activity works the muscles, which causes the heart to work faster causing changes in pulse, respiration, and blood pressure. Having a general idea of your normal rates is useful because they seem to vary somewhat from person to person. Knowing your resting heart rate for example is helpful when doing exercise as you can use it to measure exertion and training levels.

This was an interesting assignment and I enjoyed doing it.