Introduction:
Lifestyle diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases, are a global concern. The statistics are alarming. A WHO report reveals that cardiovascular diseases account for the highest number of deaths globally. In 2012 alone, almost 18 million deaths were as a direct consequence of cardiovascular diseases . The trend is largely attributable to our sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits. Therefore, one solution to reverse the trend is to adopt cardio exercises. However, there are various cardio exercises that are available. It becomes difficult to decide which exercise to choose from the many existing ones. There are various factors that one can consider which revolve around the intensity of the exercise. For instance, someone with heart diseases maybe advised by the doctor to avoid high intensity exercise. On the other hand, Mayo Clinic (2016) advises for moderate to vigorous exercise if the objective is weight loss. The weight loss depends on the intensity of the exercise and the time spend exercising. Someone with a busy schedule and limited time for exercise may prefer a high intensity workout so as to burn many calories within a short period of time. This study seeks to assess six cardio exercises to determine if they have different intensities. However, exercise intensity cannot be observed directly. Exercise intensity is reflected by our breathing, heart rate, sweating and muscle tiredness (Mayo Clinic, 2016). Of the four variables, we can only measure heart rate objectively with the current state of technology. Therefore, this study will use the heart rate to compare the exercise intensity. . The heart rate can be measured per second or per minute. This study will measure heart rate per minute.
Mayo Clinic (2016) argues that the intensity of an exercise is correlated with the heart rate. Therefore, if you exercise intensively the heart rate will increase. Similarly, WebMD (2016) also points out that the heart rate during exercise depends on, among other things, the intensity of the exercise. A low intensity exercise will result in a low heart rate while a high intensity excerise will result in a high heart rate.
Hypothesis:
Different exercises result in different heart rates.
Materials and Methods:
Materials
Stationery- Paper and pen
Stop watch
Heart Rate Monitor
Exercise Mat
One Male Human Subject
Methods
Allow the subject to rest for ten minutes
Measure the resting pulse rate of the subject using a heart rate monitor
Record results
Ask the participant to engage in one of the cardio exercises
Record the results at intervals of 10 seconds for six times.
Repeat steps 1-5 with a different cardio exercise the following day
Experiment Design:
Independent Variable: Cardio exercise that was performed. There were six cardio exercises: swimming, tennis, running, burpees, jumping jacks, burpees, and jump kicks.
Dependent Variable: Heart Rate after the exercise
Fixed Variable: gender of the human subject (male), age of the human subject (25 years old), room temperature during the exercise (24 0C) and the length of time of measurement of the pulse (immediately).
There was no control group for the study since we are interested in the measures of the heart rate for different cardio exercises. Therefore, each category acts a treatment group.
The study involved a single human subject. The subject was informed of the intention of the study and a signed consent was obtained. The identity of the human subject remains confidential for ethical reasons.
Data Collection:
The data was recorded in a table using excel. The data is as follows:
Figure 1: Pulse Rate for Different Exercises at Different Times
Figure 2: Average Pulse Rate for Different Exercises
Discussion:
The data analysis findings confirm the expectations of the study. The study hypothesized that different exercises result in different heart rates. At 10 seconds, Jumping Jacks and Burpees result in the highest heart rate per minute of 120 while squats result in the lowest heart rate per minute of 104. The pattern is maintained for all the other levels with the exceptions of the measurement at 30 seconds and 50 seconds where squats and lunges have the same level heart rate per minute. Consequently, both squats and lunges have the lowest heart beat per second. On average, squats result in the lowest heart rate per minute while burpees result in the highest heart rate per minute. Based on the heart rate per minutes we classify the exercise in the order of exercise intensity using an ascending order as follows; squats, lunges, pushups, crunches, jumping jacks and burpees. Although it was not the interest of this study, it is also clear that the heart rate per second increases as the time of the exercise increases for each exercise.
Conclusion:
The data that was collected fully supports the hypothesis. The different exercises result into different heart rates at the different times and on average. There is clear correlation between the exercise and the heart rate.
Reflection:
While conducting the study, I could observe the exercise intensity using the different methods even before measuring the heart rate. Although they cannot be measured accurately, they do provide an indication. For instance, the subject was breathing heavily and sweating while doing jumping racks and burpees. However, the subject was breathing gently and sweating very little while doing squats and lunges. Using the heart rate was a strength because it can be measured objectively compared to other measures which are more subjective. Using the same subject for all exercises is a strength because it controls for other subject specific characteristics such as gender, age and genetics. However, one weakness of the study is that different subjects with different ages and gender could be used to see if the findings will be different. Maybe one exercise maybe intense for one group and not the other group.
References
Mayo Clinic. (2016). Excercise Intensity and How to Measure It. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise-intensity/art-20046887?pg=1
WebMD. (2016). The Truth about Heart Rate and Excerise. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/the-truth-about-heart-rate-and-exercise?page=2
WHO. (2016, January 10). Retrieved from Cardiovascular Diseases Factsheet: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs317/en/
