Heart Rate Practical -

Effect of Exercise on Heart Rate

TOPIC 3: Multicellular Organisms [Year 11 BIOLOGY - Term 3]

Stage 1 Biology: Investigation Folio Task

Part A

Introduction
Exercise is defined as engaging in physical activity in order to work the body to
stay healthy or be healthy. (Caspersen, Powell and, Christenson, 1985).
Engaging in physical activity on a regular basis is beneficial in maintaining
and/or improving one’s health. It helps in managing weight, reduces the risks of
disease or chances to get ill, strengthens bones, muscles and immune systems,
improves mental health and increases the quality and length of life (CDC, 2022).

As exercise is beneficial to the body, it means that it affects the organs. A good
example of this is the heart. Regular exercise (such as aerobics)improves
cardiovascular health resulting in lower blood pressure, better blood sugar
regulation, healthier cholesterol levels (Harvard Health Publishing, 2018).

By not getting enough physical activity, it can lead to negative effects

associated in the heart such as developing heart diseases, obesity, high blood
pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. Other factors that can
contribute to a healthy heart include being smoke-free, eating healthy fats,
eating more nutritional foods (such as fruits, vegetables and wholegrains),
drinking healthy amounts of water and rest (Heart Foundation, 2022).

This essay aims to investigate how exercise affects the heart rate. An
experiment will be conducted to see which aerobic exercise will result in a
higher heart rate. These are cardio and dance. Results from this experiment
will determine which exercise is more effective in exercising the heart.
Aim
To determine the effect of exercise on heart rate.

Hypothesis
The higher the intensity of the workout, the higher the heart rate will be.
(Better Health Channel, 2012)
This is because the more the body works, the muscles will need more oxygen.
To do this, the body’s heart must pump more blood around the body so that it
can transport that oxygen (Healthwise Staff, 2022).
Thus, the exercise that has the highest intensity, has the highest heart rate.
It is predicted that cardio will create the highest intensity because running
requires high amounts of steady breathing and more muscles will be put in
work.

Variables
Independent Intensity of exercise
Variable

Dependent Heart rate (BPM)

Variable

Controlled The pace of the exercise (Both Cardio and Dance)

Variable/s The time to conduct one exercise

Uncontrolled Weather
Variable/s Fitness Levels of Participants
Weight of Participants

Materials
- Stop watch
- Timer
- Heart rate monitor watches (Exercise watches) (x1)
- Just Dance (the game)
- Calculator (For calculating the average)
 Method

Exercise 1 - Dance Exercise 2 - Cardio

1. The Participant places on the 1. Participants placed on the

exercise watch.
2. The watch needs to be
turned on and press start to
record heart rate.
3. The timer is set to 5 minutes
and the timer will start once
the participant has started
their exercise.
4. The Participant is tasked to
do the first level (easy) of the
exercise.
5. The participant's heart rate
is then recorded both
manually (using stop watch)
and digitally (using watch).
6. The participant should then
rest a full five minutes.
7. Steps 2-5 are then repeated
for the next two levels of the
exercise.
exercise watch.
2. The watch needs to be
turned on and press start to
record heart rate.
3. The timer is set to 5 minutes
and the timer will start once
the participant has started
their exercise.
4. The Participant is tasked to
do five minutes of the first
level (easy) of the exercise.
5. The Participant's heart rate is
then recorded both manually
(using stop watch) and
digitally (using watch).
6. The participant should then
rest a full five minutes.
7. Step 2-5 are then repeated
for the next two levels of the
exercise.

Safety Considerations
As this is a physical experiment involving the participants body/health at risk, it
is important to into what risks may occur for the participant/s during the
experiment as to make sure it is avoided as much as possible and what to do
when that risk occurs:

Risk Outcome of Risk Prevention of Risk What to do if Risks occurs

Traumatic Injuries Pain, injuries from falling down, Exercise in open and safe environment Making sure that the muscles are not
broken bones, twisted ankle, away from interfering objects, stretch overworked. Bandage any injuries, using
fractures beforehand, wearing suitable shoes with ice packs for injured muscles, calling for
support, medical assistance

Overuse Injuries Straining injuries, limits ability to
walk properly, sprained ankle,
muscle soreness
Stretch before doing the exercises
Wear suitable shoes with support
Perform the exercises on a level surface
away from interfering objects
Immediately stop exercising. Use R.I.C.E
(Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation).
Consult Doctor if the pain is prolonged,
visible deformity, or if the severe pain
prevents the use of movement.

