May/June, 2003, Middle School Experiment: Heart Beat Health	- Purpose - Background Information - Equipment & Supplies - Experimental Procedure - Data Analysis - Conclusions and Extensions

PASPORT Exercise Heart Rate Sensor (PS-2129)

Background Information:

All types of exercise involve muscle movement, from aerobic sports like running to strength-building sports like weight training. During exercise, the rest of your body systems work together to help your muscles generate energy, get rid of waste products, and release heat. As long as your muscles receive enough oxygen to continue to work, you can keep exercising. Otherwise, you become fatigued and will be forced to stop moving. So the harder you are exercising, the harder your heart will have to work in order to keep supplying your muscles with oxygen. And the more effectively your circulatory and respiratory systems work together, the more efficiently oxygen will be delivered to your muscles.

What makes a trained athlete different from a normal individual? All of those hours spent exercising cause the athlete's heart to be able to pump more blood with each beat, and also result in a lower resting heart rate for the athlete. There is a limit to a human's maximum heart rate. But if the athlete's resting heart rate is lower than the average individual's, then he or she will be able to increase his or her heart rate during exercise more than the normal person will be able to. As a result, more oxygenated blood flows efficiently to the athlete's working muscles. Measuring the difference between your resting heart rate and your heart rate during exercise can give a relative indication of your overall fitness level.

The PASPORT Exercise Heart Rate Sensor measures a subject's heart rate before, during and after physical activity based on electrical signals generated by the heart muscle. A belt worn around the ribcage houses a wireless transmitter. DataStudio software uses the voltage output from the receiver to produce a graph of the heart rate.

Hypothesize: What is your average heart rate at rest? How quickly will it increase, and how high will it get, as you perform mild exercise? How quickly does your heart recover after exercise ends?

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Equipment and Supplies:

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Experimental Procedure:

1. The test subject will need to wear the transmitter belt around the upper part of his/her chest. Although wearing the belt so that the electrodes make direct skin contact results in the most accurate readings, the belt can be worn over a thin shirt or held in the hands. Refer to the Quick-Start card that comes with the sensor for detailed information about belt placement.
   
   
2. The Exercise Heart Rate Sensor operates like a receiver to pick up signals transmitted by the belt. To optimize reception, keep the sensor in a vertical orientation within 1 meter of the belt. Decide on which sensor placement option will work best by referring to the sensor’s Quick-Start card (side 2A).
   

Data Collection & Recording

1. With the belt on and the sensor connected, have the test subject sit in a chair.
   
   
2. Click the Start button ( ) to begin recording data. Record the subject’s resting heart rate for 30-60 seconds.
   
   
3. Have the subject stand up. Observe any changes to the subject’s heart rate.
   
   
4. Have the subject run in place for 3-5 minutes. Continue to collect data, observing how the subject’s exercising heart rate changes from rest.
   
   
5. Have the subject stop running. Observe the display and watch for the subject’s heart rate to recover to the resting rate.
   
   
6. Click the Stop button ( ) to end data collection.
   
   
7. Optional: instead of running, have the subject perform an alternate type of exercise: jumping rope, using hand weights for bicep curls or similar exercise, or calisthenics. Don’t forget to test other subjects’ heart rates too!

Data Analysis:

1. Scale the axes to fit the data using the Scale to Fit button ( ) in the Graph toolbar.
   
   
2. Record and compare each test subject’s resting heart rate, maximum heart rate and recovery heart rate (1, 2, and 3 minutes post-exercise).

Conclusions and Extensions:

1. How much higher than your resting heart rate was your maximum heart rate? For what length of time do you estimate you could comfortably sustain that level of exercise intensity?
   
   
2. Does your exercise heart rate change for various forms of exercise? How long does it take your heart rate to recover for each form of exercise?
   
   
3. Based on recommendations for average healthy individuals, do some research on what ranges your resting heart rate and exercise heart rate should fall within. What kinds of activities could you participate in to improve your cardiac fitness? What are the health benefits of improved cardiac health?