Student Lab Data & Discussion Sheet

LAB: Pulse Rate & Cardiovascular Fitness

I. Pre-LAB Questions:

1.​ Identify and briefly describe at least three different factors that lead to differences in Resting Heart
Rate (RHR) between people, or variations in a single person’s resting heart rate.
Level of fitness can affect someone’s resting heart rate as someone who is more active will probably
have a lower resting heart rate due to their cardiovascular health. Someone’s stress levels will also
affect their resting heart rate as someone who is more stressed will experience a higher resting heart
rate compared to someone who isn’t stressed. People who consume caffeine often or on a daily
basis will experience higher resting heart rates. The same goes for nicotine.

2.​ Calculate your own Max Heart Rate (MHR) and your range for Target Heart Rate (THR) below:
Max Heart Rate (MHR) 208-(17x.7) = 179.1
[208 - (70% of Age)] =

Target Heart Rate (THR) (179.1-70)x.6 + 70 = 135.46

[(MHR - RHR) X Intensity Range 60-80%] + RHR = (179.1-70)x0.8+70=157.28

Note: A person’s level of physical fitness is not what determines their Max HR. Someone who is more
physically fit will be able to spend more time working out at or close to their MHR (closer to 85%). The
Target HR zone is a range and can vary depending on how intense of a workout you are wanting.

II. LAB Data Tables: Parts A.-G., Tests 1-7 & Parts H.-I., Tests 8 & 9

Pulse Rate Tests Heart Rate (Beats Per Minute)

A.​ Test 1: Sitting Average: 79 (80, 78)

B.​ Test 2: Standing 68.5 (72, 65)

C.​ Test 3: Walking 79

D.​ Test 4: Speed Walking​ 45.5 x2=91

E.​ Test 5: Jogging in Place ​ ​ 58, 54 (56) x 2 =112

F.​ Test 6: Jumping Jacks​ 45 x2=90

G.​ Test 7: High Knees Run 53.5 x2= 107

 Cardiovascular Fitness Test Data Recording:

H.​ Test 8: Sit-to-Stand (STS) #/min: 58

I. Three Minute Step Test (Stress Test)

Step Test Protocol - Pulse Rate (BPM)
Pulse Rate Time Recording

●​ First Minute (after test)

90
●​ Second Minute (after test)
70
63
●​ Third Minute (after test)

●​ Fourth Minute (after test)

65
65
●​ Fifth Minute (after test)

III. Post-LAB Analysis & Discussion Questions

1.​ Describe and explain the changes* that occurred in the subject’s pulse rate over Tests 1-7.
*(If possible, include a bar graph to compare changes.)
a.​ What activity were you doing when your heart rate was lowest? Highest?
b.​ How and why did the pulse rate measurements change with each activity?
c.​ Do your results match the expected results according to your notes and text? Why or why not?
a)​ Heart rate was the lowest in the standing test and highest in the jogging-in-place test.
b)​ Each activity had different levels of intensity, some being more casual while some more
intense, which varied our heart rate after each activity.
c)​ Yes, most of them match the expected results with the more casual ones such as standing at
our resting heart rate, and the more intense ones at 60% of our target heart rate. This is
because we did the activities accordingly which were constructed for us to reach that target
level.

2.​ Describe the differences you may have felt when you were at rest compared to when you were
physically active.
a.​ Could you tell when your heart rate was increasing or decreasing? How?
b.​ Could you tell when your heart rate was within your Target Heart Rate zone? What activity were
you doing?
c.​ Could you tell when your heart rate was at or close to your Maximum Heart Rate? What activity
were you doing?
a.​ I could tell if my heart rate was increasing when I would breathe heavier since my body
needed more oxygen to sustain my blood. When I’d rest and measure my pulse, I could feel
my pulse gradually decrease as I started to rest.
b.​ I was at my target heart rate for the jogging in place and high knees since those were the
most physically taxing activities and I would breathe heavily afterward.
 c.​ The jogging in place got me closest to my maximum heart rate, and I was the most tired after
that activity, breathing heavily and feeling my calf muscles after the activity.

3.​ Why does your pulse rate need to change with various levels of activity? What would happen if your
heart rate did not change?
The pulse rate changes to keep up with pumping blood throughout our bodies. if we did not have a
changing pulse rate, our heart would not keep up with supplying the body with oxygen when doing
heavy or difficult tasks, which would harm or put our body at risk for damage.

4.​ Discuss your results for Test 8: Sit-to-Stand Test & Test 9: Three-Minute Step Test (Stress Test).
a.​ According to the rating chart included on the lab handout, what is your score for the 3-Minute
Step Test (heart rate ranges based on age recorded for the first minute after completing the Step
Test)?
b.​ If you are interested in improving your score, how would you or anyone else plan to go about it?
*Keep in mind that these are only averages and may not reflect your true cardiac fitness.
Our score was in the preschool to adolescent range, as we had 90 bpm after our first minute of rest.
If we wanted to improve our score, next time we could avoid eating a large meal that would slow us
down, train our leg muscles to have better endurance, or find a day where it is not too sunny/hot.

5.​ What can your pulse rates and cardiac recovery tell you about the health of your Cardiovascular
System? How can these measurements act as important indicators of Cardiovascular health? Visit
Cleveland Clinic - Pulse & Heart Rate for more information.
Our pulse rate can indicate how active our body is, needing more blood circulation to supply our
muscles with oxygen, often resulting in a higher bpm which indicates the person is being physically
active. However, a higher resting bpm could indicate health problems since our body needs more
oxygen regularly. Those with lower resting heart rates could be older since as we age, our heart
slowly starts to slow down with our 20s having a target heart rate of 120-160bpm to our 70s with
90-120bpm.