Exhaustion Fatigue, lack of awareness, Making sure to rest before doing Immediately stop exercise or slow down
underestimation of risk, reduce exercise, deep breathing, water breaks exercise and rest, drink water
coordination, increased chance
of injury

(BetterHealth Channel, 2012), (Greene and Lasner, 2022), (Salmon, Garnham,

Finch, 2000), (Health and Safety Executive, 2022), (Standford Medicine
Children's Health, 2021)

Ethical Considerations
As this experiment involves the participants. It is important to make sure that
all people involved are safe and comfortable when participating in the
experiment. These considerations include:
- Asking consent from participants (making sure that they are okay with
participating)
- Giving necessary breaks or timeouts whenever the participants are
tired.
- If participants are injured or exhausted, they will not need to continue
with the experiments.
- All participants are able to pull out if they are not comfortable
continuing the experiment.
- All participants’ confidentiality will be respected and be kept.
- As all materials are provided by the teachers, all equipment must be
used with great care to keep its condition and returned safely back to
the teachers.
- The experiment will be done in safe condoms and environments (such
as surface gym floor, sporting grounds) to minimise risk to subjects.
Sufficient space.
(Western Australian Centre for Health Promotion Research, 2021)

*NOTE: If any of those ethical codes are breached, total

termination of the experiment will be in place.
Part B

Results:
The data will be collected and placed into the table down below:

Table 1 Results - Dance

Exercise: Initial Initial Final - Final -

Manual Digital Manual Digital Pulse
Pulse (BPM) Pulse (BPM) Pulse (BPM) (BPM)

Easy - - - -

Participant A 75 100 128 134

Participant B 81 101 130 136

Participant C 102 104 135 140

Average 86 101.67 131 136.66

Medium - - - -

Participant A 79 85 118 128

Participant B 81 99 135 140

Participant C 86 76 131 136

Average 82 86.67 128 134.66

Hard - - - -

Participant A 100 107 144 147

Participant B 86 91 149 156

 Participant C 92 78 157 157

Average 92.67 92 150 153.33

From table 1, it is shown that Participant A had an average resting heart rate of
75(Manual)/100(Digital) BPM (Beats Per Minute), Participant B had a resting
heart rate of 81(Manual)/101(Digital) BPM and, Participant C had an average
resting heart rate of 102(Manual)/104(Digital) BPM.

After performing the Easy intensity, the final heart rates increased by
53(Manual)/34(Digital) BPM, 49(Manual)/35(Digital) BPM and
33(Manual)/36(Digital) BPM respectively.

After performing the Medium Intensity, the final heart rates have increased by
39(Manual)/43(Digital) BPM, 54 (Manual)/41 (Digital) BPM and, 45
(Manual)/60 (Digital) BPM respectively.

After performing the Hard Intensity, the final heart rates have increased by
44(Manual)/40 (Digital), 63 (Manual)/65(Digital) and 65 (Manual)/79 (Digital).
From the collected data it demonstrates a trend that the participants’ heart
rates increase with more intense versions of the exercise.

Graph 1: Average of Initial and Final Heart Rate for all participants combined
(both Manual and Digital recordings) of Dance.
Table 2 Results - Cardio

Initial - Initial - Final - Final -

Manual Digital Pulse Manual Digital Pulse
Pulse (BPM) (BPM) Pulse (BPM) (BPM)

Walking - - - -

Participant A 72 85 100 128

Participant B 81 90 120 123

Participant C 62 70 91 100

Average 72.67 81.67 103.66 117

Jogging - - - -

Participant A 72 80 104 161

Participant B 69 74 110 146

Participant C 92 99 165 168

Average 77.67 84.67 126.33 158.33

Running - - - -

Participant A 91 102 128 155

Participant B 82 81 168 172

Participant C 91 92 170 189

Average 88 91.67 155.33 172

From table 2, the initial heart rates were recorded for each participant where
Participant A had an average resting heart rate of 72(Manual)/85(Digital),
Participant B had an average resting heart rate of 81(Manual)/90(Digital) and
Participant C had an average resting heart rate 62(Manual)/70(Digital).
After performing the Easy Intensity (Walking), the final heart rates have
increased by 28(Manual)/43(Digital) BPM, 39(Manual)/33(Digital) BPM and
29(Manual)/30(Digital) BPM respectively.

