Exercise Physiology Lab

In this lab, I will measure my blood pressure, pulse and respirations while performing three tasks. The students have been charged with choosing three tasks and developing a hypothesis of what will happen to each metabolic rate during each activity compared to baseline. I will measure each activity five times to determine a mean and then graph the data to determine if my hypotheses are correct.

Hypothesis:
Activity 1: Running 2.0 miles at a range of 5-6 mph. I am predicting that my pulse and respirations will increase significantly and my blood pressure will slightly increase since my blood will be pumping harder.

Activity 2: Drinking 3 beers. I am predicting that my pulse and respirations will decrease significantly as the alcohol slows by body down. I think my blood pressure will be the same at the time, but if I drink 3 beers a day for a long period of time, I’m sure I’ll eventually have a stroke or a type of cardiovascular disease.

Activity 3: Walking the perimeter of my hospital once. I am predicting that my pulse and respirations will increase only slightly and my blood pressure will remain the same.

I am very lucky, in that I work at a Rehab Hospital. So, I was able to use the treadmill and vital machine to measure my metabolic rates.


This is me using the vital machine. It measure O2 saturation, pulse and blood pressure.


Here is a shot of my vitals.


Here I am on the treadmill.


Just finished walking around at work.


I LOVE me some Dos Equis! heehee



As you can see from above, the only time by metabolic rates changed significantly was after running 2 miles (Activity 1). My pulse and respirations increased enough to deliver much needed oxygen to my body. My muscles were working hard needed the extra oxygen to perform. This explains why my breathing increased and why by heart beat faster. I was a little perplexed as to why my blood pressure remained the same. I was under the mistaken impression that if a pulse and respirations were elevated, the blood pressure would rise as well. I picturing blood pounding against arteries as it pushed out of my heart with an increased pulse.

Activity 2 was stupid, but since this is something I do often, I thought it would be interesting to see how my metabolic rates changed after drinking 3 beers. I was a little disappointed to see that not much changed. My pulse did slow a little, but nothing else slowed.

With activity 3, though I was walking quickly, my body did not need to increase metabolic rates significantly, but my respirations and pulse slightly rose. This is what I expected.

I find it interesting that my blood pressure was constant from baseline through all activities. Again, this is not what I expected.

Conclusion: The human body adapts to its needs. If cells need more oxygen, respirations and pulse increase to move O2 more quickly and efficiently to deficient cells. When the body is at rest and using less, the pulse and respirations decrease.

Final Notes: This was a really fun lab to do. It makes you really think and feel what your body is doing during different activities.