After performing the Medium Intensity (Jogging), the final heart rates have
increased by 32(Manual)/80(Digital) BPM, 41(Manual)/72(Digital) BPM and
73(Manual)/69(Digital) BPM respectively.

After performing the Hard Intensity (Running), the final heart rates have
increased by 37(Manual)/53(Digital) BPM, 86(Manual)/91(Digital) BPM and
79(Manual)/97(Digital) BPM respectively.
There is a trend present where when the intensity of the exercise increases, the
heart rate of the individual increases.

Graph 2: Average of Initial and Final Heart Rate for all participants combined
(both Manual and Digital recordings) of Cardio.

Part C

Discussion
By analysing the data, it is concluded that the hypothesis that the exercise
 that has the highest intensity, has the highest heart rate, is supported.
This is evident as there was a fairly consistent trend where the final heart
rate has increased with each participant. From the hypothesis, the exercise
that will result in a higher heart rate is cardio.
This is supported by the graphs shown above as the final heart rate for the
highest intensity of dance combined had an average of 150 (Manual)/
153.33 (Digital) BPM whether as the final heart rate for the highest
intensity of cardio combined had an average of 155.33 (Manual)/ 172
(Digital) BPM.

While the data collected showed a similar trend and predictability, there is
one specific outlier found in the Cardio table. Participant C’s final heart
rate (Digital) was around 189 BPM. Unlike its Manual comparison (170
BPM) where the initial has increased by 79 BPM, the Digital recording
showed the highest increase of the entire table: 97 BPM.

The cause of this outlier may be that it could be a systematic error, be an

incorrect collection of the manual data and/or been recorded much earlier
than the manual where the heart rate would be at its highest.

To avoid systematic errors, the experiment needs to demonstrate

controlled variables. An example of a controlled variable in this experiment
would be the pace of the exercises. In Dance it was ensured because of the
gameplay style of Just Dance (where players are consistently pressured to
follow every step for maximum points) and in Cardio this was ensured
because of peer checking and reminders. Another example of a controlled
variable would be the time to conduct one exercise. Each exercise has a
time duration of five minutes.

Controlled variables such as the ones stated above ensured that the
experiment was carried out as similar as possible as to ensure that it is
easier to reproduce the experiment,increase the confidence of the
outcome of the experiment and limit the amount of outliers.

(Helmenstine, 2020)

Evaluation
The data collected for this experiment is overall reliable as it demonstrates
a continuous trend where the final BPM in the cardio table is is higher
compared to the final BPMs for the dance table (thus, following the
hypothesis).
However, the data demonstrates a possible outlier in the cardio table
where Participant C’s final digital recording scored the highest out of all
tables with 189 BPM. No participants from both tables were able to reach
above 80 BPM or near 190 BPM.
A possibility to why this has occurred is that running (the most difficult
intensity in cardio) requires high amounts of oxygen (energy).
(Dunn and Grider, 2022).
Through aerobic respiration, glucose and oxygen combine and form ATP
(Andenosine Triphosphate) which is the cell’s storehouse of energy. So by
pumping more blood (energy) around the body, the more efficient to
perform high intensity workouts such as running (Khan Academy, 2022).
Another explanation as to why this has resulted is the different fitness
levels of the participants as, there is a trend found in each table where
Particpant C has the highest BPM out of all other participants for the initial
manual and digital pulse recordings. This suggests that Particpant C has a
naturally occurring high heart rate among all participants.

This brings the limits in this investigation. These possibillities may have
been unavoidable due to being uncontrollable variables.
Because the factors and health descriptions of all praticipants are kept
anonymous, there is no guarantee whether that the heart rates are
caused by the exercises’ intensity or due to the natural BPMs of the specific
individual. Some participants may need to generate more ATP to perform
high intensity workouts than others. Also, because this experiment had a
limited number of participants available, these may affect the accuracy and
reliability of these results.

The method used in this experiment is simple, understandable and straight

forward. However there are many issues that arise from consistancy, and
time management. There was an issue where participants weren’t able to
stay consistent for medium and difficult levels of intensities. Thus, this
changes the heart rate results of the participants and the final pulse may
result to be either too high or too low. Another issue was the lack of time
provided for the experiment and lack availability of participants. These
factors can contribute stress as the experiment was conducted in a rush. As
there was lack of preparation, this may have caused inconsistencies in the
heart rates of participants.
Conclusion
After conducting this experiment, it is evident that the heart rate does increase
if the intensity of the exercise increases. In addition, it is found that cardio
(such as walking, jogging and running) presented a higher heart rate than
dance. But, there are many factors such as the limitations on time and having a
small sample and, uncontrollable factors (ie. the different fitness levels of each
particpant) that could have influenced the final results. However, due to the
majority of participants demonstrate similar starting heart rates and a
consistent trend where cardio exercises result in a higher BPM. The data may
be generalisable.

Bibliography
● Better Health Channel. “Exercise Intensity.” Vic.gov.au, 2012,
www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/exercise-intensity.
Accessed 23 Aug. 2022.

● BetterHealth Channel. “Aerobics - Preventing Injury - Better Health

Channel.” Www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au, 23 July 2012,
www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/aerobics-preventing-
injury. Accessed 27 Aug. 2022.

● Caspersen, C J, et al. “Physical Activity, Exercise, and Physical Fitness:

Definitions and Distinctions for Health-Related Research.” Public Health
Reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974), vol. 100, no. 2, 1985, pp. 126–31,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1424733/. Accessed 22 Aug.
2022.

● CDC. “Benefits of Physical Activity.” Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 27 Apr. 2022,
www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm#:~:text=Reg
ular%20physical%20activity%20is%20one. Accessed 22 Aug. 2022.

● Dunn, Jacob, and Michael H. Grider. “Physiology, Adenosine

Triphosphate (ATP).” PubMed, StatPearls Publishing, 2022,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553175/. Accessed 2022.

● Greene, Amanda, and Andrea Lasner. “Common Dance Injuries and

Prevention Tips.” Www.hopkinsmedicine.org, 22 July 22AD,
 www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/sports-inju
ries/common-dance-injuries-and-prevention-tips#:~:text=Some%20co
mmon%20dance%20injuries%20are. Accessed 27 Aug. 22AD.

● Harvard Health Publishing. “The Many Ways Exercise Helps Your Heart -
Harvard Health.” Harvard Health, Harvard Health, 1 Mar. 2018,
www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-many-ways-exercise-helps-y
our-heart. Accessed 22 Aug. 2022.

● Health and Safety Executive. “Human Factors/Ergonomics - Fatigue.”

Www.hse.gov.uk, 1 July 2022,
www.hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/topics/fatigue.htm#:~:text=Fatigue%20
results%20in%20slower%20reactions. Accessed 2 July 2022.

● Healthwise Staff. “Cardiac Output.” Myhealth.alberta.ca, 16 Sept.

22AD,
myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/Pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=tx4080abc#:~
:text=When%20does%20the%20body%20need. Accessed 16 Sept.
22AD.

● Heart Foundation. “Keeping Your Heart Healthy | the Heart

Foundation.” Heartfoundation-Prod.azurewebsites.net, 8 Aug. 2022,
www.heartfoundation.org.au/bundles/healthy-living-and-eating/keepi
ng-your-heart-healthy#:~:text=Regular%20physical%20activity%20.

● Helmenstine, Anne. “What Is a Control Variable? Definition and

Examples.” Science Notes and Projects, 27 Aug. 2020,
sciencenotes.org/what-is-a-control-variable-definition-and-examples/.
Accessed 30 Aug. 2022.

● Khan Academy. “Khan Academy.” Www.khanacademy.org, 17 Jan.

2022,
www.khanacademy.org/science/in-in-class-11-biology-india/x9d11579
14247c627:respiration-in-plants/x9d1157914247c627:electron-transpo
rt-system-and-oxidative-phosphorylation/v/calculating-atp-produced-in
-cellular-respiration?modal=1. Accessed 29 Aug. 2022.

● Salmon, J, et al. “Aerobics Fact Sheet.” Sports Medicine Australia, Mar.

2000,
sma.org.au/resources-advice/sport-fact-sheets/aerobics-fact-sheet/#:~:
text=Overuse%20injuries%20arise%20gradually%2C%20usually.
● Standford Medicine Children's Health. “Default - Stanford Medicine
Children’s Health.” Www.stanfordchildrens.org, 20 Apr. 2021,
www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=overuse-injuries-90-P0
2779#:~:text=Treatment%20of%20an%20overuse%20injury&text=Initia
l%20treatment%20for%20overuse%20injuries. Accessed 28 Aug. 2022.

● Western Australian Centre for Health Promotion Research. “Ethical

Considerations.” Mypeer.org.au, 2021,
mypeer.org.au/monitoring-evaluation/ethical-considerations/.
Accessed 2022.